Comic Book Review – Solomon Kane #4 – Dark Horse Comics

I have been a fan of the Solomon Kane stories by Robert E. Howard for several years. I have all of his published works on the character, plus his fragments. “The Castle Of The Devil” is one of the fragments that Howard either decided not to finish or set aside to finish at a later date. The fragment itself has just enough in it to set a tone for the story so that it could go in any direction, be it a human enemy or something supernatural. Dark Horse Comics and Scott Allie decided to take the supernatural approach for this mini-series, which takes the fragment of “The Castle Of The Devil” and fleshes it out to create a complete story.

I would definitely suggest reading the series from start to finish as the majority of the writing doesn’t lend itself to jumping in mid-story, in case you’ve read the original fragment and just want to find out what happens after that. Allie seems to bounce around with the dialog, which caused me to back track several times to make sure I was where I thought I was in the story.

Mario Guevara and Dave Stewart’s combined talents give the series a bleak, sketchy feeling that reminds me of an overcast day that just won’t clear up. Some of the pages gave me the impression that some of the coloring was added as an afterthought. The blood effects, for example, don’t really feel like a natural part of the page in some of the panels. It almost seems like the pages were headed for the printer and someone decided to splash a little red here and there at the last minute.

Dark Horse’s Solomon Kane is a series that you’re either going to love or not. I will read the final issue, but I won’t be adding it to my list of books to re-read. I’ll stick with Howard’s originals.

Solomon Kane #4 of 5 – Dark Horse Comics
Writer – Scott Allie
Artist – Mario Guevara
Colorist – Dave Stewart
Letterer – Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Cover Artist – John Cassaday
Cover Colorist – Dave Stewart
$2.99 – 32 pages

Stan Lee talks Thor #600

The patron saint of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, has spoken with the House of Ideas regarding his story in the landmark 600th issue of Thor!

Explaining his inclusion in the project, Lee replied that Thor editor Warren Simons gave him a call and asked “if I’d write a story for THOR #600. How can you say no to something like that? I guess all the other writers were busy,” he laughed.

When asked about the longevity of the character, Stan replied:

He’s a great character. And again, the way Kirby drew him he’s unforgettable. He just looks so heroic and the other characters are so colorful. And of course you have Loki, the villain. I mean one of the most important things for any super hero is to have a great super villain, and how do you do better than Loki.

This incarnation of Thor was created by Lee and Jack Kirby in 1962. Meanwhile, in Thor #600, Stan will be teaming up with superstar artist David Aja to examine Thor’s temptation to go back to a simple mortal life.

Source: Newsarama

War Machine #1 Rises Out Of The Dark Reign Saga

Spinning out of Dark Reign, the hero known as War Machine has a new mission to save the world and critics can’t stop raving about his new series! Acclaimed scribe Greg Pak (WORLD WAR HULK, X-MEN: MAGNETO TESTAMENT) and rising star artist Leonardo Manco team up for WAR MACHINE, the new series that puts the iron clad hero on a quest to take down some of the world’s greatest threats! This one man army takes no prisoners, leaving fans and critics alike with their jaws on the floor!

“A new, cybernetically enhanced War Machine becomes like an international Punisher. He’s a one-man war on worldwide crime…Manco’s work is a good fit for this series, with its scratchy detail illustrating a world that is anything but bright and shiny. This is a sordid, tarnished Marvel Universe, and Manco ‘s style suits it perfectly.”—Timothy Callahan, ComicBookResources.Com

“Leonardo Manco does a great job capturing a gritty technological feel, and Greg Pak does a great job keeping the pace up. I think this series will be one to watch.”– Brendan McQuirk, Newsarama.Com

“Leonardo Manco’s beautiful art matches the subject material perfectly, giving Rhodes a rough, gritty world to rocket through and providing some gorgeous splash pages…(for the) shoot-’em-up comic with a sci-fi/tech twist.”—Bryan Joel, IGN.Com

“The lines between man and machine, hero and monster, justice and murder can be entertaining and interesting to explore under a talented pen and Pak certainly has that talent…[Manco] provides a gritty realism to the horrors of battle as well as to the horrors of Rhodey’s situation.”—Tonya Crawford, BrokenFrontier.Com

Marvel urges retailers to check their orders on WAR MACHINE, as the series continues to draw acclaim from all corners.

WAR MACHINE #1 (OCT082347)
WAR MACHINE #1 VILLAIN VARIANT
Written by GREG PAK
Pencils & Cover by LEONARDO MANCO
Villain Variant by MIKE DEODATO
Rated T+ …$2.99
ON SALE NOW!

To find a comic shop near you, call 1-888-comicbook

Source: Marvel.com

Marc Silvestri’s Variant Cover of Astonishing Tales #1

Official Press Release

Marvel is proud to unveil superstar artist Marc Silvestri’s powerful new variant cover to Astonishing Tales #1. This super-sized first issue features Iron Man, Wolverine, Punisher and the New Mutants along with fan favorite creators C.B Cebulski (X-Infernus), Jonathan Hickman (Secret Warriors), Kenneth Rocafort and more! This also features a jaw dropping wraparound cover by Rocafort, depicting some of the Marvel Universe’s most popular heroes and villains!

ASTONISHING TALES #1 (DEC082362)
ASTONISHING TALES #1 SILVESTRI VARIANT (DEC082363)
Written by C.B. CEBULSKI, DANIEL MERLIN GOODBREY, CHRIS SEQUERA, & JONATHAN HICKMAN
Penciled by KENNETH ROCAFORT, LOU KANG, CHEW CHAN, NICK PITARRA, and JONATHAN HICKMAN
Wraparound Cover by KENNETH ROCAFORT
Variant Cover by MARC SILVESTRI
Rated T+ …$3.99
FOC—1/15/09, On-Sale—2/4/09 Read more

Boom Studios’ Farscape #1 Sell Out

Official Press Release

After garnering near unanimous critical acclaim, BOOM! Studios announced today that FARSCAPE #1 is completely sold out.

Fans should keep in mind, while distributor Diamond Comics are completely sold out, Farscape #1 may still be found at direct market retailers across the country. BOOM! Studios is working closely with Diamond Comics Distributors and evaluating the demand for a second printing.

“We are tracking the unfilled re-orders carefully at the moment. But a second printing looks like it may just happen,” said Marketing and Sales Director Chip Mosher.

FARSCAPE #1 is written by television series creator Rockne O’Bannon with script by Keith R.A. DeCandido, interior art by Tommy Patterson and cover art by fan-favorites Dennis Calero and Joseph Corroney!

Picking up directly where the television miniseries FARSCAPE: THE PEACEKEEPER WARS left off, fans can look forward to show creator O’Bannon steering their favorite characters into new and original stories, keeping with the existing canon – and then extending it! Read more

Will ‘Twilight’ Become A Comic Book?

At a recent “TwilightLive” event, MTV’s resident “Twilight” authority Larry Carroll was asked by a fan if there would be graphic novels based on the vampire love story anytime soon.

Given the fact that we’ve seen comics and graphic novels based on everything from Barack Obama to “The Ghost Whisperer,” it’s not only a valid question, but one that seems like the next obvious step in “Twilight” mania. After all, a marriage of Stephenie Meyer’s wildly popular series and comic books — arguably one of the hottest storytelling mediums going today — seems like a match made in vampire heaven, right? (Read some of our own ideas for a “Twilight” comic series in the Splash Page blog.)

Naturally, one would assume that comic book publishers would be lining up for the chance to give “Twilight” the four-color treatment, but surprisingly, when asked directly if they’d made any attempt to obtain the rights for a series of “Twilight” comics or graphic novels, nearly all the comic book publishers MTV News contacted gave the same response: “No comment.” Exactly why they chose to remain silent varied for each publisher, but if you’re looking for a similar situation in terms of popular books that never made it to the comic shops, look no further than “Harry Potter.”

“What I have heard — like ['Harry Potter' author] J.K. Rowling supposedly did — Stephenie Meyer had it in her deal that there wouldn’t be any comics, that that licensing wouldn’t be available,” speculated Dark Horse Comics senior managing editor Scott Allie, who works with writers such as My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator Joss Whedon.

“I’ve heard of similar things, where basically an author or creator didn’t want to have comics because that extends the story in a way that’s out of their control,” Allie continued. “The film is going to adapt the ‘Twilight’ novels very faithfully. If you do comics, does that spin the story out in some new direction?” Read more

Projected Manga Releases Down in 2009

The number of volumes of manga that publishers are planning to release in 2009 is down nearly 10% from the number actually released in 2008 according to a survey conducted by ICv2 for the ICv2 Guide #62–Anime and Manga. In the ICv2 manga survey at the end of 2007 publishers indicated that they planned to publish 1,731 volumes of manga, an 18% increase over the 1,468 volumes released in 2006, but the actual number of manga released in 2008 appears to be around 1,356 as publishers cut titles during the second half of the year. The total from ICv2’s 2009 Manga Survey indicates that publishers are planning to release 1,224.

After a solid first three quarters of 2008, independent retailers report that sales of manga slowed during the fourth quarter, and the major book chains also cut their graphic novel and manga orders for Q4 (see “Bookstores Feel the Pain”). Declining sales have put pressure on publishers that has manifested itself in layoffs at some publishers (see “Tokyopop Says Worst Retailing Environment”) and the decision to shut down Broccoli Books (see “Broccoli Books Shuts Down”).

The North American anime market has been suffering for several years now, and attrition has reduced the number of players. In the new Guide, ICv2 analyzes both the positive (the strength of the remaining players, the lowering of licensing fees and a reduction in what was, given the size of the market, a surfeit of releases) and the negative (continued high levels of illegal downloading, a shrinking anime footprint on American TV, the move away from packaged media toward Internet distribution) trends affecting the American anime industry.

For the full ICv2 Top 25 Manga Properties from this issue, see “ICv2 Top 25 Manga Properties Fall 2008.”

For the full ICv2 Top 10 Anime Properties from this issue, see “ICV2 Top 10 Anime Properties Fall 2008.”

For information on the release of ICv2 Guide #62: Manga/Anime, and information on how to get the ICv2 Guide, see “ICv2 Releases ‘ICv2 Guide #62: Manga/Anime’.”

Source: icv2.com

D.J. Caruso wants to make ‘Y: The Last Man’ a trilogy

In an interview with Scifi.com, Y: The Last Man director D.J. Caruso (Eagle Eye, Disturbia) indicated that he is planning to helm a Y: The Last Man trilogy in order to do justice to Brian K. Vaughan’s 10-volume Vertigo graphic novel series. Caruso also indicated that Shia LaBeouf is “definitely interested” in starring in the science fiction saga about a plague that kills every mammal with Y chromosome except for Yorick Brown and his Capuchin monkey Ampersand. Caruso told Scifi that he will give the script to Shia when he and writer Carl Ellsworth (Disturbia) have finished polishing it.

Caruso and Ellsworth turned in a first draft to Warner Bros. and they are now in the process of pumping up the third act of the first film while still staying close to Vaughan’s original story. The decision to split the saga up into three parts creates its own problems in terms of creating a dramatic structure for each of three films, while keeping the overall storyline going, but as Caruso told Scifi, “It’s definitely a three-parter. Trying to fit the whole story in one (movie) is too much.”

Caruso clearly sees Y: The Last Man as an epic project, and he has talked about using IMAX cameras to shoot substantial portions of the film (see “Y: The Last Man in IMAX”). Even without a movie the Y: The Last Man graphic novels, which have all been top sellers in the direct market, have been tearing it up in the bookstores as well where ICv2 has pegged the series as the #3 “Genre” graphic novel property of 2008 in the bookstore market.

Source: icv2.com

‘Dark Avengers’ Revealed In January

Who is the Iron Patriot? And just why has he assembled the Dark Avengers? Enter Dark Avengers #1, kicking off an explosive new era for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, from acclaimed scribe Brian Bendis and superstar artist Mike Deodato!

This star studded creative team presents an all new ongoing series spinning out of Dark Reign, but just who are the Dark Avengers? Featuring Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hawkeye, Ms Marvel and more like you’ve never seen them before, this is the series that’ll have everyone buzzing in 2009! This issue features variant covers by the red-hot Adi Granov and Marko Djurdjevic, one of the acclaimed Young Guns ‘09 artists! Plus, don’t miss the Blank Cover Variant that you can take to events all year for your favorite writers, artists, or even editors, to illustrate!

Marvel urges retailers to check their orders on Dark Avengers as all Dark Reign related tie-ins continue to be the books everyone can’t stop talking about!

Dark Avengers #1. Accept Change.

DARK AVENGERS #1 (NOV082323)
DARK AVENGERS #1 DJURDJEVIC VARIANT (NOV082324)
DARK AVENGERS #1 GRANOV VARIANT (OCT088193)
DARK AVENGERS #1 BLANK COVER (OCT088006)
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Pencils & Cover by MIKE DEODATO
Variant Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
Variant Cover by ADI GRANOV
Rated T+ …$3.99
FOC—12/18/08, On-Sale—1/21/09

To find a comic shop near you, call 1-888-comicbook Read more

Gene Colan Awarded 2008 ‘Sparky Award’

Official Press Release

The Cartoon Art Museum is proud to announce that Gene Colan is the recipient of the 2008 Sparky Award, which was presented to him by CAM founder Malcolm Whyte during the museum’s “Salute to Gene Colan” on Thursday, December 4, 2008.

The Sparky Award is named in honor of Charles “Sparky” Schulz, the creator of Peanuts. Schulz was nicknamed “Sparky” after the horse Sparkplug featured in the comic strip Barney Google. The Cartoon Art Museum would not exist without benefactors like Sparky Schulz and his wife, Jeannie. The Sparky Award is presented on behalf of the Cartoon Art Museum and the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Library.

The award celebrates the significant contributions of cartoon artists who embody the talent, innovation and humanity of Charles M. Schulz. Past recipients include Schulz himself, Sergio Aragones, Gus Arriola, Carl Barks, Will Eisner, Creig Flessel, Phil Frank, Lou Grant, Chuck Jones, Ward Kimball, Gary Larson, John Lasseter, Stan Lee, Bill Melendez, Dale Messick, John Severin and Morrie Turner.

Live testimonials were given by several notable collaborators of Colan’s, including writer Steve Englehart, comic book inkers Steve Leialoha and Joe Rubinstein, and Daniel Cooney, a former pupil of Colan’s, who is now a professional comic book artist and a professor at the Academy of Art University. Written testimonials were provided by Mike Richardson and Diana Schutz of Dark Horse Comics, Paul Levitz of DC Comics, and Dean Mullaney of Eclipse Comics, and a video tribute was provided by Colan’s longtime friend and collaborator Stan Lee. Mr. Colan was interviewed onstage by noted author Glen David Gold, the lead curator on the Cartoon Art Museum’s current tribute exhibition, Colan: Visions of a Man without Fear, which is on display at the Cartoon Art Museum through March 15, 2009.

For more information about Gene Colan, please visit his website, http://www.genecolan.com

Source: ComicBookResources.com

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