Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. February 3, 2016

COMICS

Was She Pretty (Drawn and Quarterly) from Leanne Shapton (Swimming Studies) ruminates on ex-lovers, and our lovers’ ex-lovers. Catch a double book launch with Adriane Tomine at Harvard Books on Thursday. … Miles Morales is debuting in the All New, All Different Marvel with his creators Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli in Spider-Man #1. … The Walking Dead #151 starts a new arc after their landmark anniversary issue. … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. January 27, 2016

Dedicated to the loving memory of my Mother, Robyn Bishop Silva Fernald

COMICS

For my mother, who was a huge Sherlock Holmes fan and even bigger fan of the new show! Pick up Sherlock “Mind Palace Coloring Book to get to the bottom of this century’s biggest mysteries with  the soothing power of coloring! ,,, It’s better than the Phantom Menace but looks like Upsher and Doff are headed to the depths as they get back on the case in Saga #33. … Maika must confront the deadly secrets that live inside her in Image Comics’ Monstress #3.

I love you, Mumma.

Big Thumbs Way Up.

Triple Shot With a Heavy Metal Chaser: SUPERMAN: AMERICAN ALIEN #2, THE LEGEND OF WONDER WOMAN #1, EVIL DEAD 2: CRADLE OF THE DAMNED #1 & NARCOPOLIS: CONTINUUM #1 at FORCES OF GEEK

From Krypton to Themyscira to the Deadite infested woods of North Carolina, we are kicking off 2016 with a return to form of the classic Triple Shot comics review column! 

Can’t make heads or tails of a pull list? Are you easily confused by staring at rows of comics on the shelf? We hope these recommendations do you well. Why think when we can tell you what comics to buy!

This week, Max Landis and Joëlle Jones give you a unique spotlight on a young Clark Kent, Renae De Liz (Peter Pan, The Last Unicorn) and Ray Dillon retell Wonder Woman’s origin in Legend of Wonder Woman and lastly Ash is back, baby, inEvil Dead 2: Cradle of the Damned!

This week you get an extra bonus Heavy Metal chaser as one of our very own FOG!’s very own (Steven) Scott Duvall! drops his new book Necropolis: Continuum #1 from Heavy Metal Comics.
That’s right, that Heavy Metal!

Groovy!

SUPERMAN: AMERICAN ALIEN #3 (of 7) 
Writer: Max Landis

Artist: Joëlle Jones
Publication Date: January 13, 2016
Price: $3.99
Publisher: DC Comics
UPC: 76194133061700311
BUY IT HERE

Max Landis (Chronicle, Dirk Gently) has been surprising comic fans the past few months with his take on different eras of Clark Kent, Superboy and Superman. With different artists assigned to each chapter of this mini-series, we are able to appreciate different aspects of Clark’s home life. 

Of course, this is the almost predictable ‘modern retelling’ of the Superman origin. What sets it apart, besides the art treatment, is a feeling that Superman is a legend.

No chapter picks up where the last story left off.

Much like in American television, each artist on a chapter shows a different era of Clark’s life, and each of the artists would be the guest director of the episode.

This particular chapter’s director is the talented Joëlle Jones (Lady Killer, Adventures of Superman).
The story takes place on Bruce Wayne’s yacht, but master Bruce is not even there to celebrate his birthday. Clark stands in for the absent Bruce, who is ‘Never at his (own) parties’. 

A young Clark lives it up, hooks up with a lady, gets drunk and has all of the fun Bruce Wayne would only pretend to have. 

There have been plenty of stories where these two have switched places but what sets this story apart is that they have yet to be acquainted. 

It’s not all booze and cupcakes as a popular DC villain is after Bruce Wayne and Clark has to face him.

In conclusion, this a fun issue, even if it just stands alone. It is a fun take for fans of the classic Batman and Superman dynamic that flashes back to the pre-superhero days.

The art is gorgeous and I’m enjoying what Max has to say with ‘his’ Superman!

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Cartoonist CHRISTINE LARSEN Unleashes ORCS! on The Cosmic Treadmill! at FORCES OF GEEK

Christine Larsen has worked on some of your favorite properties over at DC, Boom!, IDW and more. Alongside that, she is a new mom and college professor. Christine is here to join us today on the Cosmic Treadmill to tell us about her self published comic, Orcs! #1, that grew out of an obsession with the monstrous creatures and demanded their story be told.

FOG!: Thanks for joining us to talk about Orcs! #1. How long have you been obsessed with orcs?

Christine Larsen: I’m not sure I would say obsessed… Well, okay, maybe obsessed is fair.

Since I read The Hobbit as a kid, and subsequently The Lord of the Rings. My notion of orcs in terms of temperament and character fall most in line with Tolkien orcs, so I guess they are equal parts goblin in their design and characterization. They are my favorite kind of monster, because they have strong roots in folklore, but also have a strong showing in contemporary fantasy.

We have seen some of your work elsewhere — can you tell us what are the challenges of putting this book out yourself? 

Do you mean instead of bringing it to a publisher I’ve worked with? I actually feel like there are more bonuses. Yes, I have to deal with finding a printer and shipping and press packages and submitting to Comixology for the digital version… but I also can set my own schedule and write whatever I want for it, so it’s really very freeing.

Are issues of Orcs! on a limited print run?

No. I found a very reliable small run printer, so when this issue runs out, I’ll probably order up more. But not right away. I’ll probably wait until the next book is out, since there will be a digital copy on Comixology.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. December 30, 2015

COMICS
That’s not a name I’ve heard in a long time, a long time. Obi-Wan and Anakin #1 has all the midichlorians Episode VII was afraid to give you. … All-New Wolverine #3 is one of our favorite run of these new Marvel books. Tom Taylor’s spotlight on X-23 faces her up against the deadly Taskmaster! … I keep reminding you that Warren Ellis (Moon Knight, Iron Man) is writing THE James Bond 007 book for Dynamite, but you won’t listen. Issue #3 is out today, I guess, but you don’t care. … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

FOG! Chats With Will Tracy and Gabe Koplowitz About ALLEN: SON OF HELLCOCK at FORCES OF GEEK

I was at first skeptical to read yet another brightly colored Conan-sword-tale. With space lasers the fashion this week, this seemed like a step backward back in time to a place I didn’t need to revisit.

And the creators are comedians, and we all know how those people are.

This all came to a climax when Z2 Comics forced me at dagger point to read issue one of their Allen: Son of Hellcock to prepare for an interview with their famous funny people Will Tracy (HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Onion) and Gabe Koplowitz (VH1).

I finally relented. Mead in hand, I had some questions for these guys because I was only two pages in when I realized this might be the funniest book of the year.

Will and Gabe joined us to answer our questions about the new publisher and disappointing the person that brought you into this world. Allen: Son of Hellcock debuts today in stores and digital comic shops.

FOG!: Will and Gabe — thanks for joining us today, what’s going on these days with Allen: Son of Hellcock? How did this come about? Where do you guys know each other from? Do you even know each other?

Will Tracy: I just met Gabe for the first time literally 15 minutes ago, and I can already tell I’m going to hate him. I think it’s his face, voice, and personality that make him hateable. Also his clothes and his smell and his glasses. And his stupid feet and hands. 

However, on a professional level, we wrote Allen: Son of Hellcock together about, oh, seven or eight years back. And we could not be more thrilled or proud to see it finally unleashed upon the world this Wednesday, December 16th!

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. December 16, 2015

COMICS

Something about this movie coming out this week getting everyone’s wizard robes in a bunch! The Darth Vader Annual #1 will give you something to read in line when Fox News shows you getting ready for the thing at 7pm Thursday. Take your first step into a larger world. Mark Millar’s (Kick-Ass, Kingsmen: Secret Service) Huck #2 is the story of a quiet but very sincere superhero, now getting some unwanted attention from the media. …Star Trek Academy #1 might stand a fighting change against the other franchise as we learn more about students joining Starfleet! … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. December 8, 2015

COMICS

Peter Milligan (Shade the Changing Man) returns to Vertigo with a new #1 for New Romancer. It’s Lord Byron meets Tinder in this comic’s app economy. BKV’s We Stand on Guard #6 concludes the Canadian Cold War season, but is it really the end for the Tim Horton v the Dunkin Donuts crowd? Star Trek / Green Lantern #6 concludes as Starfleet teams up with the Corps to defeat the galaxy’s greatest threat! … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

FOG! Chats With B. CLAY MOORE About His Tiki Noir Masterpiece, HAWAIIAN DICK at FORCES OF GEEK

Aloha, comics fans! As if the embarrassment of riches for comic book properties on TV weren’t enough, one of our favorite creators, B. Clay Moore (Bad Karma, JSA: The Liberty Files, Bloodshot) is exercising options that go beyond choosing a banana hammock or full trunks. 

His first comics creation, Hawaiian Dick is in development at NBC with Johnny Knoxville (Jackass) and we’ll also see morefloppy Hawaiian Dick from Image Comics very soon.

In this, our double-entendre dipped interview with B. Clay we get to hang ten on the new Kickstarter for the 100 page hardcover, Great Big Hawaiian Dick. 

Get out a tiki glass and enjoy a tall glass of Hawaiian Dick on this cold winter day.

FOG!: Aloha, B. Clay! Thanks for joining us today to chat about Great Big Hawaiian Dick! We can’t avoid the Hollywood news. Tell us about Hawaiian Dick on TV!

B. Clay Moore: NBC has picked up the rights to Hawaiian Dick, and we’re in the process of developing it right now. 

Writers Paul Lovett and David Elliott are working on the pilot script as we speak. Among others, Johnny Knoxville is on board to produce the show. Knoxville was attached to Hawaiian Dick years ago when the film rights were optioned by New Line, so getting him back on board was big.

How long have you been sitting on this news yourself?

Well, we’ve been working on the television stuff for about a year and a half. Things really came together in the past two or three months. It’s always hard to sit on news you’re happy to report, though.

On to the Kickstarter — is this a new adventure for Byrd?

This is actually a series of stories starring Byrd and the supporting cast that we’ve introduced over the years, as well as a variety of pieces by various artists. While I wrote most of the stories, I invited some friends to contribute their takes, as well.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. December 2, 2015

COMICS

Back to the world of NYC, Daredevil #1 puts lawyer Matt Murdock in the DA’s seat as DD gets a new costume. Written by Charles Soule, an actual lawyer and actual (gasp) professional comic book writer! … We’re huge fans of Nathan Edmondson’s creepy Jake Ellis espionage book as Where Is Jake Ellis? #5 of 5 wraps up today. The voice in your head is real! … Before comics were the pulp heroes of yesteryear and Doc Savage was the Batman meets Indiana Jones of his day. Doc Savage Spiders Web #1 from Chris Roberson (iZombie) unravels the web of the past today! … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

Kickstarter Korner! Chatting With Dan Parent About DIE KITTY DIE! at FORCES OF GEEK

You all know Dan Parent and Fernando Ruiz even if you think you don’t! Dan and Fernando have been taking care of the Archie Comics characters for years now and this Kickstarter Korner is dedicated to their latest creator owned project,Die Kitty Die!

By the time you read this on Wednesday, they’ve reached their goal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t contribute. On the contrary, the model for this Kickstarter is that the rewards get better as the stretch grows.

Dan took the time to talk to us today about this very exciting new universe of characters and the world of Kitty Ravencraft, comic book hero and real life witch who is being hunted down by her greedy comic book publisher in Die Kitty Die!


FOG!: Dan, congratulations on the funding, it looks like it is going pretty well so far!

Dan Parent: Yeah, we’re at 71% (at time of interview) which is pretty good for our third day! We want to hit our goal but we want to go over because we are going to add more incentives, we’ll add pages to the book. The more money, the better the project gets.

Tell those out there that don’t know, what is Die Kitty Die!?

Die Kitty Die! is about a comic book character, who in our universe has been around for a long time and her sales are low. Her publisher asks, “What are we going to do to generate publicity or sales? We’ve got to kill her off”!

In our world it’s a little different because in our world the characters are also real. So, they have to really bump her off. 

Not just bump her off in the story, they really have to get rid of her.

Things get a little more complicated because Kitty is a witch, so how do you kill a witch?

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Classic PEANUTS Return To Ride THE COSMIC TREADMILL - at FORCES OF GEEK

Charles Shultz’ comic creation The Peanuts Movie hit the big screen earlier this month and Titan Comics has been releasing volumes all year to commemorate the occasion.

Snoopy and the kids looked a lot different in the early strips, (Charlie Brown himself sometimes missing his signature zig-zag shirt) but the timeless humor of the daily and Sunday Peanuts comics can still resonate with children of all ages today.

Titan Comics offered us a look at these modern day reprints of classic black and white Peanuts strips from the early days before Snoopy took on The Red Baron.

Titan has the rights to reproduce favorites from my childhood, the Rinehart & Company (Holt, Rinehart & Winston) collected black and white paperbacks accumulated from yard sales or perhaps even my parent’s well spent youth.

It had been years since I remembered even reading these books, and as an adult a new appreciation and nostalgia sets in.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

FOG! Chats With Master of The Millarverse MARK MILLAR! at FORCES OF GEEK

Superstar writer and undisputed Hollywood hitmaker Mark Millar (Kick-Ass, Wanted, Kingsman: Secret Service) took some time to talk with us about the continuation of his multigenerational superhero team Jupiter’s Legacy and the prequelJupiter’s Circle. 

Jupiter’s Circle Volume 2 debuts later this month on November 25th, just as fans are reeling from his his Millarworld 2016 creative team announcements. Frank Quietly rejoins Mark for Jupiter’s Legacy Volume 2 next year.

Chris Sprouse (Tom Strong) will takes over on Circle next year, and details of books with both Greg Capello and Jae Lee have yet to be announced. We’ll also see more volumes of Chrononauts and Hit-Girl. 2016 will be another great year for one of the most genuine fan and creator of super-hero comics we’ve ever spoken too.

That’s a lot to keep up with, so follow #millarworld2016 on Twitter for more info, but join as we orbit Jupiter right now!

FOG!: We’ve just finished the last issue of Book One of Jupiter’s Circle. Did you always know you were going to do the two books together, Jupiter’s Circle when you came up with Jupiter’s Legacy?

Mark Millar: Not really, actually, no. For about two months before I started writing Jupiter’s Legacy, I stood in my office and I had all of these yellow post-it notes working out all the history of all the characters in the series because I was building like the Star Wars universe or the Lord of the Rings universe. It was a working body that needed to have everything connecting properly. 

I just made a point of making sure I knew all of the back histories of everything. So I was like a crazy guy, I actually had all of these stories that no one would ever read as crazy as that sounds. I had yellow post-its in my office and even into the dining room and I worked out all the back stories for the parents and how everybody felt about each other.

Then what I did was I connected it all and my agent said to me when Frank Quitely was taking a while for Volume Two, where we were stockpiling it, “Why don’t you write that story you have up on your wall”? 

I said, “Yeah, I love that story”! And I had always wanted to do a period super-hero thing, something set in my favorite American era which is that Mad Men era, I feel its the beginning of the DC or Marvel Universe, the Silver Age. I just started putting it together.

I think its the most fun I’ve ever had writing anything, it’s been so easy, I think because I’m so passionate about it. It’s everything I wanted to say about super-heroes.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

FOG! Chats With Writer MARJORIE LIU About MONSTRESS! at FORCES OF GEEK

With signings in Boston and New York this weekend for the highly anticipated Image Comic book Monstress, Marjorie Liu took some time to tell us about her latest comics work with artist Sana Takeda. Announced at Image Expo back in January, issue #1 of the art-deco Kaiju monster fantasy book comes in at an impressive 70 pages and fans and professionals are already singing its praises.

Following in the tradition of such high profile creator owned projects at Image like Saga, Sex Criminals, Bitch Planet andInvisible Republic, Monstress is ready to take the comics world by storm. Set in an alternate history of Japan in the early 1900s, Liu and Takeda are ready to transport you there.

Marjorie joins us today to reveal her Godzilla origins for the book and how these books can encourage young people to use their unique voice in the world creatively.


FOG!: Monstress is the story of a relationship between our hero and a monster. How is Maika connected to this beast?

Marjorie Liu: Monstress is about a young woman, a former slave and the survivor of a cataclysmic war, who is fighting to put her life back together. The problem is that she thinks she’s losing her mind, that she’s becoming a monster. And she is, actually — because there’s an actual monster inside of her. A creature bonded to her soul that is slowly waking and taking over her mind and body.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. November 4, 2015

COMICS

As Daniel Craig gets ready to hang up his License to Kill with Spectre, Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, Trees), and Jason Masters (Suicide Squad) debut a Dynamite 007 comic. James Bond #1 begins the VARGR storyline in a new ongoing series, the first Bond comic in 20 years! … Bendis wraps up X-Men with an unrealistically numbered Uncanny X-Men #600! Was Cyclops Right? Is Professor X a Jerk? Who’s the Juggernaut, Bitch? Emma Frost can read your mind so keep your answers clean! …New York Times best selling author and MIT comics professor Marjorie Liu (X-23, Black Widow) mashes Kaiju and fantasy with her highly anticipated Image book Monstress #1. Marjorie signs at Comicopia on Saturday at 1pm! … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

Celebrating HALLOWEEN COMICFEST on The Cosmic Treadmill at FORCE OF GEEK

Free Comic Books on Halloween? How positively ghoulish! Trade in those Reese’s mini-cups for something that will surely rot your skull from the inside at your Local Comic Shop!

Halloween ComicFest, an offshoot of Diamond Comic Distributors’ Free Comic Book Day allows for another day of free comics while those meddling kids are out there like paupers begging for free stuff anyway. 

Publishers and retailers work on the tried-and-true ‘first one’s free’ business model to get kids of all ages into the store in Halloween costumes to get the latest and ghastliest of free comics offerings. 

So, whether you are Elsa from Frozen, Ant-Man, Marty McFly or the tried-and-true Sexy Cat Octopus Nurse, head to a participating comic shop to celebrate on this rare Saturday Halloween!

[READ MORE AT FORCE OF GEEK]

Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. October 21, 2015

COMICS

There’s that word again. “Heavy.” Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth’s gravitational pull? It’s Back to the Future day, so strap on that overboard and avoid the D. Jones Manure Hauling truck. Manure hauling, that’s a weird vocation. IDW celebrates with the Bob Gale (screenwriter) blessed Back to the Future #1! … This week’s The Shield #1 comes from Dark Circle Comics, a new take on an old hero - this time she’s a Daughter of the Revolution, ready to fight for justice and the American Way! … Warren Ellis (Moon Knight, Transmetropolitan) returns to Marvel for Karnak #1. The Inhuman Karnak is a Lee/Kirby creation with Karate skills and puzzle-solving skills, prompting Coulson recruit him for S.H.I.E.L.D. missions … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

FOG! Takes In The HUMAN BODY THEATER With MARIS WICKS! AT FORCES OF GEEK

New York Times best selling graphic novelist (for Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas), amazing artist and science nerd Maris Wicks chats with us about the inner workings of our inner workings in her new book, Human Body Theater.

From Abdomen to X-Ray, Maris takes us through the mysterious workings of the human body with a cute skeleton narrator and more than one smiley-faced platelet.

This is all ages science comics with a purpose! 

FOG!: Human Body Theater is absolutely brilliant. Why take us through Innerspace in comic book form?

Maris Wicks: Thank you! Well, I selfishly wanted to make this book because I just think the human body is AWESOME. I chose the form of comics because it’s the most efficient way for me to communicate information.

As far as I know, there hasn’t been a comic book dedicated to the human body (until now). Side note: I would totally take a remake of Innerspace. Just saying.

For Primates, and you were the artist on that book, this time you are the writer and artist for what needs to be a scientifically accurate book. How crazy did you go with your research?

My research for Human Body Theater unknowingly started way back in 2002 when I got certified to be an EMT. Before that, I always had a love for all things anatomical, whether it was purely for artistic inspiration, or if it was the topic of a book I was reading. When Human Body Theater got green-lit, I read every book for kids I could find about the human body (and some geared towards adults too).

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. October 14, 2015

COMICS

Perhaps the most vocal member of the Millennium Falcon crew, Chewbacca is back from writing his autobiography “A Win is a Win” to star in a new Limited series. Chewbacca #1 roars onto shelves today! … Larry Hama and S.L. Gallant prepare you for bi-weekly shipping of G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero this week with G.I. Joe Cobra World Order Prelude #1. Cobra is, of course, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world. … … The Raccoon is in charge in the All-New, All-Different Marvel version of Guardians of the Galaxy #1, guest starring the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed, otherwise book-less The Thing (Fantastic Four). … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

FOG! Chats With Writer JUSTIN JORDAN About His Sleepless Creation, JOHN FLOOD! at FORCES OF GEEK

Some nights I fall asleep reading comics until the iPad glass hits me in the face.

Man, I really hate going to bed. 

Imagine what might happen if the government removed your ability to sleep? What nightmares await you when the brain can’t rest? Will it unlock a power you didn’t know you had?

The third issue of sleeper hit (pun intended) John Flood hits shelves this week from the waking mind of Justin Jordan (The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, Shadowman, Deep State). Justin took a few minutes away from his busy work and convention schedule to give us the skinny on his sleep deprived detective comic book over at BOOM!, available at your local store and digitally today.

FOG!: Thanks for taking the time today between cons and your busy schedule. Your new book John Flood from BOOM! is keeping me up at night! What’s the skinny on this night owl? Is this your first book at BOOM!? What attracted you to this publisher for John Flood?

Justin Jordan: John Flood is actually my second book at BOOM!, Deep State, with Ariela Kristantina and Ben Wilsonham, was the first. 

As to why BOOM! for John Flood?

Well, it’s a weird book.

So much so that I didn’t like the odds of us being able to successfully do it at Image. Successfully, here, meaning that everyone gets paid.

 But beyond making sure Jorge and Tamra weren’t working for nothing, this is also such a weird and complex book that I really needed editorial support to make the book I wanted to make, which I got at BOOM!.

This would have been a different and, I think, not as good book elsewhere.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]