Monty The Dinosaur #2 Review

 

If you missed my review of Monty the Dinosaur #1 check it out here

Monty The Dinosaur # 2 continues to be a great all-ages book. With Monty’s Origin story out of the way Bob Frantz and Jean Franco flex their creative muscles a lot more and up the silliness and fun. In this issue we see Sophie try to get  Monty enrolled in her school because dinosaurs need to learn to right? We also see Monty and Sophie figure out where to find out where to get Bananas when the world is completely out of them.

In this issue we see Sophie try to get  Monty enrolled in her school because dinosaurs need to learn to right? We also see Monty and Sophie figure out where to find out where to get Bananas when the world is completely out of them. We get some more humour than the first issue which works well and once again is a pleasure to read in general.

 

 

Bob Frantz & Jean Franco maintained the same excellent quality in all departments from issue one. I have had a chance to chat with Bob a little bit since my review of issue one, and he has referred to it as a silly book, and I agree with him, but it’s silly in a good entertaining way. Again pick up this series and spread the silly fun around with everyone.

10/10

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We have just one more issue left of Monty The Dinosaur for 2016! The trade will be available in November and I just confirmed with Bob there will be more Monty some time in 2017!

Monty The Dinosaur will be released tomorrow in comic book stores

You can purchase/pre-order digital copies at Comixology

Follow Bob Frantz on Twitter: @bfrantz19

Follow Action Lab Entertainment : @ActionLab

Website: actionlabcomics.com

Exclusive First Look At Original Art Perks For “Of Devils And Men” Upcoming Kickstarter Campaign

As we near closer to the launch date of James D. Schumacher and Ken Knudtsen “Of Devils And Men” Kickstarter campaign (This Friday, September 30th, 2016)  we here at Skatronixxx have more details and more great art from Ken to show you!

The following images are of original art from Ken Knudtsen that you can pledge for. These Original pieces will never be reproduced and come signed personally by Ken.

 

A Flash Of Red $200.00 Tier

 

 

 

 

The Horde $250.00 Tier

 

 

 

Shot In The Dark $300.00 Tier

 

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If you by some chance you didn’t see my original announcement and art preview of the horror western comic that is Of Devils And Men (it’s ok I’m here to help) I will now share again the official story synopsis and the 6-page art preview.

Story Synopsis:

1880’s Arizona Territory. The hills caught fire, the animals perished, the great cataclysm wrought death upon the world. Fire spread everywhere. Emerging from the hellfire, horrific denizens hellbent on the killing the last remnants of humanity.

Survivors of the inferno took to trains, stagecoaches, horses, anything to outrun the creatures. For the refugees on board Locomotive 689 Charleston, it is just the beginning of their trials as they steam for the fabled city, Crescent City.

A place where many say this hell has not touched, a place where the survivors can live without fear.

As each day wears thin for the survivors, patience gives way to anger, the pain of losing loved ones turn to violence and soon the people within the train have nothing more to fear that what is inside the train with them. This train is the last hope for these people, and it’s running low on fuel miles away from anything resembling safety and with millions of creatures on its heels.

Will the survivors on the Charleston defy their differences and overcome loss, or will the very thing that unites us all be the downfall of humanity?

 

There now you are all up to date. Please help spread the word by sharing on all your various forms of social media, e-mail, comic book shop talk and word of mouth in general (you know talking to a person in person).

If you or anyone you know is a fan of horror, Westerns and or comics, please help Of Devils And Men reach its funding goal of $6,500. The Kickstarter begins Friday, September 30th, 2016 and will have until Wednesday, October 30th, 2016 to reach it’s funding goal. Let’s Make it Happen!

Stay tuned right here for more news on Of Devils And Men later this week.

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Follow James D. Schumacher on Twitter: @SchumacherIII

Website: schumacher3.com

Follow Ken Knudtsen on Twitter: @kenknudtsen

Website: kenknudtsen.com

 

Wretches #1 Review

Wretches #1 was made possible by the creative team of writer James E. Roche artist Salomon Farias, colourists Chunlin Zhao and letterer Jamie Me. The Wretches Team also had a successful Kickstarter Campaign back in April 2016 raising about $1,200.00 above the funding goal.

Official Synopsis from James E. Roche:

Wretches, at its core, is a story about family, sacrifice, and loss. Siblings, Shea and Sean, were forced to grow up on the streets of an alien city, far from the lifeless planet they’d once called home. Now, all grown up, they capture other beings for the promise of reward – specializing in hunting the robots they’d once shared their home planet with. Still suffering emotionally from the loss of everything they’d ever known and loved, these siblings have nothing else in the universe but each other. Until, they no longer even have that. Once one of them is kidnapped, the other will tear the entire galaxy apart to get them back.

The opening of Wretches starts with dialogue all too familiar with people. The somewhat stereotypical declarations parents tell us as children. That nothing bad will ever happen to us, promising they will always be there for us and many other promises. You see our main characters Shea and Sean struggle to make a life for themselves while working together to make a living as bounty hunters.

James has created a good pace for Wretches. The dialogue doesn’t overburden you with information it gives just what you need to know, and the story never stagnates with a nice balance of plot revealing and action.

Salomon’s Art overall is decent with a couple of panels standing out to me as off, with some body proportions and a couple of facial expressions. That being said there are some well-done memorable action scenes.

Chunlin’s colours work well with the art and have great shadowing and lighting throughout the issue. Jamie’s lettering is pleasant to read and has a good word balloon flow.

Overall Issue #1 of Wretches is a good introduction to a new Sci-FI universe with a satisfying ending that should peak reader’s interest enough to want issue #2. There is currently no official date yet for the release of issue #2 yet but stay tuned to Skatronixxx as we will let you know as soon as we are aware.

8/10

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The digital copy of Wretches #1 (PDF format) is available at Drive Thru Comics

The Physical print version is available at JamesERoche.com

For updates on Wretches follow James E. Roche on Twitter: @JamesERoche as well as his website.

We Review Rick Remender’s​ and Jerome Opena’s Seven To Eternity #1

A bit of a disclaimer before I get into the review. I am a huge fan of Rick Remender. I think he is making some of the best comics with his collaborators in the industry today so there may be a slight bias in my review.

Rick Remender has reunited with long-time collaborator Artist Jerome Opena. Rick and Jerome have worked together on Avengers: Rage of Ultron, Stange Girl, Fear Agent and Uncanny X-Force. Rick feels this current project will be better than all their previous projects.

Story Synopsis via Imagecomics.com:

“The God of Whispers has spread an omnipresent paranoia to every corner of the kingdom of Zhal; his spies hide in every hall spreading mistrust and fear. Adam Osidis, a dying knight from a disgraced house, must choose between joining a hopeless band of magic users in their desperate bid to free their world of the evil God, or accepting his promise to give Adam everything his heart desires. “

Here is the first page from issue one that was released by imagecomics.com

Rick Remender and Jerome Opena have created a massive universe full of potential. Rick sets up the story of Adam Osidis and his family quite well, with tragedy and mentions of a troubled dark history. It will be interesting to see Adams choices and decisions as the story will no doubt will become more complicated and layered as Adam will inevitably struggle with honouring his family and what he actually believes is the right thing to do.

Rick has said publicly that this is Jerome’s best work to date. He was not exaggerating in the slightest bit. Every panel is a work of mastery; even the toughest critic will have a hard time finding fault in his art. Jerome shows a variety of both minimalist and composite panels.  Matt Hollingsworth‘s colours are no surprise excellent as usual and compliment Jerome’s art perfectly. Russ Wooton‘s Lettering style fits the book nicely, and the word balloon flow is great, no confusing dialogue order.

Once again as with all image books page quality is not an issue, the book feels great. It will not rip by just turning the page as a fair amount of big two books will.

Seven To Eternity is a series worth investing in. With talent as rich as this team has it’s very unlikely to disappoint. I expect it will take us to new strange and exciting places, and that’s what comics need right now.

Image Comics announced today that Seven to Eternity has already gone into a 2nd printing and this is only day one of its release.

10/10

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Rick Remender  Twitter: @Remender

Jerome Opena Twitter: @JeromeAOpena

We Preview “Of Devils And Men”

James D. Schumacher III  the indie writer of the award-winning horror comic Inheritance returns with his new project the horror western Of Devils and Men.

 

James’s collaborator on Of Devils and Men is former Wolverine artist Ken Knudtsen who is also known for his independent comic My Monkey’s Name Is Jennifer.

Of Devils and Men Synopsis:

1880’s Arizona Territory. The hills caught fire, the animals perished, the great cataclysm wrought death upon the world. Fire spread everywhere. Emerging from the hellfire, horrific denizens hellbent on the killing the last remnants of humanity.

Survivors of the inferno took to trains, stagecoaches, horses, anything to outrun the creatures. For the refugees on board Locomotive 689 Charleston, it is just the beginning of their trials as they steam for the fabled city, Crescent City.

A place where many say this hell has not touched, a place where the survivors can live without fear.

As each day wears thin for the survivors, patience gives way to anger, the pain of losing loved ones turn to violence and soon the people within the train have nothing more to fear that what is inside the train with them. This train is the last hope for these people, and it’s running low on fuel miles away from anything resembling safety and with millions of creatures on its heels.

Will the survivors on the Charleston defy their differences and overcome loss, or will the very thing that unites us all be the downfall of humanity?

James and Ken have planned to launch a Kickstarter for Of Devils And Men on September 30th, 2016.

Stay tuned to skatronnixxx.com for an interview with both James and Ken as well as a full promotional article to help the campaign reach it’s funding goal and beyond. We might also have a surprise or two for Skatronixxx readers.

While you patiently wait enjoy these fantastic pages from Ken Knudtsen in the mean time.

 

 

Check out James D. Schumacher‘s website 

 Facebook: facebook.com/SchumacherIII

Twitter: @Inheritnovel

 Ken Knudtsen‘s website

Facebook: facebook.com/kenknudtsen

Comic Books Currently Being Adapted To TV​

With the box office juggernaut that Marvel has become in recent years, Hollywood is taking notice of comic book properties and are quickly trying to buy the movie and television rights to them. You can say Marvel opened Hollywood’s eyes, but another fair point is that the best content for film and TV adaptation is comic book stories, as Hollywood has failed to produce little original quality movies the past decade.

With an industry that seems only to produce sequels, reboots and remakes many of which nobody asked for, comics might be the only thing that can save the film industry and non-comic book based indie films.

Comic fans can find this recent interest in their favourite comic books being adapted to another medium both exciting and scary. Not every property that gets adapted is going to be accepted by fans and the general public. It does, however, have the potential to bring in new comic readers and to challenge the film and television industry to new ways of storytelling.

The Following is just a handful of comic book properties in no particular order that is currently being adapted. They are comics I’m excited or interested in seeing get a Hollywood adaptation.

Essex County by Jeff Lemire

First Generation Films will be producing a television series interpretation for the CBC (Canadian Broadcast Company).While I have not read Essex’s County yet, I’m a fan of Jeff Lemire‘s writing and always want to support a fellow Canadain.

Sinatoro by Grant Morrison &  Vanesa R. Del Rey

 Chris and Paul Weitz and Universal Television are working with Grant Morrison on the TV series adaptation of his Black Mask Studios comic that has yet to be released. Adam Armus and Kay Foster, co-creators of the NBC drama American Odyssey, are writing the script with Grant. The show has not yet been picked up by a network or streaming service. Anything involving Grant Morrison is worth checking out. His writing is always entertaining and takes you on a crazy ride a lot of the times; I expect the show to do the same.

 

The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darrick Robertson 

 

The same creative team behind Garth Ennis‘s Preacher adaptation for AMC of Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Neal Moritz are also doing The Boys TV series. The series is set to air on Cinemax. Once again another title I have yet to read. As a comic fan and reviewer, I have a never ending list of comics to read, and it grows weekly. If you have ever read, Preacher or Garth’s Punisher run you know you’re in for some excellent action-packed storytelling.

Deadly Class by Rick Remender and Wes Craig

The Deadly Class TV series announced this past summer at SDCC here is my original article on it and a preview of Rick Remender’s new comic out on September 21st, 2016 Seven to Eternity (no reported adaptation for this property)  Deadly Class TV Series

Ronin by Frank Miller

Syfy picked up the rights to Ronin back in 2014. Production and news have been slow and minimal. Hopefully, we will see it in 2017. It’s Frank Miller I don’t think I need to say anything else.

Those are just a few of the dozens of comic properties in the works for TV translation. It’s an exciting time for comic adaptions lets hope they all turn out as great as their source material.

And Then Emily Was Gone Vol 1 Review

And Then Emily Was Gone is one of the weirdest and disturbing comics I have ever had the pleasure to read from publisher Comix Tribe. The story is based on Scottish folklore specifically the tale of Bonnie Shaw a creature who offers to help out parents in stressful situations in exchange Bonnie would take ownership of one of their children.

Emily is gone, and her best friend Fiona seeks the help of famous former police officer, Greg Hellinger. Greg has been seeing grotesque monsters that haunt him and have driven him to a less then glamours lifestyle. Fiona Persuades Greg to help her find Emily and they travel to  Merksay Island, interacting with obscene creatures during their search.

My first impression of Ian Laurie‘s art was that it reminded me of the 90’s cartoon show Aaahh! Real Monsters which I enjoyed as a kid. Ian’s art is different in a good yet twisted way, the imperfections in the characters are showcased very well, and you get the sense of evil, desperation and fear from the appropriate characters. While I’m not generally a fan of this particular art style, it challenged me and it worked well with the story. The art never put me off from the story which is always good and is a testament to the skill of Ian’s art. Very rarely can I read a comic with bad art and a good story, thankfully both sections were executed well.

John Lees writing is mostly dialogue driven which is nice. He takes you on an emotional roller coaster with highs and lows and a few “what the?” moments. There is a nice flow to the story and appropriate endings to each issue leaving you with questions and wanting answers.

As with most horror comics these days there is gore and lots of it. What I really appreciate about And Then Emily Was Gone is that the gore doesn’t feel unnecessary or overused. They hit a nice balance in my opinion. It’s nice to see a comic that stands out from the thousands of other horror comics out there.

If you enjoy horror comics, this will exceed your expectations. If your not a fan of horror I’d still give it a shot it may surprise you (in more ways than one).

9/10

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And Then Emily Was Gone Vol 1 is available for $7.99 USD on Comixology

There is also a free comic from the And Then Emily Was Gone universe by John Lees and Iain Laurie coming out during Halloween Comicfest on October 29th, 2016.

Follow the creative team on Twitter

Writer John Lees:  @johnlees927       Website: John Lees Comics 

Artist Iain Laurie:  @IainLaurie

Colourists Megan Wilson: @MeganEngiNerd

Letterer Colin Bell: @colinbell

Publisher Comix Tribe: @ComixTribe       Website: comixtribe.com

Alan Moore Retires From Comics….Again

Legendary comic book writer Alan Moore announced yesterday at a press conference in London for his new novel Jerusalem that he will be retiring from comic books.

Moore told The Guardian that he has “about 250 pages left of comics left in him.” and added that “those will probably be very enjoyable”  Moore plans on finishing the last book of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and a few other titles that he is currently working on. Once those are complete Moore said he would do the odd comics piece in the future, but he is essentially done with comics.

Moore explained to The Guardian that he felt too comfortable in comics saying  “I think I have done enough for comics. I’ve done all that I can. I think if I were to continue to work in comics, inevitably the ideas would suffer, inevitably you’d start to see me retread old ground and I think both you and I probably deserve something better than that.”

Moore has been a harsh critic of the comic book industry for a long time and is  designated by many as “the grumpy old man of comics.” He has made some valid points about creativity, and the big two but for the most part he has attacked the very industry and medium that gave him a voice and a living. One can argue that he has earned that right with works as great as Watchmen, V for Vendetta, but Moore has expressed publicly his dislike for those books now and especially the movie adaptations (which is entirely understandable).

So while Alan Moore is on the tail end of his comics career again (this isn’t the first time he’s announced it), it seems a little more certain this time with the plan he’s laid out. Moore has not been doing mainstream comics for decades, and now and then is independent work get some buzz, but it’s hit and miss. The majority of comic fans assumed he stopped creating comics long ago. I appreciate what Moore has contributed to comics, but I’m not sure it’s a big loss for the industry.

He will still be writing novels and will tackle film an area he admits he know nothing about and likes the challenge. It will be interesting to see an Alan Moore film that’s for certain.

 

 

 

Review of Croak #1

As summer reaches an end, fall approaches quickly, along with the cold air, colourful leaves and the realisation that winter is coming. It also means Halloween,  making a great atmosphere for reading horror comics.

Croak #1 starts off like a typical horror film from the 80’s or 90’s involving teenagers. Three friends are going camping. There is some friction between 2 of the friends and things are forgotten in their vehicle forcing them to camp good hours walk away without cover in an unfamiliar area.

I can’t say much more without spoiling the story. Croak is a slower paced first issue that could leave you uninterested if not for the ending. It is certainly the highlight of the comic and worth waiting for.

Many people say that you have only one issue to hook a reader. While I understand that mentality, I think it’s ridiculous. I usually give a new comic three issues to determine if I want to support the book unless the first one is complete garbage. I honestly just need enough to carry me to the next issue. The reason I give a series a chance like this is there are so many ways to tell a story, and everyone is different. To say one issue or bust is unfair and not logical.

I’m not sure where writer Cody Andrew Sousa is going with croak story wise all I know is it has a lot of possibilities, and I like that a lot. It makes the reader think between issue releases, and that’s what you want a comic to do.

The art by Francesco Iaquinta and the colours by Chris O’Halloran  certainly fits the type of story that’s being told. While their art is nothing ground breaking or different but it is done decently, this isn’t slight against their hard work just an observation.

Overall this is a slightly above average issue with a story that has the potential to be excellent. It’s certainly worth seeing what is going to happen next in issue 2.

7/10

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You can pick up Croak #1 for $2.99usd on Comixology 

Croak #2 will be released October 5th, 2016

Check out The Croak Twitter account: @CROAKcomic

Follow writer Cody Andrew Sousa on Twitter as well: @WhyImCAS

Why It’s Important To Pre-Order Comics

 

Let’s get right to it. Without readers like you and I pre-ordering comic books, it is tough for a creator to continue making comics. 

Pre-orders are essential for print run numbers. The general rule for a physical copy is the more copies you print, the cheaper it costs. The lower the price, the better likely hood of creators breaking even or even making a small profit.

You might be thinking that pre-ordering doesn’t matter cause comic shops will have them just like video game stores always have newly released games right? Wrong.

There was a time many years ago when pre-ordering a new triple-A video game was essential, or you would have to wait months for more copies to arrive at your favourite retailer. That is not the case today the industry adapted to the explosion in consumer consumption of video games. It’s unwise to pre-order video games due to companies getting cash up front. They have little obligation to give you a completed game and charge you later for the rest of it marketed as DLC (downloadable content). So please don’t pre-order your video games!

In the comic book, industry pre-orders are everything. If you do not tell your local shop that you want this new comic coming out in a couple of months, chances are they will not order it unless it’s a bigger know name. Even if your the only one who orders the comic the shop owner will not have a problem with that because it’s a guaranteed sale. Like I’ve said in the past profit margins are tight for everyone involved (except for diamond comics distributors). Shop owners are constantly trying to balance what their customers want and what they think will bring in new customers, and how much to order of each title. Pre-Orders make everyone’s life easier.

There are minimum orders required for a creators comic book to be distributed through the direct market to brick and mortar comic shops. Comics are ordered two months in advance through retailers. If the creators comic does not hit the standard minimum order diamond may try again next month but usually will cancel the title. The creator(s) are left to sell it themselves online and at conventions. The sad truth is that none of the previous avenues mentioned guarantees sales, even with great press and hype around the comic.

The issue that arises next is shop friendliness and not being located near a comic shop. Unfortunately, some stores can be run by elitist fanboys that scoff at customers who are not diehard and knowledgeable  comic fans. I like to think those are rare. For the most part, comic shop owners and employees are friendly, knowledgeable and willing to make recommendations for new and long time customers alike. If your shop is not like this, find another one, it’s not worth your time or money.

For those who do not have a local comic book store Comixolgy has recently made it possible to pre-order digital comic books and have a pull list just like a brick and mortar store. If you prefer complete stories, you can pre-order/order the volumes (trade paperbacks / hardcovers) from your local comic shop as well as Amazon and any other online book retailer that carries them. Kickstarter has been a great and easy way to, get comics as well. Creators calculate what goal is needed to make and ship copies to backers, and it’s delivered right to your door. Just pledge hope the campaign reaches its goal (also give you the incentive to share the project to help them out) and wait for it to arrive. This waiting period is usually longer than when pre-ordering through a comic shop.

Comic book writer Kieron Gillen (known for writing Young Avengers & Origin II for Marvel Comics and his current creator-owned project the Wicked + the Divine through Image Comics) created a step by step comic strip on how to pre-order a comic book a couple of years ago and it worth reposting here.