Tagged: IDW

The Weekly Haul: Reviews for the Week of April 10

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  • April 11, 2008

A good range of comics this week in style, but there wasn’t too much substance, and a surprising dearth of Skrulls, what with Skrullapalooza going on (Thanks for that one, Brian!) Still, some interesting books, so let’s discuss.

lk-3-jp-5100892Book of the Week: Locke & Key #3 — In Hollywood, this century so far has been dominated by horror films, an endless line of creepy or violent flicks that closely imitate either The Ring or Saw. It would be easy to look at a project like Locke & Key, which is published by horror house IDW and written by Stephen King’s son, and think it’s just another creative property hopping on the horror bandwagon.

Writer Joe Hill is crafting a very distinctive story, though, and one that’s made strong by the characters. In each issue so far, Hill has mostly featured one of the three children whose father was murdered by a teenage psychopath. This issue it’s the daughter, Kinsey, and the bulk of the story is a completely convincing look at how she struggles to fit in as "the girl whose dad got killed."

The little side moments then are used to further develop the supernatural mystery of the family’s home – Keyhouse – and to bring the villain back into the picture, as the murderous and insane Lesser makes his bloody escape from lockup. No surprise then that the series has already been optioned for a movie.

Runners Up:

Nova #12 — This series is lightyears ahead of every other outerspace series right now, and every issue can be counted on for epic battle, a thoughtful plot and some cool interstellar weirdness. This time it’s Richard finally besting the Phalanx infection, only to end up in a too-big fight with a Technarc (a giant alien robot from Warlock’s family tree).

A special credit goes to the art team of Paul Letterier and Rick Magyar, who manage to make the robot aliens believable and expressive, no easy task. Now, if only the conclusion to this story was actually in this series, not Annihilation: Conquest.

Batman: Death Mask #1 — I have something of a painful secret to admit. I don’t read manga. I just can’t get into it, no matter what I try. I really hate to admit then that it took a manga version of Batman to hook me. But aside from some introductory pages that rehash Batman’s history (I’m assuming for readers who like manga and not Batman), Yoshinori Natsume’s American comics debut is a strong one.

The questions raised of Batman’s true identity (whether he’s Bruce Wayne or Batman) are nothing new, but the deeper story of Batman’s history in Japan and the mask-wearing, face-cutting-off villain are set up quite well in this first issue.

(more…)

‘Wesley Wyndham-Price’ Warns Salt Lake City Council of Zombie Attack

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  • April 7, 2008

Hopefully you’ve already read the April Fools Day Round-Up we put together (with some help from ComicMix readers), but even if you did, here’s one we missed.

From the April 6 edition of The Salt Lake Tribune, City Council report:

Georgia transplant Wesley Wyndham-Price calmly stood before the City Council, cautioning members about downtown’s derelict emergency-preparedness plan. City elders are "insouciantly" unaware of risks to City Creek Center, he warned.

Wyndham-Price even paused to joke that Georgia’s saltwater taffy is better than Utah’s. "I hope that is not an ad hominem," he shrugged.

Then he got specific and all reason helicoptered into the ether.

City Creek needs an emergency-preparedness plan, he demanded, against zombies.

"Zombies are fierce," he said as a crammed council chamber laughed nervously. "They are going to catch us in there."

Yes, in addition to continuing their adventures in the pages of Dark Horse and IDW comics, your favorite characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are apparently still preaching the gospel of undead threats… to Mormons.

 

(via Whedonesque)

Happy Birthday: Jay Garrick

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Born in Hibbardsville, Kansas, in the early 1920s, Jason Peter “Jay” Garrick had an uneventful childhood. It wasn’t until he went to Keystone City for college, studying chemistry and physics at Midwestern University, that fate singled him out for greater things.

Garrick was a junior in 1940 and working on an experiment to purify hard water and remove all radiation when a test tube dropped. The fumes knocked Garrick out and breathing the vapors all night somehow changed him, granting him the ability to run at super-speed (later evidence suggests Garrick always had this latent ability and the vapors simply activated it).

At first, he used his new powers for personal gain, becoming a college football star, but his integrity would not let him walk away from those in trouble, so Garrick donned a stylized winged helmet and a red shirt with a lightning bolt and began to fight crime as The Flash.

Garrick joined the Justice Society of America and the All-Star Squadron and became a well-known and well-respected crimefighter. Though he briefly retired and focused on his scientific career in the 1950s, Garrick could not stay away, and returned to heroics in 1961, just in time to meet his Earth-One counterpart, Barry Allen.

He has been active ever since, and is once again a key member of the Justice Society of America. Most younger heroes consider Garrick the elder statesman of superheroes, and all of them admire and respect him and appreciate his calm manner and his sage advice just as much as his flying fists and speedy feet.

April Fools Day Round-Up: Were You Fooled?

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  • April 2, 2008

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When it comes to April Fools Day on the ‘Net, I’m not sure where I stand. On one hand, I’m endlessly entertained by the creativity various companies show in their efforts to pull the digital wool over readers’ eyes. It’s also an amazing promotional opportunity, providing websites that normally wouldn’t be players in the viral marketing scene a chance to flex their creative muscles and attract new readers.

On the other hand, however, it’s an editor’s worst nightmare. Every story is likely to be a hoax, and it’s damn near impossible to break any authentic news due to the inherent skepticism of online readers for a 24-hour period.

It’s a bit of a personal hell for me, too. Every year, I wake up on April 1 and remind myself that anything I read that day is probably an April Fools Day prank. And every year, I end up getting excited about a story anyways, only to realize that it was just another joke — more often than not, this happens after I go public with my excitement, adding to the embarassment. In the end, I’m reminded of Charlie Brown trying to kick that football time and time again, even though he ends up on his back in the dirt every time he makes the attempt. I feel his pain.

So this year, I’ve put together a list of some of the highlights from this year’s April Fools Day on the Interwebs. It’s nowhere near a complete list, just some of my personal favorites from the world of comics and comics culture, as well as a few notable non-comics pranks. Feel free to add your own to the ‘Mix (pun totally intended) by adding a link in the comment section at the end of this article. (more…)

Review: ‘Three Shadows’ by Cyril Pedrosa

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This book will break your heart; I warn you now.

Three Shadows
Cyril Pedrosa
First Second, 2008, $15.95

Louis and Lise are farmers somewhere quiet and untouched, doting parents to their small son Joachim. Their life is bucolic, idyllic: “Back then…life was simple and sweet. Everything was simple and sweet…The taste of cherries, the cool shade, the fresh smell of the river… That was how we lived, in a vale among the hills…sheltered from storms…Ignorant of the world, as though on an island…Peaceful and untroubled…Then everything changed.”

Three figures appear ominously one evening, on horseback at the horizon. Somehow, everyone knows that they’re trouble, but they can’t be confronted. They disappear into the mist, into the distance. Joachim’s dog Diego disappears, and the shadows use his barking to lure the boy – and almost get him.

So Lise goes to the nearest big town to consult with Mistress Pike, whose sign reads “Midwife. Exorcist. Sympathetic Ear.” The truth is what they fear most: the shadows have come for Joachim. And they’re not going to stop.

(more…)

‘Star Trek: Year Four’ Review

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  • March 26, 2008

When I was a wee lad of, oh, let’s say 13, to hear the words "untold tales" was a thrill in itself.

"What’s that, you say? In this story, I will discover that Wolverine met Spider-Man’s parents for about an hour several months before the web-spinning super-hero was even born? And it turns out Green Lantern’s landlord was once involved with the Russian mob? Awesome! How did I live before now?"

But now, I am in my mid-20s, long past the prime of life, and my standards are a mite higher. A story that fills in gaps of the past for its own sake just isn’t enough. It must also be a good story by itself. It must be able to entertain me and interest me and, if at all possible, elicit emotional reactions from me that would make even a positronic android react with a cry of "Neat!"

And so, let’s talk about the first comic book miniseries entitled Star Trek: Year Four (IDW Publishing), which was written by David Tischman and penciled by Steve Conley, and which has recently been collected as a trade paperback. In the original Star Trek TV series, Kirk informed audiences every week that the Enterprise was engaging in a "five-year mission" of exploration. Sadly, the show was cancelled after its third season. Tischman and Conley’s series attempts to inform us all about just what happened next, long before the time that the Star Trek films picked up. (more…)

IDW Announces ‘Transformers: All Hail Megatron’ Maxi-Series

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  • March 20, 2008

Following up on last month’s release of untitled, yet very cool promotional art featuring Transformers villain Megatron, IDW Publishing today announced it will be bringing a new chapter in the Transformers saga to the shelves of your local comics shops in the form of a 12-part maxi-series called Transformers: All Hail Megatron.

IDW, whose titles also include other Transformers books, Angel: After the Fall, 30 Days of Night and Fallen Angel, is planning for a June release for issue #1 of the comic.

According to the release, the maxi-series will take the Transformers:

"… in a new direction courtesy of writer Shane McCarthy and artist Guido Guidi. Together, they tell the tale of an Earth decimated by the DECEPTICONS. Where are the AUTOBOTS, and how did they come to be exiled from Earth? Who has changed sides, who will live, and who will die? These questions, as well as the introduction of an all-new TRANSFORMERS character, will be answered in the pages of the series."

Series writer McCarthy is very excited about the new story:

“This thing is going to knock the fans’ socks off,” McCarthy says. “This is exactly the kind of story I’ve always wanted to see done, and I think the fans will be right there with me.”

IDW head honcho Chris Ryall is equally enthusiastic about Transformers: All Hail Megatron: 

“ALL HAIL MEGATRON is what the AUTOBOTS fought so hard to prevent, the ultimate culmination of MEGATRON’s plans. It’s destruction on a grand scale; it’s a story of sacrifice, lost heroism, betrayal, and hopefully at the end, renewal.

 

ComicMix Radio: Four-Color Broadcasts!

We kick off spring with the perfect soundtrack for your drive in the country: a comic book radio show; plus:

— Harry Potter films – and now there are eight…

— IDW expands the fate of Angel with Spike:AfterThe Fall

— X-Men, Wolverine and Teen Iron Man… on TV

—  And yet another new trivia question that is worth an  exclusive Graham Crackers Comics variant – and you win by e-mailing us at: podcast [at] comicmix.com

The Black Hood sez: Just Press The Button!

 

 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-2842028 or RSS!

 

Peter David to Pen New ‘Star Trek’ Series

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  • February 27, 2008

Marking the 10th anniversary of Star Trek: New Frontier, IDW announced it will be publishing a New Frontier comics series written by Peter David. Trekweb has a full report on the series, which is set to debut next month.

The five-part series will feature art by Stephen Thompson (Beneath the Valley of the Rage). The story picks up from the Star Trek novels published by Pocket Books.

David has written several Star Trek novels in addition to his extensive comic book work. The story of the new series is described in a press release:

In the new story, Turnaround, the most dangerous experimental vessel in the galaxy – a prototype time ship – has vanished, and it appears that the man who stole it is none other than Starfleet Admiral Edward Jellico. Only Captain Mackenzie Calhoun and the crew of the Excalibur have a hope of finding him before the ship, intended purely for scientific exploration, is used to disrupt the space-time continuum.

 

Dimension Films Locks Up ‘Locke & Key’

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  • February 26, 2008

According to Variety, Dimension Films has just snapped up the rights to Joe Hill’s graphic novel Locke & Key — which, conicidentially, ComicMix’s own Van Jensen recently reviewed right here. Dimension bought film and TV rights to the graphic novel from IDW Publishing and will develop it as a potential franchise under the guidence of producer John Davis.

In case you’re not familiar, Locke & Key’s story concerns three children who move to Keyhouse, a mansion in New England that’s full of magic and secrets. Once they begin to explore the house, the kids soon discover doors that transport them to different places and give them powers. Of course, there’s also danger because behind one door is an evil creature that really wants to be let out.

Dimension chief Harvery Weinstein was particularly happy about his company’s latest acquisition. "I love what Joe wrote," said Weinstein in the Variety article. "There are fun elements that horror fans love, and it feels like a franchise where you can feel satisfied with each film, but there is a door left open for the next one."

IDW released the first issue of Locke & Key last Wednesday, with the second one set to follow on March 5th.

 

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