What do Game of Thrones, Ghostbusters and Aliens all have in common? Each one has a limited edition print available at San Diego Comic Con, and each one of these limited prints are done by none other than Patrick Ballesteros, that nostalgic and whimsical “product of the 80’s” who draws inspiration from his childhood. Patrick will be found at San Diego Comic Con in Artists Alley at Table DD-08. [Read more…]
I freaking loved this book and with the release of the second book The Vanishing Throne I had to give it some hype!
Publishing houses today do not like to take risks. They prefer to publish books written by well known authors who have a solid fanbase following. However, people like me, sometimes prefer new writers with styles and stories I have never seen before. People like that find themselves in the world of independent publishers. So here, on this week’s Bookette, we give tribute to those lesser known indie titles, by sharing some of the books we came across this past month. [Read more…]
New books are released every three seconds, however, there are still a lot of old books that are just as good (and sometimes even better) that deserve more attention than most people care to give. With this new segment we revisit some of these old titles that are timeless and quite unforgettable.
For this week’s book I chose to review the latest classic (more like modern classic) I have personally read, and that is Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. If you are a fan of ugly and depressing stories, then this is the short story for you! [Read more…]
Here is my latest review of the book Sleeping Tom by E.V. Fairfall. I was lucky enough to be selected for the Sleeping Tom’s Booktube Tour run by LovingDemBooks. E.V. Fairfall is an indie author that provides a very unique story.
Check out my review below!
Happy Reading,
Aly
Image Comics was formed by Marvel’s top artists frustrated with their work for hire policies at the time. In 1992 Jim Lee, Todd Mcfarlane, Whilce Portacio, Marc Silvestri, Erik Larsen, Jim Valentino and Rob Liefeld left their high-profile books at Marvel to form a comic company dedicated to creators owning 100% of their rights to their creations.
Image went through some highs and lows, with creators, sales and even partners over the years. In the past five years or so though Image has been putting out many quality titles. Their sales have risen significantly in single issues and trades. With Image’s sales and popularity growing many of Marvel and DC’s creators have left to pursue their ideas at Image.
Here is a list of exclusives and high profile creators Image is bringing with them to SDCC.
SDCC Variants Sold At The Image Booth #2729 (Limited Quantities)
Paper Girls Book Plate with art by Cliff Chiang (free with purchase of Paper Girls, Vol. 1 at the booth)
Snotgril #1 by Bryan Lee O’Malley & Leslie Hung, $10
Monstress Vol.1 hardcover by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda, $40
Throwaways #1 by Caitlin Kittredge & Steven Sanders, cover art by Roberta Ingranata, $10
Convention Exclusives:
Toyko Ghost, Vol. 1 Convention hardcover by Rick Remender & Sean Gordon Murphy, $35
Sex Criminals Vol.3 convention hardcover by Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky, $35
Complete Signing Schedule:
Wednesday, July 20th
Charlie Adlard, 6 – 6:45 PM
Thursday, July 21st
Joshua Williamson & Adam Guzowski, 10 – 10:45 AM
Sina Grace: 11 – 11:45 AM
Kyle Higgins: 12 – 12:45 PM
Brandon Thomas & Juan Gedeon: 12 – 12:45 PM
Keenan Marshall Keller & Tom Neely/Brian Schirmer & Jeremy Saliba 1 – 1:45 PM
Jason Aaron & Jason Latour: 1 – 1:45 PM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Terry Dodson: 2 – 2:45 PM
Bryan Lee O’Malley & Leslie Hung: 3 – 3:45 PM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Charlie Adlard: 3 – 3:45 PM
Brenden Fletcher & Babs Tarr: 4 – 4:45 PM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Brian Haberlin: 4 – 4:45 PM
Meredith McClaren: 5 – 5:45 PM
Otis Frampton: 5 – 5:45 PM
Friday, July 22nd
Jim Zub: 10 – 10:45 AM
Joe Harris: 10 – 10:45 AM
Cliff Chiang & Jared Fletcher: 11 – 11:45 AM
Nicola Scott: 11 – 11:45 AM
Caitlin Kittredge: 12 – 12:45 PM
Charlie Adlard: 12 – 12:45 PM
Rick Remender: 1 – 1:45 PM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Joshua Williamson: 1 – 1:45 PM
Man of Action Group: Steven T. Seagle, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Duncan Rouleau: 1 – 1:45 PM
Steven T. Seagle & Jason Katzenstein: 1:45 – 2:30 PM
Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda: 2 – 2:45 PM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Bryan Lee O’Malley & Leslie Hung: 3 – 3:45 PM (ticketed, 3item limit)
Spawn Kills Everyone: J.J. Kirby, Liana Hee: 3 – 3:45 PM (signing 100 limited edition Spawn Kills Everyone posters featuring the art of all three SKE covers)
Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie: 4 – 4:45 p.m. (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Ed Brubaker: 4 – 4:45 PM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Andy Belanger & Becky Cloonan: 5 – 5:45 PM
Emi Lenox: 5 – 5:45 PM
Max Landis: 5 – 5:45 PM (ticketed, 3-item limit)
Robert Kirkman: 6 – 7 PM (ticketed)
Saturday, July 23rd
Scott Snyder & Jock: 10 – 10:45 AM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Caitlin Kittredge: 10 – 10:45 AM
Ed Brubaker: 11 – 11:45 AM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Kieron Gillen & Jamie McKelvie: 11 – 11:45 AM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Chris Dingess: 11 – 11:45 AM
Tula Lotay: 12 – 12:45 PM
Dustin Nguyen: 12 – 12:45 PM
Man of Action Group: Steven T. Seagle, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Duncan Rouleau: 1 – 1:45 PM
Jason Latour & Jason Aaron: 1 – 1:45 PM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Brian Buccellato: 2 – 2:45 PM
Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda: 2 – 2:45 PM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Brandon Thomas & Juan Gedeon: 2 – 2:45 PM
Bryan Lee O’Malley & Leslie Hung: 3 – 3:45 PM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Matt Fraction: 3 – 3:45 PM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Nick Spencer: 4 – 4:45 PM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Rick Remender: 4 – 4:45 PM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Shawn Martinbrough: 4 – 4:45 PM
Emi Lenox: 5 – 5:45 PM
Kyle Starks: 5 – 5:45 PM
Sunday, July 24th
Howard Chaykin: 10 – 10:45 AM
Brenden Fletcher: 11 – 11:45 AM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
Cliff Chiang & Jared Fletcher: 12 – 12:45 AM
Ivan Brandon: 2 – 2:45 AM
Bryan Lee O’Malley & Leslie Hung: 3 – 3:45 AM (ticketed, 3 item limit)
As always for all you’re SDCC news and announcements keep checking in at Skatronixxx.com/@Skatronixxx.
(Disclaimer: I had to do some research on this piece from the internet and if any of this is not true, please be kind and leave nice notes, or maybe help to update the internet?) I did, however, buy some of the comic books, but unfortunately I was unable to purchase them all due to the store not having them, so I was only able to read some of the actual story. This is very torturous, I might add. But that just means I need the rest, which means more comics, which is always a plus.)
Tony Stark is the son of Howard and Maria Stark, and has been since the creation by Stan Lee, as far as I know. But now there is a story that has erupted on the nerd scene, sourced from a comic that came out October 27th 2013, stating that Tony Stark is …. Adopted!! WHAT!?!?! And universes are turned upside down…
Origins
Ok, let’s start with the new story: according to the comic, Maria and Howard were expecting a child, yet the pregnancy was not going so well for the couple. There were complications that were threatening the unborn child’s life. Howard went searching across the universe in hopes to find a cure. He then came upon Recorder 451, a member of a race of robotic life forms created by the Rigellians, (who also, just side note, play a role in the X-Men universe regarding the death of Jean Grey and also have associations with She-Hulk) to save him from the Greys ((source: comic book: Iron Man vol. 5 #10)) … the Marvel Universe is so huge and interconnected!!
Recorder 451 had seen potential in the Earth and wanted to colonize, but needed a minion to do so… Howard’s unborn son would be perfect for this. The robot agrees to help, and thus the engineering of the baby (who would later be named Arno), for the purpose of saving his life, starts. (Now mind you, Arno is engineered to be smart and such, unlike our amazing Tony who was born naturally brilliant… just saying.) Ok, jumping quickly through the story, Howard finds out that 451 set some sort of killswitch to activate when child hits puberty, then figures out a way to disarm this by implanting something into Maria. This plan which works, they save child, 451 sees all is well and leaves earth… but this happiness is short lived. Infant Arno becomes sick and a doctor tells the couple the baby will not be able to survive without machine support. Worried that 451 would find out that he tampered with the alien work, the couple decides to hide Arno in the Maria Stark Foundation, in hopes he will never be discovered. They then decide to adopt a child and present him as the genetically engineered offspring. Enter Tony Stark.
Off the Track
OK so, if you are comic book nerd or just love the Stark, you probably are aware of the other Arno storylines out there; One being he is the first cousin once removed, ((source: comic book: Machine Man #2,)) another being he is the nephew of Tony ((source: mentions from the Marvel wikia,)) or possibly Tony’s half brother ((source: Iron Man 2012 #1)) plus many others that the true comic book nerds may know about. And each one has their own convoluted story, and if I go down any of these routes, this article will become a novel instead! So the one we are focusing on is the story of the adoption, so maybe another time….
Who is Arno Stark?
According to this particular story, Arno is the biological son of Maria and Howard Stark. He grew up in the Maria Stark Foundation, and is being kept alive by an iron lung, with a supposed incurable disease… (yeah right… comic books are rewritten and reconnected frequently, so we know this will not last long.) According to the comic he looks nothing like Tony Stark, (which is weird, since Tony looks like Howard Stark, just saying) But anyway, Arno is as brilliant as Tony, or almost, since his was engineered by alien technology. Arno does use a suit called the MMXX, which he pilots alongside Tony in his Iron Man suit.
How Tony Finds Out
In the future, Tony is on a space voyage and meets Recorder 451, who tells him of his supposed origins and alien DNA, and forces him to pilot the Godkiller suit. Tony returns to Earth, confused, as he was unable to make the suit work. Then does his research to find out he was adopted, and there is a real biological son of Howard and Maria out there. He of course goes to the Foundation, meets the real son (Arno) and they figure they can put their amazing brains together and save the world. (Sure… why not? You got it, right?)
What Does This Mean for the Movies????
As we know, Robert Downy Jr., who plays the beloved Iron Man, does not plan on being in the suit forever. In fact he is contracted for maybe three more movies, but one of them is not Iron Man 4. ((source: http://www.slashfilm.com/iron-man-4/)) What of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark? Will the filmmakers try to kill him off? Will he just retire and maybe show up in future films in cameo roles? Or will there be a sort of battle of brother vs. brother later? (In the comic series when Arno is Tony’s cousin, Tony has to fight him… so, maybe a familial grudge match is possible?) Or are they even going to run with this? I mean, this didn’t come from Stan Lee himself, so will they allow the comic written by a different author to be part of the Marvel movies? Stan Lee has his cameo is every movie, so he may not want to be in one universe that he didn’t write. Does this new story line leave open the possibility for them to pass the torch to a new star to play Iron Man? Indeed it does! Especially in ways one does not expect!!
Yes, this is real!! (Google it!)
But we do know that there are so many openings for this franchise… so I guess whatever Robert Downey Jr. and Marvel want to do will work one way or another.
Who Could be Tony’s True Parents??? (this is the fun idea part of the story)
((Fellow nerds, don’t hate on me! This portion is entirely speculative, and mostly just for fun.))
Could Tony’s father be Warlock? Could he have a possible relationship to Star-Lord? (I think this will fit in with the story line of Avengers: Infinity Wars. Plus, cousin Arno hangs out with the Guardians of the Galaxy at one point, so makes you wonder if they will still do so with brother Arno… I mean the link could fit.)
What about Professor X? They both have a brilliant mind, but the Professor is compassionate and caring, kind of not like our Tony Stark, who is egotistical and a play boy…. Nope.
Hank Pim? The original Ant Man? Could he be the real father? Genius, old, no kids that we know of. He could have had a fling with some chick when he was younger before his waspy wife, and she may have had the child without him knowing. Let’s not forget his genius, this man built the Ant Suit! (Sure, he may have been blonde but his mystery lady could have had dark hair…)
Norman Osborn? He could be old enough, if this theory takes place in the same timeline. He’s a mechanical genius, he built the Goblin Suit, weapons and the Glider… Could he have been a play boy at younger age? Once again, a mystery lady may have had Tony and given him up for adoption, or maybe was paid to do so by either Norman or his family so they could cover the scandal… OOOOH, yeah that one could be fun. Could totally see this one happening. Might get more ladies to read this one if there is some scandalous material lol.
Who do YOU think Tony Stark’s biological parents could be??
Heroes and Villians is an independent comic book shop, currently struggling to keep their Diamond Comics account (distributor you need to deal with to get Marvel and DC titles and most direct market books) Diamond has given them until July 18th, 2016 to come up with 6000.00$ if not their account will be closed. While the store will not close if they don’t come up with money it will drastically affect the future of their store.
Owners Vanessa and Stephen Mielke opened their shop in Courtland, N.Y USA. They were inspired to do so by their son Dallas’s growing passion for comics as well as their own. The community of Courtland had also not had a comic shop in over a decade, so the Mielke’s saw this as something that would also benefit people of all ages in the community.
Vanessa has been reaching out to pro comic creators to help get the word out. Creators such as Mark Waid, Gail Simone, and Kelly Sue DeConnick have shown support by retweeting Vanessa’s go fund me campaign on Twitter.
Mom and pop comic shops like Heroes and Villians are ideal for any community; it gets kids reading and interacting with like-minded people. The Mielke’s are not particularly happy about asking for money but due to situations, they have no choice. They believe once they get over this obstacle they will be able to pay it forward in the future.
If you can support them financially, please do so here
If you’re not able to support financially, please follow @HndVcomics on Twitter and retweet their tweets for the go fund me campaign.
Check out Heroes and Villians website for their full story
Hello Skatronixxx followers and Occasional Readers!
For your reading pleasure this week we have started to cover the run up to the San Diego Comic Con – the literal Mother (and Father!) of all Cons taking place this year from July 20 to 24. In our daily posts we will bring you breaking and confirmed news and all the juicy rumors of what to expect from this years SDCC.
So far, some of the news includes Funko Pops SDCC exclusives. The Bossman will be keeping us updated on those, since he has a deep-seated love for the little critters.
concreteshawzee did up an article on Alex Ross Art Exclusives.
awesomect98 has found out that OUAT will be doing a panel, featuring the members of the cast.
Alexmi6 posted some news about upcoming SyFy show Van Helsing.
FranPan shares what she has found out about upcoming Netflix series Luke Cage.
In regular Skatronixxx articles, this week saw: [Read more…]
“You need something,” he said, and when I stared at him, he added, “Your face.”
“My face?”
“It’s in need of my kisses.”
A few days ago I stumbled upon the Dark Elements trilogy by Jennifer L. Trout. A beautiful tale written with equal portions of humour, lore, sacrifice and love, it will latch onto your heart with claws and leave you feeling achy inside. Between the Supernatural references and the naughty remarks of one of the main characters, Roth, I couldn’t fight the grins and giggles that escaped me whenever I read.
The first book, White Hot Kisses, was published in February of 2014, followed by Stone Cold Touch in October of 2014, and Every Last Breath in July of 2015. What’re the books about? Here’s the excerpt:
‘Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal. But with a kiss that kills anything with a soul, she’s anything but normal. Half demon, half gargoyle, Layla has abilities no one else possesses. Raised among the Wardens—a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting demons and keeping humanity safe—Layla tries to fit in, but that means hiding her own dark side from those she loves the most. Especially Zayne, the swoon-worthy, incredibly gorgeous and completely off-limits Warden she’s crushed on since forever. Then she meets Roth—a tattooed, sinfully hot demon who claims to know all her secrets. Layla knows she should stay away, but she’s not sure she wants to—especially when that whole no-kissing thing isn’t an issue, considering Roth has no soul. But when Layla discovers she’s the reason for the violent demon uprising, trusting Roth could not only ruin her chances with Zayne… it could brand her a traitor to her family. Worse yet, it could become a one-way ticket to the end of the world.’
I know —I know. It sounds totally cliche, but I can promise you that you’ll adore the books if you can check-off a love for at least one of the following: A) A bad boy 😉 B) Supernatural or C) Lore with a modern twist. Armentrout made me Roth mush and I’m 150% fine with that. Her books are like the first dusting of snow in the Winter, they’ll leave you holding your breath for gasping for more. I finished each book in less than a day, I was that enraptured by the characters (especially Bambi) and I hope you will be too! If you’re looking for a paranormal novel then you’ve found your match.
Rating: 7/10
Audience: Young adult.
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