Rob Liefeld On Why Deadpool Is Not Deathstroke

With the surprise test footage of DC Comics character DeathStroke released on Ben Affleck’s Twitter account recently, Marvel and DC  fans have started going at each claiming that Deathstroke can not hold the audience Deadpool does.

The age old debate of Deadpool is just a rip-off Deathstroke has also been brought back up, with many fans pointing out the similarities. Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld recently spoke on Nerdy Pop‘s Youtube  Channel about five differences that don’t make Deathstroke and Deadpool the same character.

 

Marvel and DC have a long history of “Borrowing” ideas from each other. Green Arrow/Hawkeye, Batman/IronMan, and Namor/Aquaman just to name a few.

While it’s easy to point out similarities between the two aesthetically and their origin stories, it’s important to point out their age and personalities are completely different. Deathstroke is an excellent character in his own right, check him out in the DC animated movies and the Batman Arkham Video games. While he might not be a huge as Deadpool, he can certainly hold his own in any form of storytelling.

What are your thoughts on Deadpool and Deathstroke? Are they the same or different? Let me know in the comments section.

 

We Review Monty The Dinosaur #1

Variant Cover By Eryk Donovan

 

What would it be like if you were the last talking dinosaur on earth? Would you enjoy the solitude or would you try to fit in with humans desperately? Monty The Dinosaur tackles these questions and more in it’s first all ages issue.

Monty has been in a cave and lonely for a long time. Wanting to make friends, Monty has his doubts about humans not running away at the sight of him. He eventually decides he’s determined to make friends despite his appearance and sets out to do so the best a dinosaur can do to be accepted.

Writer Bob Frantz created a funny 4th wall breaking story that is a joy to read. Many comic book readers now have children of their own (myself included), So even if your child isn’t quite old enough to read or understand a story yet it’s worth picking up for the future. It is rare to find good all ages books these days, and It’s great to see a comic that doesn’t treat kids like they’re dumb.

The Art of Jean Franco is great. To me, It’s like a cross between newspaper comic strip and children’s book style art. Great panel flow and the colours are on point, happy to see it’s not blindingly bright like some all age stories. I showed my one-year-old a page and he smiled and wanted to take it from my computer screen so I can vouch for the arts appeal to children.

 

If you or your child is a hardcore dinosaur fan, this is a must purchase. Regardless of your age or degree of liking dinosaurs, this is a fun comic, and in a world where comics can be too serious at times this is a nice breather. I look forward to the rest of this series.

10/10

 

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Wether you’re a long time reader of Action Lab Entertainment Comics or new to them they have recently changed their rating system for their comics.

NEW RATING SYSTEM:
E: Appropriate for everyone
A: Appropriate for ages 9 and up
T: For readers ages 12 and up
T+: For older teen readers and adults
M: Mature readers 18+

As always you can purchase Monty The Dinosaur at your local comic shop (provided your store ordered the title. This is why pre-orders are necessary for comics!)

You can also purchase a digital copy from Comixology

For more information check out www.actionlabcomics.com

Follow on Twitter: @ActionLab

 

 

Stan Lee VS Jack (King) Kirby

Stan Lee is the most recognisable name in comic books. His name and Marvel go hand in hand in everyday conversations among comic fans and MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movie watchers. Stan is perceived as the happy old man who makes iconic cameos in movies based on “his” creation, but did Stan create the likes of the Fantastic Four, The Incredible  Hulk, Iron Man, The Avengers, The X-Men and, the most famous of all Spider-Man?

This is not the first time this question has been brought up, in fact in the past few years it has come up more frequently. While the average person or Stan Lee fanboy might think this is a ridiculous notion, there is quite a lot of evidence to support the challenge of Stan’s Legacy.

When you get into reading comic books regardless of age, you are told that back in the 1960’s Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Created what we know today as the Marvel Universe. With Stan getting the majority of the credit, and for the most part the only name mentioned regarding who created what. Stan’s story is that he would come up with an idea or plot then give it to Jack, and he would return the art to him with a few suggestions. Stan would then write in dialogue to fit the art.

The other side of the coin is that it was Jack Kirby who did the majority or the creating. It is said that Jack would not only do the art but write the majority of each issue, key concepts and plot lines. Stan would have no idea about the story or even the idea till very late in the publication process. What Stan did do was make Kirby’s writing a little more appealing to read.

According to this interview, Jack and his wife Roz Kirby did with The Comics Journal in 1990, four years before his death, Stan had virtually nothing to do with creating the Marvel Universe.

GROTH; When did you meet Stan Lee for the first time?

KIRBY: I met Stan Lee when I first went to work for Marvel. He was a little boy. When Joe and I were doing Captain America. He was about 13 years old. He’s about five years younger than me.

GROTH: Did you keep in touch with him at all?

KIRBY: No, I thought Stan Lee was a bother.

GROTH: [Laughter.]

KIRBY: I did!

GROTH: What do you mean by “bother”?

KIRBY: You know he was the kind of kid that liked to fool around — open and close doors on you. Yeah. In fact, once I told Joe to throw him out of the room.

GROTH; Because he was a pest?

KIRBY: Yes, he was a pest. Stan Lee was a pest. He liked to irk people and it was one thing I couldn’t take.

GROTH: Hasn’t changed a bit, huh?

KIRBY: He hasn’t changed a bit. I couldn’t do anything about Stan Lee because he was the publisher’s cousin. He ran back and forth around New York doing things that he was told to do. He would slam doors and come up to you and look over your shoulder and annoy you in a lot of ways. Joe would probably elaborate on it.

GROTH: When you went to Marvel in ’58 and ’59, Stan was obviously there.

KIRBY: Yes, and he was the same way.

 GROTH:And you two collaborated on all the monster stories?

KIRBY: Stan Lee and I never collaborated on anything! I’ve never seen Stan Lee write anything. I used to write the stories just like I always did.

GROTH:On all the monster stories it says “Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.” What did he do to warrant his name being on them?

KIRBY: Nothing! OK?

GROTH:Did he dialogue them?

KIRBY: No, I dialogued them. If Stan Lee ever got a thing dialogued, he would get it from someone working in the office. I would write out the whole story on the back of every page. I would write the dialogue on the back or a description of what was going on. Then Stan Lee would hand them to some guy and he would write in the dialogue. In this way Stan Lee made more pay than he did as an editor. This is the way Stan Lee became the writer. Besides collecting the editor’s pay, he collected writer’s pay. I’m not saying Stan Lee had a bad business head on. I think he took advantage of whoever was working for him.

GROTH:But he was essentially serving in a capacity as an editorial liaison between you and the publisher?

KIRBY: Yes, he wasn’t exactly an editor, or anything like that. Even as a young boy, he’d be hopping around — I think he had a flute, and he was playing on his flute.

GROTH:The Pied Piper.

KIRBY: Yeah. He’d come up and annoy me, and I told Joe to throw him out.

GROTH:Stan wrote, “Jack and I were having a ball turning out monster stories.’’ Were you having a ball. Jack?

KIRBY: Stan Lee was having the ball.

GROTH:You turned out monster stories for two or three years I think. Then the first comic that rejuvenated superheroes that you did was The Fantastic four. Can you explain how that came about?

KIRBY: I had to do something different. The monster stories have their limitations — you can just do so many of them. And then it becomes a monster book month after month, so there had to be a switch because the times weren’t exactly conducive to good sales. So I felt the idea was to come up with new stuff all the time — in other words there had to be a blitz. And I came up with this blitz. I came up withThe Fantastic Four, I came up with Thor (I knew the Thor legends very well), and the Hulk, the X-Men, and The Avengers. I revived what I could and came up with what I could. I tried to blitz the stands with new stuff. The new stuff seemed to gain momentum.

GROTH:Let me ask you something that I think is an important point: Stan wrote the way you guys worked — and I think he’s referring to the monster stories specifically here — he wrote, “I had only to give Jack an outline of the story and he would draw the entire strip breaking down the outline into exactly the right number of panels. Then it remained for me to take Jack’s artwork and add the captions and dialogue which would hopefully add a dimension of reality to sharply delineated characterization.” So he’s saying that he gave you a plot, and you would draw it, and he would add the captions and dialogue.

ROZ KIRBY: I remember Jack would call him up and say it’s going to be this kind of story or that kind of story and just send him the story. And he’d write in everything on the side.

KIRBY: Remember this: Stan Lee was an editor. He worked from nine to five doing business for Martin Goodman. In other words he didn’t do any writing in the office. He did Martin Goodman’s business. That was his function. There were people coming up to the office to talk all the time. They weren’t always artists, they were business people. Stan Lee was the first man they would see and Stan Lee would see if he could get them in to see Martin Goodman. That was Stan Lee’s function.

When asked about the creation of the Fantastic Four Jack continues with blunt honesty.

GROTH:Can you tell me give me your version of how The Fantastic Four came about? Did Stan go to you…?

KIRBY: No, Stan didn’t know what a mutation was. I was studying that kind of stuff all the time. I would spot it in the newspapers and science magazines. I still buy magazines that are fanciful. I don’t read as much science fiction as I did at that time. 1 was a student of science fiction and I began to make up my own story patterns, my own type of people. Stan Lee doesn’t think the way I do. Stan Lee doesn’t think of people when he thinks of [characters]. I think of [characters] as real people. If I drew a war story it would be two guys caught in the war. The Fantastic Four to me are people who were in a jam — suddenly you find yourself invisible, suddenly you find yourself flexible.

ROZ KIRBY: Gary wants to know how you created The Fantastic Four.

GROTH: Did you approach Marvel or —

KIRBY: It came about very simply. I came in [to the Marvel offices] and they were moving out the furniture, they were taking desks out — and I needed the work! I had a family and a house and all of a sudden Marvel is coming apart. Stan Lee is sitting on a chair crying. He didn’t know what to do, he’s sitting in a chair crying —he was just still out of his adolescence. I told him to stop crying. I says. “Go in to Martin and tell him to stop moving the furniture out, and I’ll see that the books make money.” And I came up with a raft of new books and all these books began to make money. Somehow they had faith in me. I knew 1 could do it, but I had to come up with fresh characters that nobody had seen before. I came up with The Fantastic Four. I came up with Thor. Whatever it took to sell a book I came up with. Stan Lee has never been editorial minded. It wasn’t possible for a man like Stan Lee to come up with new things — or old things for that matter. Stan Lee wasn’t a guy that read or that told stories. Stan Lee was a guy that knew where the papers were or who was coming to visit that day. Stan Lee is essentially an office worker, OK? I’m essentially something else: I’m a storyteller. My job is to sell my stories. When I saw this happening at Marvel I stopped the whole damned bunch. I stopped them from moving the furniture! Stan Lee was sitting on some kind of a stool, and he was crying.

GROTH: Stan says he conceptualized virtually everything in The Fantastic Four — that he came up with all the characters. And then he said that he wrote a detailed synopsis for Jack to follow.

ROZ KIRBY: I’ve never seen anything.

KIRBY: I’ve never seen it, and of course I would say that’s an outright lie.

GROTH:Stan pretty much takes credit in an introduction to one of his books for creating all the characters in The Fantastic Four. He also said he created the name.

KIRBY: No, he didn’t.

GROTH: The next character, if I remember correctly, was The Hulk. If I remember correctly you drew a six-issue run of that, then it was cancelled for a little while, then Steve Ditko started it in an anthology book called Tales to Astonish. Can you talk a little bit about how you were involved in creating The Hulk?

KIRBY: The Hulk I created when I saw a woman lift a car. Her baby was caught under the running board of this car. The little child was playing in the gutter and he was crawling from the gutter onto the sidewalk under the running board of this car — he was playing in the gutter. His mother was horrified. She looked from the rear window of the car, and this woman in desperation lifted the rear end of the car. It suddenly came to me that in desperation we can all do that — we can knock down walls, we can go berserk, which we do. You know what happens when we’re in a rage — you can tear a house down. I created a character who did all that and called him the Hulk. I inserted him in a lot of the stories I was doing. Whatever the Hulk was at the beginning I got from that incident. A character to me can’t be contrived. I don’t like to contrive characters. They have to have an element of truth. This woman proved to me that the ordinary person in desperate circumstances can transcend himself and do things that he wouldn’t ordinarily do. I’ve done it myself. I’ve bent steel.

GROTH:Well, this is probably going to shock you, but Stan takes full credit for creating the Hulk. He’s written, “Actually, ideas have always been the easiest part of my various chores.” And then he went on to say that in creating The Hulk, “It would be my job to take a clichéd concept and make it seem new and fresh and exciting and relevant. Once again, I decided that Jack Kirby would be the artist to breathe life into our latest creation. So the next time we met, I outlined the concept I’d been toying with for weeks.”

KIRBY: Yes, he was always toying with concepts. On the contrary, it was I who brought the ideas to Stan. I brought the ideas to DC as well, and that’s how business was done from the beginning.

GROTH:Stan also claimed he created the name. “the Hulk.”

KIRBY: No, he didn’t.

ROZ KIRBY: It’s just his word against Stan’s.

GROTH:There was a period between ’61 and ’63 when you were just drawing a tremendous number of books.

ROZ KIRBY: May I make one point? In all these years, when Jack was still creating things, Stan Lee hasn’t been creating things. When Jack left Stan, there wasn’t anything new created by Stan.

KIRBY: Yeah. Stan never created anything new after that. If he says he created things all that easily, what did he create after I left? That’s the point. Have they done anything new? He’ll probably tell you, “I didn’t have to.”

GROTH:Can I ask what your involvement in Spider-Man was?

KIRBY: I created Spider-Man. We decided to give it to Steve Ditko. I drew the first Spider-Man cover. I created the character. I created the costume. I created all those books, but I couldn’t do them all. We decided to give the book to Steve Ditko who was the right man for the job. He did a wonderful job on that.

So you have two people telling two completely different stories, surprise right? Sadly there is practically no one alive from that time that was involved with Marvel at the time except Steve Ditko who still continues to produce independent comics and has remained silent and out of the public eye for years.

Many Creators have supported the fact that Kirby did the majority if not sole creating of Marvels most famous heroes. Even controversial and designated grumpy old man of comics Alan Moore believes Jack to be workhorse behind the creations. Check out a short video of him answering a fan question about Stan Lee here

Needless to say, I’m inclined to believe the Kirby camp. I have always thought if Stan was this creative machine how come he has not created anything significant since Jack left Marvel? Jack and Roz even pointed that out in The Comics Journal interview. Let’s be honest any of Stan’s new comic properties suck or are certainly not anywhere close to the quality of his claimed previous “creations.”

Many people believe Marvel put Stan in cameos in the Marvel movies cause well he’s Stan Lee. No. He sued Marvel for not making any money from the original Spider-Man movie. Not only did he win the suit (He is also the only one to sue Marvel successfully) Stan won the right to be in every Marvel property and receives a reported million dollar a year salary from Marvel.

We are talking about a man who used to have “Stan Lee Presents” on every Marvel comic book. Not “Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Present”. He even said one time publicly that he created Captian America. He didn’t create Captian America that was Joe Simion and Jack Kirby. While Stan has talked highly of Kirby and his other “collaborators”, he will kind of backpedal on questions of contribution and creation for a legal reason as well as moral I suppose.

Stan Lee is one of the best self-promoters and even managed a couple of catchy (if not sometimes annoying) catch phrases Excelsior! And True Believer. Is he evil? No. Shaddy? I’d say yes. He is not the first person to profit off of someone else’s work, and he won’t be the last.  

The reason credit is such an important issue in the comic book industry is because of the amount of work creators put into creating fantastic entertainment. It’s a genuinely collaborative medium, and back in the early days of comics artists were fighting for recognition and fair pay. Even today pencilers, letterers, inkers and colourists are struggling for recognition, while writers are given most of the credit.

It’s important to point out (and this is of course widely debated among fans and pros alike) that you can create a comic without a writer. If the artist is a talented storyteller, you don’t need words to tell a story. A writer without an artist is essentially a short story or script writer. Without pictures with the words, there is no comic book, but so long as there are pictures you have a comic. Jack was proof of this.

At this point you might be thinking this is a pretty one-sided article favouring  Jack Kirby, well it is. If you want to hear Stan’s side, there is no shortage of him talking about how he created the Marvel Universe. Just google search and take you pick of written and video interviews. What I found hard to find when I googled Jack Kirby was his side of the story, and the fact not too many people know about it. People are going to make their own choice on who to believe (at least I hope so).

Many Stan Lee supports say that without Stan there would be no Jack Kirby. They could not be more wrong. Jack had already made a name for himself when he co-created Captain America in 1940 a good 20 years before the start of the Marvel Universe, so it’s not like Jack wasn’t known before being associated with Stan. If anything without Jack Kirby there would be no Stan Lee.

To be fair Stan has been the face of Marvel for a long time, even during bad times when Marvel was on the verge of bankruptcy, his tireless promotion kept marvel in the public eye, and it was also a great benefit for him to so. It seems Stan does nothing that will not help him personally.

Stan has said that the 2016 convention season will be his last, and at the age of 93 I don’t blame him. For anyone wanting to get there Stan Lee comic signed this will be your last chance, but before you rush to your long box or hit up your local comic shop to find some vintage comics of “his” make sure you got enough cash to get each one signed. Yes, the man who “created” much also profits much. Stan is charging  $100 Canadian per signature at Fanexpo Canada (our dollar sucks so I get why it has to be higher) so about $70-80 American. The line usually spans the majority of the convention floor, so we’re talking hours of wait time. The general notion with fans is that his signature will be worth a lot when he eventually passes away, and others just want it for sentimental value and there belief that he created whatever comic there getting signed. To contrast that most creators even legends in the industry charge nothing or a more reasonable fee like 10 or 15 dollars a signature (It’s only reasonable compared to Stan’s fee, I’m not a fan of signature fee’s, in general, i do however understand charging for retailer exclusive variant comics)

The reality is there is no shortage of his signature’s, and unless you get the comic, graded and got the signature verified by a CGC (Certified Guaranty Company) employee in person it’s worth next to nothing. Signatures do not always increase the value of the comic in fact it can hurt the value, what does make a comic valuable is the rarity, and or cultural significance of it. I think once people start to realise Stan had little to do with Jacks creations the less his signature will be worth in the collectors market.

So is Stan Lee the Creator or co- creator of the Marvel Universe? The evidence suggests that he is not either. Jack Kirby and his family never reaped the benefits of his hard work, thankfully after a lengthy battle in the courts recently the family got a settlement out of court and Jack Kirby is starting to get the recognition he deserves even if it is too late. It was Marvel and not the Kirby family who sued. Marvel was suing over the Kirbys termination of copyright assignment they had filed.

I bring this all up just a  before what would have Jack’s 99th birthday (August 28th). It is also nice to see Marvel Acknowledge Kirby by having a week long celebration of his work, although this was probably worked out over the settlement out of court with the Kirby family. Marvel would barely mention him before the lawsuit.

These days I rather hear more about Jack Kirby than Stan Lee, and while I know I didn’t cover all the different variables and topics, it is a very in-depth issue, and I can only hold people’s attention for so long. So perhaps I will do another article on the topic later on down the line.

Happy Birthday to Jack King Kirby The King of Comics.

DC Planning 8-hour Live Streaming Event In September

CBR is reporting that DC Entertainment will be doing an 8-hour Live stream on their DC All Access YouTube channel. The event is in honour of  DC All Access hitting the 1 million subscriber milestone.

Tiffany Smith and Jason Inman will be hosting the live event, which will include interviews with comic book writers, insider information, news updates and much much more.

Paul Malmont, DC’s director of digital marketing content, said “Now, more than ever, we’re committed to bringing unique, entertaining stories about all things DC to our fans. The first-ever DC All Access all-day live stream event is a thank you to our fans for their support,”

 

Fire up your PC or download the free DC All Access app to watch the stream that is taking place September 2nd, 2016 at 9 a.m. PST.

 

Sex Criminals Artist Chip Zdarsky Announces Zdarscon 2016

 

Chip Zdarsky (Artist of Sex Criminals and writer of Howard The Duck)  announced today via Twitter/Tumblr his own convention called Zdarscon. It will be happening Saturday, September 3rd 11am-6pm at a secret location somewhere in downtown Toronto Ontario Canada.  The location will be revealed the Saturday morning.

Chip will be bringing some of his friends along this time such as The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl writer  Ryan North and Scott Pilgrim creator Byan Lee O’Malley. Chip also states on his con banner ‘special surprise guests’. Considering Chips connections and friendships in the industry could we possibly see Matt Fraction and  Kelly Sue DeConnick?  That Chip sure knows how to draw a crowd.

Chip held a one man “convention” featuring himself directly across from Fanexpo, signing and selling comics and sketch covers back in 2014.

Zdarscon will be taking place the same weekend as Fanexpo Canada (at the convention centre in downtown Toronto). If you can’t afford to go to Fanexpo this year and are going to be in the Toronto area, Zdarscon seems like it will be an excellent alternative.

Robert Kirkman To End Invincible With 12-Part Story Arc

CBR is reporting that The Walking Dead Creator Robert Kirkman has announced the end of his superhero comic Invincible at Image Comics.

Synopsis for Invincible provided by Image Comics:

Mark Grayson is teenage superhero Invincible. He was a normal high school senior with a normal part-time job and otherwise normal life, except his father Nolan is the superhero Omni-Man, the most powerful superhero on the planet. At the age of 17, Mark begins to display superpowers, which come from his father being a member of the Viltrumite race, who, according to Nolan, pioneer the galaxy on a mission of benevolence and enlightenment. As Invincible, Mark begins working as a superhero, with his father acting as his mentor, and meeting other heroes. Mark worked occasionally with a superhero team called the Teen Team (consisting of Robot, Rex Plode, Dupli-Kate and Atom Eve), from there discovering that his Physics teacher has been turning his students into human bombs. He stops his teacher with the help of the heroine, Atom Eve. He also foils a plan to make an army of robots, created by the Mauler Twins. Meanwhile, Omni-Man is kidnapped by aliens, taken to another dimension, but returns after what seems to be only a few days, but was actually eight months to him. 

Invincible first appeared inTech Jacket #1 in November 2002. His own solo series debuted in January 2003, the same year Kirkman released The Walking Dead comic. Invincible was co-created with artist Cory Walker who did the covers and interiors for the first 7 issues. Ryan Ottley took over pencilling duties at issue 8.

The 12-story arc conclusion will begin this November with issue #133 and will finish with issue #144. 

Kirkman sent a letter to media outlets explaining his reason for ending the 13-year comic series.

“My greatest hope in life is to one day, when I’m much older, be reading an INVINCIBLE comic book by younger creators I haven’t met, who are doing a book that I hate.”

I’ve been asked many times over the thirteen years of writing INVINCIBLE how long I think this book will go. Some form of that statement has always been my answer. I always thought it would be a great honor to see Invincible rise to the level of Superman or Spider-Man in the pantheon of comic book superheroes. Characters who far outlived their original stories and eventually transformed into story engines that sort of tell the same story (to a certain extent) in perpetuity for generation after generation.

It wasn’t until recently that I realized that goes against everything INVINCIBLE, as a series, has stood for since the very beginning. When Cory Walker and I created him, and with Ryan Ottley, since he joined the team with issue 8, the point of this series has always been to celebrate what we love about superhero comics, but always put our own spin on it. To play with the tropes of the genre, but twist them into something new, at all times, no matter what.

That is why villains sometimes win, and heroes give up… and eventually stop being heroes altogether… and change happens, and sticks, and characters die, and never come back… no matter how popular they are (we maybe should have kept Conquest alive).

So then, it stands to reason, that if most superhero comics continue forever with no end in sight and over their runs do not, in any way, tell a cohesive story that holds together to form a singular narrative… shouldn’t INVINCIBLE do the exact opposite?

It’s been many years now that Ryan Ottley and myself, with occasional help from co-creator Cory Walker (issue 130 in stores soon!) have been chronicling the adventures of Mark Grayson and the many characters that orbit his life. As I began plotting out the issues that lay ahead of us over this next year, I started to realize I was reaching a… conclusion. The big Viltrumite epic, which began with Nolan Grayson going to Earth and fathering Mark, and kicked off with their confrontation all those years ago in issue 11… was coming to an end. Everything was converging in this one story, and looking back, I realized I’d been working toward this the whole time. In talking it over with Ryan I learned, much to my surprise, that the idea of drawing something other than INVINCIBLE someday… and not being stuck in this monthly grind we’ve been in for well over a decade… appealed to him. So it was clear, I was writing to a conclusion and Ryan was also drawing to one.

So that led to the question of what comes next?

I briefly considered bringing on another team, starting that eventual march to that book I’d read in my old age and throw across the room saying, “This isn’t INVINCIBLE!” And while I did consider some really cool options that would have led to some really cool issues of INVINCIBLE… more and more as I thought about it, I realized ending the series was the right thing to do.

So that’s what we’re doing! Issue 144, the conclusion of the 12-part epic THE END OF ALL THINGS, will be the final issue of Invincible. I’m sure when it’s all said and done, I’ll be sad, and I know I will miss these characters, but for the time being, I’m excited. Ryan will be coming back to the book with issue 133 in November, and we’re going to hit the ground running. We’ve got a wild ride in store for the fans where we’re going to touch every corner of the Invincible Universe, and in the end, tie things up in a really cool and unexpected way.

So we’ve got a little over a year to go, and it’s going to be one hell of a year! So please join us for our swan song, thirteen years in the making! We couldn’t have done it without you, the fans, so lets all cross the finish line together!

Robert Kirkman

Backwoods, CA

2016

 

 

The Comic Mint: Comic Box Review

The Comic Mint is a website based out of Stamford, Connecticut USA that offers a commission-free marketplace for sellers and buyers of comics. They also have a pretty awesome deal going on right in honour of the relaunch of their site.

The Comic Mint offers 12 different themed boxes of  comics:

1.All number Ones: 10 different number one issues across all publishing lines (DC, MARVEL, IMAGE and other independents)

2: All things X: 10 different mutant related issues

3.Anything Goes: A true mixed grab bag of 10 books across all lines and themes. For the person who likes surprises.

4. Batman: 10 different issues that feature the Dark Knight.

5.   DC Superheroes: 10 different DC superhero issues. May include individual character titles or team books.

6. Independents: 10 different books from independent publishers (Image, Valiant, Dark Horse, etc.)

7. Marvel Superheroes: 10 different Marvel superhero issues. May include individual character titles or team books.

8. Punisher: 10 different books that feature the Punisher.

9. Spiderman: 10 different books that feature the web-slinger.

10. Superheroines: 10 different books that feature female superheroes.

11. Superman: 10 different books that feature the man of steel.

12. Wolverine: 10 different books that feature Wolverine.

Each box cost $19.95 USD and $5.00 Shipping per box. International orders are accepted. Each box you order comes with a  very limited free Harley Quinn Rebirth #1 Variant (3000 printed) by artist Francis Manapul. If you just want the variant issue, it’s $19.99.

I discovered The Comic Mint by following Francis Manapul (@FrancisManapul) on Twitter. He posted a link and once I saw the cover and the deal, I had to order a couple of boxes. I choose the Batman and Wolverine. The site assures you that you’re not going to get any garbage comics in the boxes. They understand and take pride in choosing quality titles that they have for each box. I can assure you as well that the comics I received ranged from decent to surprising!  Here are some of the highlights from boxes I received.

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The other comics were cool short story arcs I’ve not had a chance to read yet, but I am looking forward to reading them. Overall I was very pleased with my purchase; boxes arrived in a reasonable amount of time, and the condition of each comic is shockingly excellent. Also, all the number one’s are all first prints as far as I can tell. So great value for your dollar and you get a free copy of an excellent Harley Quinn variant. If you want the variant, I suggest you order ASAP.

 This is a one time order, not a monthly subscription

Check out The Comic Mint’s website Here

Twitter: @comic_mint

Recommendation: Alterna Comics 10th AnniverSERIES Anthology

In this day and age of comics, it’s tough being an independent publisher. There are so many currently producing content all working hard to keep doing what they love while still trying to maintain a business. While trying just to keep business steady, it’s even more challenging to grow and expand. For an independent company regardless of industry to make it ten years is quite the accomplishment.

2016 marks the tenth anniversary of Alterna Comics. In honour of the milestone achievement, Alterna is releasing 432 page black and white anthology that highlights some of the best stories and characters from the Alterna universe.

Anytime you’re considering investing in an indie comic/publisher there is always a fair amount of uncertainty. Is this purchase going to be worth my money and time? Am I going to be able to get these issues or trades easily?  Do they have a regular or consistent release schedule?

This anthology is an excellent way to answer some of those questions and get introduced to a new indie publisher. It gives you a taste of their variety of content and allows you to find out what’s currently available from them. Some stories are even seeing physical print for the first time. I would love to see more publishers release anthologies like Alterna’s (those who can). $20.00 USD for 432 pages is a great value even if you only like a couple of stories out of the whole anthology it’s well worth the investment.

Here is a preview of some of the 432 pages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I can’t stress the importance of supporting indie content, especially if you’re a fan of a particular book or series. In the age of pirating and tough economic times, I understand it’s easy to give in to the temptation. Comics though whether indie or mainstream is a tuff business, with small profit margins. Many creators do this as a passion and are trying to turn it into a living, while still working a usually crappy day job. These men and women go through a lot to create entertainment for us on a regular basis, so please support and encourage the people who create the entertainment you enjoy so they can continue to produce more of it.

You can pre-order the AnniverSERIES at you local comic shop. Code is AUG161118

If you don’t have a local comic shop you can also pre-order on Amazon

Check out Alterna’s website for more information here

AnniverSERIES is set for an October 2016 release.

We Review “The Human Eating Pumpkins” In Blood & Gourd #2

(If you have not read my review of issue #1 click here )

Blood & Gourd #2 starts off with a brief glimpse into the origin of the human eating pumpkins and then brings you back to where issue one left off. Men, women and children are running for their lives through the fairgrounds and corn fields, desperately trying to avoid having their heads eaten by pumpkins. Tension is high and fuses are short with the Olympia, Washington locals as they try to figure out what’s going on and more importantly how to get to safety.

Jenz Lund and D.H Shultis put together a fast paced action packed issue. The gore is brought up another level, in both a good and disturbing way. Some dark humour and pop culture references highlight the issue well. (I personally liked the man in black reference)

Juan Antonio Ramirez who drew the fantastic cover to issue 1 has taken over interior art duties from interior artist Dave Acosta ( He seems to be still involved with the comic with credit as a consultant on this issue). Changing an artist can dramatically affect the feel of your book and can be risky if fans liked the previous art. I see no reason to be concerned about Juan’s art. it’s not a drastic style change, and it’s most importantly still visually appealing.

 

Fran Gamboa’s colours are not surprisingly on point once again. Good tone and contrast in each panel.

I recognised an improvement to the lettering; it was just something that caught my attention. I know letterers don’t get a whole lot of credit, but without a high quality, letterer it makes reading any comic a chore and reading a comic should never be a chore. Great work JC Ruiz.

This was another enjoyable read. If you enjoyed issue one, you will want to pre-order issue 2.

8/10

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You can pre-order the print version of Issue 2 for $4.99 USD which is available September 2016 (issue one is available now) at  bloodandgourd.bigcartel.com

Digital versions (same dates apply as print) can be purchased at bloodandgourd.com

 Twitter: @bloodandgourd

Facebook: bloodandgourd

Instagram: @bloodandgourd

Now you might be wondering ok I can get the first two issues but when is issue 3 coming out? I thought of this same question; I got you guys covered! I was talking to Jenz Lund, and he told me issue 3 is written at least but no solid date on the release yet. They are trying to figure out the best way for them to get the 3 issue made. You can guarantee once we find out here at Skatronixxx, we will let you guys know!

While it can be frustrating for a reader haveing to wait extended periods for the next issue, just keep a few things in mind. They don’t have the financial backing of a big publisher, they have to pay for everything up front before they start selling their book, and coordinating a team is not always an easy task. Countless other things go into making a single comic that I don’t have time to go into, just know it’s a lot, and know creators feel the pressure to get them out as fast as possible without sacrificing the quality.

So hopefully that calms a little bit of frustration that you might come across.

Until the next review, happy reading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We Review Top New Comic ‘Blood & Gourd #1’

While the heat of summer is still very apparent, in a short month or so fall will be upon us, and that means Halloween will be just around the corner. Fans of horror will be binge watching their favourite movies and reading their favourite books. Hopefully, this review will persuade you to add Blood & Gourd to your list.

“It’s Devil’s Night in Olympia, WA- and out at Henderson Farms, the festivities are reaching a crescendo. Young and old have gathered to pick their own pumpkin, drink hot apple cider, and partake in the usual pumpkin farm fare. However, something has awakened from deep within the fertile soil. After years of abuse and humiliation, the pumpkins… are ready to pick us. You can beg! You can plead! You can scream! But these Hell’s lanterns are lit only with the burning desire to watch you die.”

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started to read Blood & Gourd. A horror story about pumpkins? It could have turned out any number ways, but thankfully I was pleasantly surprised. Horror is always subject to what a reader considers scary or shocking, while I didn’t find it scary personally the shock value is certainly there.

Jenz K. Lund & D.H. Shultis nail the pacing of the story and give you plenty of content for your money (48 pages which are more than two comics worth of story for $6.99 US)

Dave Acosta’s art is good but is particularly excellent when it comes to the gore; I love it. The way Dave draws the pumpkin vines is great and stood out to me for some reason.

Juan Antonio Ramirez’s cover is excellent and a little reminiscent of a villain you would see The Tick go against.

Fran Gamboa’s colours on the cover and interiors fit the tone of the book great and gives you a fairly authentic town fair feel. The gore scenes aren’t over highlighted with super bright blood, there just right.

Blood & Gourd is a story worth investing in. It leaves a lot of questions you want to know the answers to and is something different to try out if you have never gotten into horror comics before. If you’re tired of the mainstream comics, consider supporting this excellent indie title.

9/10

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You can purchase a digital copy of Blood & Gourd #1 Here

You can purchase the print copy and pre-order issue #2 (Available September 2016) Here

Follow them on Twitter: @bloodandgourd

I will have an advance review of Issue #2 up in the next few days, Monday at the latest. Keep checking back here at Skatronixx.com!