THE COSMIC TREADMILL LOOKS AT 'AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE: BOOK ONE' (REVIEW)

Afterlife with Archie: Book One collects the first five issues of Archie’s first horror comic that oozes blood, terror and Archie family in-jokes that is sure to make you run from Riverdale.

Don’t run too far, because the art is by Francesco Francavilla and is written by screenwriter Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Glee, Big Love) who’s understanding of the Archie-verse allows him to turn this town on it’s head.

His most spectacular feat is making transforming Jughead into a monster of Freddy or Jason proportions.

Zombies. Halloween Dance. Teenage romance. ‘Don’t go in there’.

The most unsuspecting comics company took a turn for the morbid with this series.

With the announcement of a Sabrina the Teenage Witch series in the same bloody vein, it looks like the supermarket comic crowd is in for a terrifying surprise.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

BRIAN WINKELER CHATS UP KNUCKLEHEADS ON THE COSMIC TREADMILL AT FORCES OF GEEK

We’ve been enjoying Knuckleheads since the beginning.

Writer Brian Winkeler was kind enough to join us to talk about issue #6 available today on ComiXology.

Coupled with Robert Wilson IV on art, this MonkeyBrain title is full of comedy, monsters, cute dogs and impossible breakfast scenarios.

Aliens gave Trevor a fist with special powers, but will he be able to control it for that much longer?

Here is Brian to reveal the buildup to the latest issue.

FOG!: Hey Brian - thanks for joining us for Knuckleheads! Seinfeld voice - “What’s the deal with Crystal Fist?”

Brian Winkeler: The weapon or the “superhero?”

The weapon is kinda sorta maybe like a Green Lantern power ring but Trev (our protagonist) was way hungover when he got it so he’s super fuzzy on it. All he knows for sure at the start is he can use it to cheat on video games and steal Netflix.

He learns more as the series progresses.

Issue one brings the band all together, a ragtag bunch consisting of our ‘hero’ Trevor, his roommateLance, hipster Pizza Guy and hot British chick, Emma. Are more cats going to be added to the main group?

Issue #6 introduces a couple of characters who may or may not be sticking around for volume 2, and #8 introduces a brand new character who has been with us from the beginning. That confusing sentence will make sense as soon as you read #8.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

COMICS IN FOCUS: CHRIS CLAREMONT’S X-MEN (REVIEW) AT FORCES OF GEEK

“To me, it’s all one story. Because life is a single story” 

— Chris Claremont

To prepare for the cross-time caper that is Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, we were treated to a preview of Comics in Focus: Chris Claremont’s X-Men. The documentary produced by Patrick Meaney forRespect! Films and the Sequart Research & Literacy Organization includes  interviews with Chris Claremont, and other instrumental professionals involved in the Claremont Era of X-Men including Len Wein, Louise Simonson, Ann Nocenti and Jim Shooter. 

After Stan and Jack’s X-Men run, Roy Thomas and Neal Adams attempted to revive the book before it devolved into reprints and remained a essentially a third tier book.  May 1975’s Giant Size X-Men #1 was the shot in the arm the series needed to continue to prosper.

Written by Len Wein and drawn by Dave Cockrum, the success of the book prompted a renewal of sorts with former Marvel intern Chris Claremont starting writing chores on the book in August of 1975.

The new international team of mutants would have their life stories told by Claremont, Cockrum, John Byrne and Terry Austin for years to come. 

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MARK WAID AND HIS THRILLBENT APP TAKE A RIDE ON THE COSMIC TREADMILL AT FORCES OF GEEK

As comics move from the spinner rack and the shelf to the phone and tablet, and controversial acquisitions have made the premier comics app for the iPad behave differently, companies are looking to deliver these books in new ways.

And Mark Waid has been one of the industry’s most vocal advocates for change and innovation.  And has every right to.

Photograph by Seth Kushner

Waid has done everything in comics. 

Seriously. 

And he’s taken challenges like no other. 

Move to Florida and join a comic start up?  Check.  Co-write a weekly series for a year?  Check.  Write some of the biggest characters ever to great acclaim?  Check.  Become a mentor to new talent in the industry?  Check. Write a creator owned series?  Check.  Be part of a new imprint?  Check.  Work as editor-in-chief for a comic company?  Check.  Sell off your collection to put the money into a new digital comics company, Thrillbent?  Check.  Become a comic retailer?  Check.  

And those are just the broad strokes.   

Mark joins us to talk about his company’s Thrillbent Comic Reader for iPad and an affordable monthly subscription model.

The Thrillbent website was started in 2012 to inspire innovation in the digital comics space, and Mark continues to be forward thinking with his new app and subscription model.

With a ton of great titles, Mark and Thrillbent are taking the comic market to new heights.

FOG!: Thanks for joining us today, Mark, hot off the heels of C2E2. How was the show?

​Mark Waid: Genuinely invigorating.  I have to say, I’ve not enjoyed Chicago comic conventions for a long time, not since my thousandth lame experience at the Rosemont Center, but these guys know what they’re doing. Wide aisles, good attendance, good guest lists…I’m a fan.​

Just last week saw the launch of the Thrillbent iPad app. We’ve been following Thrillbent since the beginning. Was the goal eventually to get here, out of the browser space and onto tablets?
​
It was certainly A goal.

But I’m not really going to be satisfied until we can be in a place where you can access us through iPads, Chromecasts, Rokus, Android phones, everywhere. 

Onward we march.​

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

COSMIC TREADMILL / TRIPLE SHOT - FREE COMIC BOOK DAY RECAP 2104 AT FORCES OF GEEK

Another nerd holiday came and went, and unlike the usual December comedown, we ain’t sick of our presents after coming down from a sugar high!

Free Comic Book Day, the first Saturday in May offers an opportunity for fans and more importantly retailers to focus on what really matters, comic books!

Most stores will set up some kind of event or discount for coming by to get the free goods, while the publishers get their hooks in to greedy fans everywhere with honest-to-goodness free product! 

If you are lucky, when in the shops today, there may be some leftover goods to grope.

This week’s Cosmic Treadmill merges with Triple Shot to take a look at our Saturday grab bag and also every title available for free on the ComiXology platform in honor of Free Comic Book Day!

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

CHARLIE GILLESPIE TALKS 'THE MANY' ON THE COSMIC TREADMILL AT FORCES OF GEEK

This week at ComiXology, fans of 2000AD books will get a special treat, a full graphic novel, The Many, from cover artist Charlie Gillespie.

This future world with superpowers, vampire lore and gore ranks right up there withTransmetropolitan or Black Mask’s Ballistic. Both the art and story are rich and colorful.

Charlie Gillespie joins us today for a run on the Cosmic Treadmill!

FOG!: Thanks for joining us today for your ComiXology Graphic Novel The Many! Fans may have seen your work with. 2000AD and Judge Dredd, but can you tell us some of the video games you have worked on as well? 

Charlie Gillespie: Cheers, thanks for hosting me! Off the top of my head, Micro Maniacs, Mike Tyson Boxing, BC, Paperwings, Burn Zombie Burn, Legends of the Guardians, Lara Croft Guardians of the Light (iPhone/iPad),Call Of Duty Black Ops Zombies (iPhone/iPad), Wipeout (from the TV show), and there was work on a few others along the way.

What are some other comics work you have done? Is this your first venture with both writing and drawing a comic?

Yeah this is my first big adventure into writing and drawing a comic book, I’ve dabbled with doing both before but nothing that was this complex and hopefully interesting. The other stuff I’ve worked on have been The Judge Dredd Megazine, 2000AD, Shit the Dog, Wasted, Sancho, covers and illustrations for various sci-fi/fantasy mags and Magic Cards and that sort of thing.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

COMIXOLOGY ACQUISITION Q & A WITH TIM GIBSON OF MOTH CITY ON THE COSMIC TREADMILL AT FORCES OF GEEK

Moth City (Thrillbent) is one of our favorite and innovative digital comics, so when we heard of the pending merger between ComiXology and Amazon we had questions!

Who better to ask these to than Moth City’s own Tim Gibson?

We get into the nitty gritty of the pinch, swipes, scans, payments and tablet wars with our favorite Kiwi after the jump!

FOG!: Have you ever read a comic on the Kindle app? Kind of atrocious, right?

Tim Gibson: Hah, I’ve only read one comic on my Kindle, and that was Tumor by Joshua Fialkov and Noel Tuazon many years ago. It was a great comic but I haven’t been back to try another comic on that platform.

What’s your initial reaction? Glee, excitement? Disappointment?

Cautious optimism.
  
Do you think creator percentages for something like the ComiXology Submit program will stay the same? How does this affect creator owned projects?

Amazon has always been open about the royalty rates they offer authors, 35% if you sell your work for less than $1.99 or more than $10, and 70% if you sell between $2.99 and $9.99. I believe our royalty rates via ComiXology are locked behind a T&C wall, but they aren’t bad.

There would probably be more comics on Amazon right now taking advantage of that 70% rate if they didn’t also have a strange ‘Delivery Fee’ that cuts into the author’s proceeds for supplying high resolution art at larger file sizes.

I have no idea if ComiXology’s rates will change, but I would like to see our books integrated into Amazon’s store at either rate.

ComiXology seems to be forward thinking and has good customer service (these days). Do you picture a total absorption of the company?

I hope not, and I doubt it. Everything said to date implies that they will keep being the great company they are. Hopefully Amazon just gives them a new audience, and they give Amazon some comic selling tips!

Do you see the iPad comics Apps: iBooks vs. ComiXology going after each other’s throats? At least the competition is healthy, right?  I’d imagine Amazon stops developing it’s various comics properties and shifts all comic attention to the ComiXology app, yeah?

I’m not sure that any independent creators are using iBooks or Amazon in anywhere near the same capacity as they are using ComiXology. But yes, I would hope that Amazon would follow ComiXology’s lead when it comes to technology and systems for comics. I imagine they’ll continue publishing their own stuff through their imprint Jet City Comics.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

HOW I MADE THE WORLD – THE COSMIC TREADMILL INTERVIEW WITH LIZ PLOURDE & RANDY MICHAELS AT FORCES OF GEEK

How i Made The World is a new independent autobiographical comic book getting a lot of attention already. I spoke with writer Liz Plourde and her artist Randy Michael for some insight into the after-hours art school adventure showcased in Issue #1. With honest storytelling and classic Hernandez Bros. inspired cartooning, FOG! thinks they have a hit on their hands!

Liz and Randy took some time to chat with FOG! about the upcoming release of the first issue.


FOG!: Hi Liz, thanks for joining us today! How did you meet your illustrator Randy Michaels?

Liz Plourde: We’re thrilled you enjoyed the book.

I met Randy when we were working at a local TV station on a nightly news magazine. We realized we had many shared interests; in that frenetic environment, we had a lot of laughs. Before long, I was showing Randy my short stories, and he was sharing his illustrations. I thought they were so cool. 

I was an English major at the time, and because Randy was also an editor—really, he’s a Renaissance man—he started helping me hone my craft. One day, he showed me that he’d adapted one of my short stories into comics form. It was a slice of life tale about a college friend. I wrote more stories about college life, and we began developing the main characters in How i Made the World together. Becoming a collaborative team happened very organically.

Randy - how is it collaborating with Liz on her scripts?

Randy Michaels: I liked Liz’s “voice” from the very beginning. Her writing is smart, but she also writes extremely funny lines that come at you when you least expect them. Liz and I read through her scripts with my sketchbook in hand, and we map out the pacing and major plot points and how they’ll play out on the page. Sometimes, Liz will suggest a particular angle to draw a scene. Or I’ll suggest text changes, such as additional dialogue. We brainstorm together and make it fun. There’s no embarrassment that one of us might come up with a bad idea. 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

COSMIC TREADMILL: 'AVENGERS CONFIDENTIAL: BLACK WIDOW & PUNISHER' (REVIEW) at FORCES OF GEEK

Ramping up for the big Cap movie this weekend got us all excited, preened and pumped for some small screen Marvel action, NOW!

The weekend brought us to the store for a DVD copy of Thor: The Dark World and a stranger, peculiar animated relative (second cousin?) Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher.

Mixing Anime and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (I think) made for a great sequel to the Madhouse produced Marvel Anime series, but underserved as a rally cry for this weekend’s live-action Winter Soldier. The Cosmic Treadmill ran with this on the HUD, and here’s what worked and what didn’t! 

The Punisher, for better or for worse, has always been a favorite Marvel character. I grew up with his War Journals, his Armory, his War Zone and throughout the ‘80s. Artists like Jim Lee Mike Zeck drawing Frank Castle and his family’s murder was my raison d’être! One day, I thought, I’d be rich and sexy enough to buy Amazing Spider-Man #129. I thought wrong!

As for Black Widow, co-star of this movie and The Avengers, I’ve only been interested since Iron Man 2. ScarJo’s stoic yet sexy expressions and her trickery over Loki in The Avengers certainly puts her in the front lines of the squad, but ‘back in my day’ Black Widow was second string. I have more Mockingbird comics in my long boxes than Natasha Romanoff!

Either way, story wise, this is a great pairing. You know what you are going to get with Frank Castle. He’s the opposite of Batman—killer, judge, jury, executioner. Black Widow, a former Russian spy, now S.H.I.E.L.D. spy under the thumb of Director Nick Fury (Cinematic, Samuel L. Jackson version) is one who must answer to military protocol and her higher ups.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

NOAH (GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW) - AT FORCES OF GEEK

I’m not the first to run to a tome about some bible story, admittedly, and seeing previews initially for the upcoming Noah starring Russell Crowe made me a bit skeptical.

Do we need a Darren Aronofsky’s reimagining of this biblical story, like oh-so-muchBattlestar Galactica?

Thankfully, there is more to this beautifully illustrated graphic novel than a chromed out Old Testament boat. Based on the first draft of the movie’s script, this 256 page hardcover or digital graphic novel is worth the high price tag for fans of the medium and comics that exist outside of the vacuum that is mainstream superhero comics. This book could exist comfortably at Vertigo as a mini-series.

Noah
Story By: Darren Aronofsky
Story By: Ari Handel
Art By: Niko Henrichon
Price: $29.99
Diamond ID: JAN140537
Published: March 19, 2014


There is plenty of controversy surrounding the movie of course, with religious peoples of all faiths protesting the portrayal of our first animal and environmental activist.

Most of the controversy is based on how Aronofsky is attempting to comment on our environmental issues of the day, and I’d be hard pressed to prove those critics wrong.

And we thought comic fans were bad! Superman in shorts vs. no shorts is no comparison to the debate waging on about how Noah’s Ark is to be portrayed on film!

Getting into the book in front of us today, yes, your cursory knowledge of the Noah’s Ark story will do you just fine.

God is angry with man, He wipes out the world with a flood, but only after asking Noah to take all creatures 2 x 2 onto the Ark.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

COSMIC TREADMILL: RYAN K. LINDSAY TALKS HEADSPACE FROM MONKEYBRAIN! - AT FORCES OF GEEK

I’m fortunate enough to have made some friends online that live on the other side of the planet!

Aussie Writer Ryan K. Linsday (My Little Pony, Fatherhood, Ghost Town) burns the rubber of off his Converse in this edition of the Cosmic Treadmill to talk about Headspace from Monkeybrain, which was released today.

The book features an imaginative world full of bartending dogs, fear monsters and other creeps. But that’s not all, in this Take on Me twist, the other half of the story exists in the real world.

To call this Inception meets They Live will either delight or offend Ryan. Find out after the jump!

FOG!: Thanks for joining us today, Ryan! Care to tell us the quick elevator pitch for Headspace?

Ryan K. Lindsay: A strange town full of unfulfilled people suddenly discover they are actually in the mind of a killer and they had forgotten the real world and their old lives. Cue the sheriff, Shane, hustling to get back to his old life but finding that a killer’s brain throws up more roadblocks than you want it to.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

BLASTOSAURUS Walks On THE COSMIC TREADMILL: An Interview With Richard Fairgray at FORCES OF GEEK

A dinosaur detective living in the present day fighting raptors in a time-spanning adventure?  Sign me up!

ComiXology Submit brings us Blastosaurus, from New Zealand’s talented Richard Fairgray and Terry Jones.

Writer Richard Fairgray was kind enough to take this colorful noir dino for a workout on the Cosmic Treadmill and tell us about his favorite toys and turtles!


FOG!: Thanks for joining us, Richard! What’s the elevator pitch for Blastosaurus?

Richard Fairgray: In short, he’s a crime fighting dinosaur, it’s just that in the real world that isn’t super helpful. He fights raptors, robots, travels through time but at the heart of it all he’s a curmudgeonly old man who wishes he wasn’t dinosaur shaped.

I love how you’ve tapped into the aspect of childhood play and storytelling with the book. Does that imagination stay with all people or just creative types as they get older?

I think it’s just a different way of looking at the world. All kids have that default of asking ‘why’ to anything and everything they discover and I think as we get older we stop needing to know, we become happy to just accept ‘because’ as an answer.

I was also very aware that in the early issues of Blastosaurus there’d be a lot of exposition to set up the story and, more importantly, the rules of this universe.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Matt Hawkins Takes THINK TANK for a Ride on the COSMIC TREADMILL - FORCES OF GEEK

Last week, we took a look at Think Tank Season #1. In celebration of today’s release ofThink Tank #12, we caught up with Top Cow President/COO Matt Hawkins about the latest issue, time management, and of course the genetic viruses in his science thriller.

Plus, Matt talks Minotaur Press and what we can expect from Top Cow on Free Comic Book Day!

FOG!: Hi Matt - thanks for joining us today to talk about the end of Think Tank Season 1. Care to tell is what to expect in Think Tank #12?

Matt Hawkins: The 12th issue is the finale of the first long story arc that kicked off with issue 1. All of the lingering threads are sort of resolved. David faces death his mortality and realizes that there’s not really much he can do to stop the geopolitical forces in motion. The looming confrontation between China and the US kicks off and the collusive nature of it is frightening in its repercussions. That and the virus is out!

David is in a lot of trouble in this issue. In fact, the latest arc, Outbreak, is very dangerous for a lot of the characters. Are targeted genetic viruses possible or even probable in the near future?

They’re viable now. The completion of the Human Genome Project opened up a pandora’s box of possibilities both good and bad.

Had you expected to go this far with the series? This was initially a shorter run, am I correct?

Yes was originally planned as a 4 issue mini series. Reaction to it was stronger than I expected so we kept it going. A book about a research scientist trying to fight the system isn’t your typical comic book, so I wasn’t sure we’d find an audience.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

THINK TANK - SEASON 1 (Issues #1-#12) — COSMIC TREADMILL at FORCES OF GEEK

The last issue of Top Cow’s President and COO Matt Hawkins’ Think Tank: Season 1 hits shelves next Wednesday, February 12th.

Imagine being a successful comic book bigwig and a physicist and television producer and on top of all that, write a number of titles for Top Cow and Image!

With an insider’s view of the comic making industry, the back matter for Think Tank often has Matt speaking on readership numbers, legal and illegal. The Science Class at the end of the book also goes in-depth to his research and theoretical military tech used in the book.

Issue #12’s glossary announces what is next for the black and white spy-fi series as it embarks on a newly colored life in Season 2 and a one shot in March!

Review copies come my way, and also I am willing to try new books when one catches my attention from the media or by its cover on my weekly trip to the shop.  

 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Cosmic Treadmill: RED LIGHT PROPERTIES by Dan Goldman (Review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Last December, we interviewed Dan Goldman about his psychedelic ghost hunting real estate comic Red Light Properties on the Cosmic Treadmill.

And you thought Jack ‘King’ Kirby could get weird!


Imagine the apartment or house you lived in came with a ‘Green Light Certificate’, after the regular inspectors do their thing, the folks at Red Light Properties come in and do a clean sweep to make sure poltergeists are not hanging around (quite literally in chapter one, double hanging suicide).

We’ve had some time with this 200 page remastered and recolored Red Light Properties — it had it’s first life as a webcomic — and on February 5th, IDW’s paperback version hits the stands.

Ahh Florida. My last trip there was mostly for the attraction parks, but I fondly remember the hours spent driving around in the muggy heat, the big box stores, trucks filled with oranges. When visiting new places I often imagine living there. That was tough to do for Florida. It was fine enough, I suppose, but so foreign to my snow-shoveling-Yankee-flannel ways that I couldn’t find myself there. 

But imagine if…I got a cheap place! What Red Light Properties the company does is provide a ghost busting service unlike the one you are thinking of. This Mom and Pop operation is a money making venture.

If you’ve seen The Wolf of Wall Street, think of these property lists as the pink sheets, or the leads from Mitch and Murray in Glengarry Glen Ross. The reason the apartments are undesirable is that they are haunted. Husband and father Jude has an extrasensory vision that allows him to break through the membrane and see the ghosts and eradicate them from the premises.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

'DUPPY '78' Writer Casey Seijas Chats Aboard The Cosmic Treadmill at FORCES OF GEEK

This February British publisher Com.X releases a supernatural murder mystery in the midst of the Rastafarian movement in Jamaica, Duppy ‘78.

Ex-Vertigo editor Casey Seijas joins us to talk about Obeahman, reggae music, comics and writing for Com.X.

FOG!: Hi Casey, thanks for joining us today! What exactly is a Duppy Conqueror?

Casey Seijas: In Rastafarian culture, a Duppy is a ghost that can be benevolent, or more often than not, mischievous or even able to inflict bodily harm. A Duppy Conqueror — who’s also called anObeahman — has the ability to control Duppies, so they can defend against them, chase them away or set them upon people.

I come to this era in Jamaica by way of The Clash. Besides the obvious callout to Marley, what’s a good soundtrack for this comic?

Yes! I’ve been waiting for someone to ask me this!

I listened to a ton of old school dancehall, reggae and dub (not that Skrillex nonsense, I’m talking Lee Scratch Perry style here) while researching and writing this.


Here’s the unofficial soundtrack:

Sister Nancy “Bam Bam”

Lee Scratch Perry “Heads of Government”

Smiley Culture “Police Officer”

Bob Marley “Mr. Brown” & “Small Axe”

Ken Boothe “Live Good”

Jimmy Cliff “The Harder They Come”

Alton Ellis “Willow Tree”

Peter Tosh “Stepping Razor”

Ernie Smith “Duppy Gun Man”

Melodians “Rivers of Babylon”

Tron $tyler “Untitled” — this is the song that’s featured in the Duppy ‘78 trailer that went around a few weeks back that my friend made. You can download the full track and more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/tronstyler

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

TARDIS on The COSMIC TREADMILL – A Look at IDW's 'DOCTOR WHO 2013 SPECIAL #1' - FORCES OF GEEK

After a visit to the town called Christmas in the Time of the Doctor, Who fans are sure to miss Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor.

Just the day before, on Tuesday, December 45th, IDW Publishing marked its regeneration cycle by releasing a 53 page year end special in tribute not only to Matt but to the publisher’s claim to the Time Lord.

Since 2008, IDW was the first US publisher to have the comic rights through the BBC to new stories with the tenth and eleventh doctors, and this book is a sign off for them. Written by longtime Doctor Who television and comics writer Paul Cornell and drawn by Jimmy Braxton (Cornell’s partner on Batman: Knight and Squire).

Rarely does a single issue deem itself worthy of a run on the Cosmic Treadmill, but as the New Year, a new Doctor, and the next 50 years of Doctor Who are all converging on a timey wimey convergence, this one is definitely worth picking up.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Francesco Francavilla's 'THE BLACK BEETLE' Takes a Walk on The Cosmic Treadmill AT FORCES OF GEEK

Can a review come out in December and not be a gift suggestion?

Probably not! We do the cool down lap on the Cosmic Treadmill this year with our favorite short run series of the year, Francesco Francavilla’s breakout pulp hit Black Beetle Volume 1:No Way Out from Dark Horse Comics.

Francavilla’s composition, colors, and ink brush line work complement his own script—drawing influences from noir film to The Shadow and Batman.

Our hero looks cool, has steampunk weapons and is 100% creator owned and original. The hardcover version serves as a great gift, even for yourself as a sort of ‘reward’ for how generous you have been this season!


The book starts out with the long out of print One Shot - Black Beetle: Night Shift. I read this volume first in issues as No Way Out #1-4, kicking myself for missing a hard copy of the one-shot and issue #1 when I heard the buzz. The precursor to the main series hits hard with Nazis seeking a lizard amulet, a strong female doctor in a museum and hiding in a sarcophagus. It was clear to me that this was the beginning of a larger world with exciting consequences as we enter Colt City — the home base of the mysterious Black Beetle.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

The Cosmic Treadmill Takes a Look at Monkeybrain's EDISON REX at FORCES OF GEEK

I like myself some Superman, heck, I even like Lex in a way.

When it comes to new superhero comics, I have a go-to theme that I like too, and that’s of the Superman gone bad vs. the world and the super villain gone good to stop him.

While that’s not exactly the case here, as seen in The Mighty or Irredeemable, but Chris Roberson and Dennis Culver’s Edison Rex (Monkeybrain comics) transforms the world’s most formidable super bad guy into the man who will save the world. It won’t be easy for him, and it also won’t be easy for him to shake his bad public perception as he puts on the hero hat. IDW Publishing has released the first volume of the digital first Monkeybrain comic, a great independent comics gift idea this season. 

When Valiant, Protector of Earth, is exposed to knowledge of why he is really here (aliens from a doomed planet sent his RNA here to conquer our race) by criminal genius Edison Rex, he chooses to kill himself instead of wait to be activated by his doomed planet’s signal. Fans of recent issues of Superior Spider-Man will catch this trope immediately, as Edison Rex makes an equally hard decision. No longer having to use his inveterate hate for Valiant, he decides to take up the mantle of superhero! Of course his loyal female sidekick M’Laizz has her eyes set on world domination still, and needs some convincing. Much like Strax the Sontaran from Doctor Who, M’Laizz does go along with the plan, no matter how helpful to the puny human race!

This comic is like rolling around naked in a million dollar bills on your bed, or a million comics (though you could probably guess my preference as to the best paper to roll on!). Roberson has tapped into and referenced so many comic stories from the Silver Age to now, and not just Superman, but Thor, Howard the Duck, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Bizarro Superman, Invincible, Fantastic Four, Fortress of Solitude, Cerebro, Superman robots, throw a little Grodd and The Venture Bros. and you have got just the first volume! Rao only knows what’s in store next! (Actually, the next six issues are available on ComiXology, Issue #12 drops on Wed. Dec. 4!)

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

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Cosmic Treadmill: 'GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE' (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Marathoning shows, or binging, has become part of the parlance, and my most recent binge for television was the CW’s popular Arrow.

You might want to say the book was an influence on the series.

The story is written by Andy Diggle (Daredevil, The Losers) with art by Jock (Detective Comics) and serves as a great companion to the show—and great holiday gift for your Arrow fan.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

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