Triple Shot: VENOM #37, SATELLITE SAM #1, DARK SKULLKICKERS DARK #1

It was a pretty Happy Independence Day weekend for all of us at the Triple Shot headquarters, so let’s start off Monday right where we’re packing the explosive comic reviews like Venom #37 featuring war hero Flash Thompson, ‘50s Sci-Fi TV murder mystery Satellite Sam #1 from Matt Fraction and Howard Chaykin and eventually we’re kicked out of a dark bar with Jim Zub’s Dark Skullkickers Dark #1.

VENOM #37
WRITER: Cullen Bunn
ART: Pepe Larraz
Publication Date: July 3, 2013
Price: $2.99
Publisher: Marvel Comics
UPC: 75960607565203711
Buy it HERE


It is hard to believe that symbiotic veteran and #1 Spidey fan Flash Thompson has been carrying this Venom book for nearly 40 issues.

That’s meant as the highest compliment to the writing efforts of Rick Remender and now Cullen Bunn.

The reimagining (though not in the traditional sense of the word) of the Venom character as both a government weapon and a way of empowering the disabled veteran with a black licorice suit and body armor has gone literally to hell and back.

The alcoholic Thompson struggles with his demons, the loss of his relationship to Betty Brandt and his father’s death with a geographical relocation to Philadelphia, where he has a job as a gym teacher and fights bad guys at night.

While reading the latest,Venom #37, it dawned on me as to what I find appealing in these stories. I’ve gone hot and cold but month after month (week after week!) continued to buy Amazing Spider-Man. Now with Peter Parker out of the picture in Marvel NOW!, Bunn is providing me with the fix that I was chasing with Spidey.

Cullen Bunn is telling the best Amazing Spider-Man stories right now in Venom. The ol’ Parker luck, the survivor’s guilt, the power, the responsibility, tangling with reporters—it’s all happening in the black suit book! I don’t mean for that to sound reductive or to frame Flash Thompson as someone with Peter’s same situations.

The Philly backdrop of the school, his barren apartment and the nosy Katy Kiernan (Daily Inquisitor) are not Spidey in NY. Venom’s own set of rogues give the settings a different flavor, a darker tone. If Peter ever comes back, please let Cullen write the book. There will be a time thatSuperior seems silly or another version for a video game, like Spider-Man 2099 (perhaps it does already to some). Peter Parker will have to be swinging around eventually. This is the guy to write it.

SATELLITE SAM #1
WRITER: Matt Fraction
ART: Howard Chaykin
Publication Date: July 3, 2013
Price: $3.50
Publisher: Image Comics
Buy it HERE (DRM FREE. Your format of choice.)


The newly designed Image Comics website is fortunate to have with it’s launch a delightful launch of a new title written and drawn by industry heavyweights Matt Fraction (Hawkeye, Invincible Iron Man) and Howard Chaykin (American Flagg!), respectively.

The book is set in 1951 on a live television set, as was the style of the time.

The star of the Sci-Fi show Satellite Sam hasn’t shown up at call time, and is in danger of ruining the bit. The space hero is supposed to enter the screenplay right at the end, and when he doesn’t show, the cast and crew improvise.

This is a sendoff to Golden Age television and the personalities that made up the new media era, post-radio. This is also a murder mystery with dark uncovered secrets hidden in the victim’s closet. Can the man that was murdered have been involved with a seedy underground sex and porn ring? Tune in next time!

Great stuff here from an unlikely, but perfect creative team. Like early television, the story is told in black and white with the signature Chaykin line and zip-a-tone. Some might disagree, but Chaykin uncolored by modern techniques services the look and is easier to read. G.I. Joe: Hearts and Minds by Chaykin was colored by the computer and therefore made the storytelling suffer.

Who knows what Fraction has up his antennae for this, but I look forward to a long story and getting to know more about the family and cast involved. Parts of the cast interaction off-screen called back to Silk Spectre scenes in Watchmen.

Going in too deep with this—is Fraction using ‘50s Satellite Sam as a metaphor for the comic book industry today? Is radio the floppy comic book of the past that will take a backseat to television? Are DRM Free digital comics and the like the future of our comic book entertainment? Can the digital marketplace exist alongside floppy comics like TV and radio exist? Drink your Ovaltine and find out next month in Satellite Sam! 

DARK SKULLKICKERS DARK #1
WRITER: Jim Zubkavich
ARTIST: Edwin Huang, Jim Zubkavich
Publication Date: July 3, 2013
Price: $3.50
Publisher: Image Comics
UPC: 70985300895802311
Buy it HERE


Good Ol’ Zub, at it again, encouraging retailers to boost hisSkullkickers comic with a new new new Number 1 that is not only Dark, but Dark Dark!

The issue number should actually be about….23. That was a good year for me. I got kicked out of a lot of bars, but never for not paying my tab.

The Dwarf, Kusia and Rex find themselves at a bar in the conclusion of the Eighty Eyes on an Evil Island story arc.

An Elf explains to Kusia that they are in a dimensional hub tavern, so when The Dwarf is picked up by the scruff of his neck and out into the snow for not paying his tab, he could wind up anywhere.

All of this happens over a backdrop of Rex and Red Haired Rex trashing the place and fighting goblins.

If this all sounds familiar, it should be, the moral of this particular issue is that of archetypes. Lots of poking fun at comics, Sci Fi and sword and sorcery in these books. And a ton of humor.

If you like your comics fun (we know you do) and want to pick up a new number one issue nearly every month, Skullkickers has what you need. 

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

Triple Shot: TYRANNY OF THE MUSE #1, BATMAN SUPERMAN #1, DAREDEVIL #27

This week’s Triple Shot drags you into the cold depths of writer’s block, teams up the World’s Finest and concludes the two-year storyline orchestrated by Bullseye over at Daredevil #27.

TYRANNY OF THE MUSE #1 (ComiXology Submit)
WRITER: Eddie Wright
ART: Jesse Balmer
Pages: 50
Price: $.99
Age Rating: 15+ only
Buy it HERE

TYRANNY OF THE MUSE #1 is a bizarre existential tale of writer Frank Fisher reliant on a perennial injection of a mysterious substance that fuels his creativity, perhaps his soul.

The muse is his girlfriend, purveyor of the stuff, delivered shots into a festering wound on his head.

Our protagonist is also addicted to crystallized iced tea and coffee, apparently.

For fans of outside-the-box indie comics of Dash Shaw, Charles Burns, Peter Bagge and Robert Crumb, the artwork has an uncomfortable tension of a fever dream on the realm of the subconscious. For those of us staring at white pages and blinking cursors daily, the fright of a writer’s block could send you off of the deep end. What price might you pay to make it go away?

What is most disturbing is the festering wound on his head, constantly begging for more juice as the days go on. This is a story about co-dependence, anxiety, addiction and sickness. You might feel uncomfortable reading this book, and if you do, I think that’s the point.

Dig into it and coast on the weird!


 

BATMAN / SUPERMAN #1
WRITER: Greg Pak
ART: Jae Lee, Ben Oliver
Publication Date: June 27, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: DC Comics
UPC: 76194131581200111
Buy it HERE

Batman/Superman #1 recreates the classic World’s Finest orSuperman/Batman title for The New 52, with a killer team of Greg Pak (World War Hulk) and Jae Lee (Namor, Dark Tower).  Teaming up the Man of Steel with the Dark Knight outside of the Justice League is certainly nothing new, the balance of the two characters is more of a tense and interesting dynamic than say Wolverine and Captain America or Spider-Man and Ice-Man.

The godlike nature of the heroes makes for more of a compelling story.

The art is knockout amazing from both Jae Lee and Ben Oliver. The art switch is in service of the story (a different setting). I especially appreciated Jae Lee taking a new approach to his panel layouts, like we have seen recently in the Batwoman book ( J.H. Williams, Trevor McCarthy). Ben Oliver’s art is more organic and well illustrated in contrast to Lee’s more painterly lines and organic drapery. My favorite panel is Pa Kent holding Clark by his suspenders, literally saving a kitten for Lana in a flashback.

On to the story, and spoilers after this point. This version Superman and Batman seems to be set in the ‘5 years ago’ timeline of The New 52 (Superman in jeans, Bruce Wayne on his Army jacket recon missions a la Year One). It gets confusing, and sure to be cleared up next issue, but Clark is teleported to Earth 2…perhaps? Not sure but Pa Kent, presumed dead according to New 52 continuity makes an appearance.

Either way, the story will reveal itself, and it is great to see these two main creators working on this title at DC. I’m on board, this will make up for me dropping both flagship titles that don’t interest me much anymore, Action Comics and Detective Comics.

DAREDEVIL #27
WRITER: Mark Waid
ARTIST: Chris Samnee
COLOR: Javier Rodriguez
Publication Date: June 26, 2013
Price: $2.99
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Buy it HERE

Clearly one of my favorite titles, referenced if not picked here at TRIPLE SHOT is Daredevil by Mark Waid and most of the time with art by Chris Samnee. This issue marks the end of the road for this particular storyline, being built up since issue #1.

Waid sure can wrap things up nicely — even with a 27 issue slow burn.  We have appreciated this new version of Daredevil, that doesn’t turn grim and gritty, but has some humor but mostly a positive or go with the flow attitude from Matt Murdock.

Early on, we were treated to a new canonical way of illustrating Matt’s radar sense, and action scenes took full advantage of his powers.

As is the way with Daredevil, his personal and professional life start to fall apart. He’s fought The Spot, Stilt-Man, Mole Man, Klaw and so many more these past two years. He’s lost his firm and his practice, his secret identity and his best friend Foggy is battling cancer. 

It has come to be revealed that this all has been masterminded by his old enemy, Bullseye who was presumed dead but has been kept alive in an iron lung, resuscitated by The Hand, who were not able to repair his spine.

Daredevil fights off Ikari while Bullseye reveals his plans to Daredevil from his iron sarcophagus. Luckily, Daredevil has protected his loved ones with bodyguards ranging from Iron Fist to Ant Man, Black Widow and Spider-Man so they are safe from The Hand during this final battle.

It is no surprise that Daredevil is victorious over the weakened Bullseye but this was not without some cost. A fearless Daredevil swings into the night after relaying the story to the recovering Foggy.

I can’t wait to embark on new Daredevil adventures after this, it is hard to believe this book has been so consistently awesome for two years running already. The trade paperbacks or ComiXology collections of these books are top of the stack recommendations to Daredevil or non-comic book fans. Great writing and art, and not bogged down by gloomy emotions from years of the character’s history.

SUMMER READING LIST - Clay N. Ferno at Forces of Geek

Clay N. Ferno
Contributor; Columnist, Triple Shot

• Buddha by Osamu Tezuka (continued from last summer! )
• Marble Season by Gilbert Hernadez
• Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko by Blake Bell
• The Amazing Adventurs of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
• Insufferable by Mark Waid & Peter Krause

[Read everyone else’s suggested reading list over at the big one…FORCES OF GEEK]

TRIPLE SHOT DIGITAL: Comixology Submit Presents BLUDGEON #1, HEALED #1, OF STARS AND SWORDS #1

This week at the digital ComiXology Submit reviews we spend some time tussling in the woods in BLUDGEON, cure all disease and most deaths inHEALED and seek revenge on a murderous uncle in OF STARS AND SWORDS.

The leader in the digital comics space opened up the platform to indie creators back in March of this year.

Writers and artists now have the chance to publish comics or graphic novels on the browser, tablet or phone using the Guided View technology. Comixology curates the submissions and soon the comic is put into panel by panel production for the viewer. The comics appear right on the digital store alongside all of the major publisher’s books.

BLUDGEON #1
Written and Drawn by: Jeremy Owen
Price: $2.99
Page Count: 30 pages
Imprint: Burly Press
Digital Release Date: 6/12/13
Age Rating: 17+ only
BUY IT HERE

BLUDGEON is a fun black and white urban adventure book starring the bearded Mike, who has been on the run for months.

He stumbles on to a man in the woods who is not what he appears to be. The monster in the woods is wearing the skin of homeless people in the woods as his radio-controlled helper monkey feasts on their flesh.

Mike brandishes his weapons and pursues his foe back into the city.

This is a fun read by a LGBTQ creator with a fun story and cool fight scenes.

HEALED #1
Writer: George W. O’Connor
Artist: Griffin
Price: $0.99
Page Count: 28 Pages
Imprint: Homeless Comics
Digital Release Date: 5/29/13
Age Rating: 17+ Only
BUY IT HERE

HEALED #1 tells the story of a world without disease or illness. People only die from accidents, murder or suicide.

This first issue has 3 vignettes of people dealing with the new status quo, a priest seeking to save his parishioners, a corporate executive for a multi-national company, and a mother by the bedside of her dying daughter.


Great pacing in this story and an interesting concept, problems of overpopulation and food demands are juxtaposed against realistic stories of people emotionally reacting to “The Healing”.

O’Connor is on to something great here, recommended for fans of Y The Last Man.

OF STARS AND SWORDS #1
Writer: Graham L. Johnson
Artist: Caroline Johnson
Price: $0.99
Page Count: 25 Pages
Imprint: Serious Turtle Studio
Digital Release Date: 6/5/13
Age Rating: 15+ Only
BUY IT HERE

Elvin Seren witnesses her uncle murdering her mother and brother and steals away with the local criminal syndicate to track down her father and a man named Helmund.

She is trained in the underworld and even has blood on her hands, though she is only a teenager. Armies of the undead are awakened by Helmund as she is on her quest to get revenge on her uncle.


This is a fun fantasy story with a strong teenage girl at the lead, narrating her family’s story as she goes.

The adventure continues as a weekly webcomic here at ofstarsandswords.com. 

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

MAD MEN: "In Care Of" S6E13 (Season 6 Finale review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Don (Jon Hamm) carries his baggage to the end of Season 6 of Mad Men and reaches a bottom of sorts.  A montage at the beginning of the episode of the finale checks in on each of the main characters moving from Stan to Roger (John Slattery) to Pete, ending on a beat in the office featuring Joan (Christina Hendricks) and new buddy Bob Benson (James Wolk).

Megan (Jessica Paré) is rightfully worried about Don’s drinking at their Park Ave. apartment to set up the rest of this highly anticipated closing episode.

Spoilers ahead, of course!

Here we are at the end of Season 6. We started on vacation in Hawaii and ended up on a street corner in Pennsylvania, the childhood whorehouse of Dick Whitman. The reveals came heavy toward the end, this episode and last exposing Bob Benson for what he appears to be, and Don’s past as Dick Whitman coming to haunt him mid-season (flashing back to being sexually assaulted by one of the ladies in the whorehouse). Whereas the end of Season 5 ended in the suicide of Lane Pryce (Jared Harris), this time it is Don’s career and his relationship with two of his most cherished women in his life, Megan and Sally being asphyxiated.

We open on to Stan (Jay Ferguson) asking Don to take the Sunkist account in Los Angeles. Stan deserves the shot, more than most in his position at the company. Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) has paraded her well-earned success over to another firm and is Copy Chief at the new firm of Sterling, Cooper & Partners. It is a well laid plan, to start an agency branch in CA all by himself, to be a leader. Stan is a well-dressed and 70’s fashion-forward New Yorker, looking to stay young in Cali. 

Ken Cosgrove (Aaron Staton), still recovering and with eye patch and Jim Cutler (Harry Hamlin) are the next to speak with Don regarding a possible Hershey chocolate account.

Don is enthusiastic as they set up an important meeting that goes the way of the meeting with Royal Hawaiian in the first episode of the season. That is to say, it not only goes poorly but takes a bizarre turn.

Cutting over to Roger’s office, we see his daughter Margaret (Elizabeth Rice) and brother-in-law asking for more money for a poor investment. Roger calls her a brat and Margaret un-invites him to Thanksgiving dinner.

Roger moves downstairs past Pete (Vincent Kartheiser), fresh from Detroit and Chevy.

Bob and Joan meet him at the bottom of the stairs for a brief tête-à-tête. Roger jabs at Benson and calls him into his office for a private meeting. In Bob’s impromptu performance review, Roger warns him to stay away from Joan’s heartstrings, and so much as to stay away from his child with Joan, Kevin. Benson assures Roger that he and Joan are just buddies.

To avoid having his daughter Sally (Kiernan Shipka) being subpoenaed about the robbery (Episode 8), Don calls her at boarding school to get her to the courtroom. Sally’s still mad at ‘Daddy’ and gets a good couple of jabs in referencing the affair she witnessed with the downstairs neighbor, “I wouldn’t want to do anything immoral”, and the even hotter, “You know what, why don’t you just tell them what I saw”. I think even critics of Sally’s role on the show would have wanted to give her a high five after that zinger.

Don takes more time off from work, leading Ted (Kevin Rahm) and Jim to deal with the hotel clients. Don is belly-up to a bar where a minister is trying to save his soul.

Flashback to the whorehouse and a similar evangelical is trying to save the girls. He’s removed by his ear by Uncle Mack (Morgan Rusler) and told to never come back. These flashbacks going back to Don’s past (his father’s death, the loss of his virginity) really shape his decisions and his detachment to his family. Don awakes in the drunk tank, arrested for assaulting the minister. Megan finds Don pouring his booze down the kitchen sink, as Don has reached a bottom and tries as many drunks do—goes cold turkey.

On Don’s pink cloud of hangover and regret, he steals Stan’s plan as a way to have a geographical cure for all of his problems and his drinking. Verbatim, he pitches moving to California to Megan, who has had opportunities come her way in her acting career but turned them down to stay in New York on her soap. She gets the ball rolling to make the move.

Pete gets a telegram at work informing him that his mother has been lost at sea, presumed overboard in shark infested waters. After some investigation Pete finds out that Manolo (Andres Faucher) is a suspect after marrying Pete’s mom on the boat!

Rushing out to his flight to Detroit, Pete confronts Bob in the elevator—to another beat of hysterical dialogue.

Bob: “How are you?” Pete: “Not great, Bob”!

On the Chevy showroom floor, Pete is forced to test drive the Camaro Z-28. Bob holds the keys for him, like Blake (Alec Baldwin) in Glengarry Glen Ross swinging a pair of brass balls. Pete can’t drive stick, he slams it into reverse and destroys the display and his integrity in front of the car execs.

Bob 1, Pete -10.

Pete is obviously taken off of the account. Upon returning and getting with his brother on the matter of his mother’s murder, they decide not to pursue Manolo (alias Marcus Constantine) via an expensive private investigator in Panama. “She’s…in the water…with father”, “She loved the sea”.

Ted stalks Peggy after she makes an exit to go on a date, and Ted admits that he is in love with her. The soap opera continues as he promises Peggy he will leave his wife Nan (Timi Prulhiere).

Back at SC&P, Ted backtracks on his plan. Ted asks Don if he can be the one to go to California with Nan and the kids for a fresh start. 

The Hershey account shows up for a pitch, and at last we think that Don is back to his old suave self. He pitches a beautiful story about his father giving him a chocolate bar after he mows the lawn. The chocolatiers are eating it up until Don has a breakdown, confessing to the room that his relationship with the candy is tied to a whore at his childhood home.

The breakdown is so startling that everyone, the clients, Roger and Jim leave the room trying to salvage the account. Ted and Don stay behind, and Don concedes the California assignment to Ted. 

Perhaps Don is having trouble decision making or he is thinking of doing right by Ted after betraying him in the past. Either way, Don is on the edge, a broken man, his career in serious jeopardy and his personal life wrecked. If he wasn’t already at bottom, he has just taken the express train there.

When he breaks the news to his successful wife, who has just quit her job on her soap opera to move to California, Megan leaves him. Perhaps she is going on a walk, but she is so upset that she can’t deal with the flip-flop, even if Don promises her the couple will be bi-coastal as he stays at SC&P in NY while she moves to Hollywood to become a star.

Was this a purposeful move to get her to leave him alone in his apartment so that he can rekindle his affair with Sylvia (Linda Cardellini)? This is self-sabotage beyond the brink. I predicted early on that Don’s career was in trouble this season and that his creativity is tapped out, farming the fun stuff to Peggy, Stan, Ted and the Creative Department. Now career and personal life are crashing into his second marriage and Megan has had enough.

As Betty (January Jones) pointed out about Megan and Don, “She doesn’t know that loving you is the worst way to get to you.” She’s right. Don may be incapable of having people love him. Perhaps it is the disease of alcoholism in his veins and his family, or perhaps it is PTSD, but Don doesn’t have the coping tools he need to love himself or others. Poor Megan, a successful actress quit her starring role (or roles, she plays both twins on “To Have And To Hold”) for no real reason except for Don’s selfishness. This episode had me shaking my fists at Don—but also hope that he gets whatever help he needs.

“Fuck the agency—I quit my job!”

When it comes time for Ted to reveal the same to Peggy, that he is going to California in Don’s stead, she kicks him out of her office, and is jealous that Ted has the option. Ted, acting selfishly in one way, should not have told her he would leave Nan, because he won’t. Peggy is dealing with being a female with power at the company, but is dissatisfied she doesn’t get to stomp all over and make executive decisions like Ted and Don. And of course, like Megan, Peggy has to deal with the repercussions of the actions of the men at SC&P.

She loves Ted, and he loves her. Ted is moving away to not absolve his established family, and it pains him to do so, but why the empty promise to Peggy. The girl has been through enough! I suggest Peggy keep a harpoon by her desk at the ready!

Don’s partners (Roger, Joan, Bert, Jim and Roger) call him in for a meeting on Thanksgiving morning, 9am.

Roger speaks up and they lay off Don for the holiday season, with no return date. For the first time, Don is powerless, lonely and without the firm to distract him from the other affairs in his life. This was not specifically about Hershey’s, but all of his behavior before and after the merger. On his way out, humiliated, he runs into head hunter Duck Davis (Mark Moses) and another man, Lou Avery (Allan Havey). The two seem to be making moves on Don’s position at the firm, Lou calls the elevator to push Don down (and out) of the building in a tense hallway moment.

We breeze out of this season with Roger going to Joan’s for Thanksgiving and visiting son Kevin, though we’re all surprised to see Bob Benson carving the turkey in a turkey apron there.

Peggy commandeers Don’s office for some extra work and we all say goodbye to Stan until next time.

Cut to the last scene, Don takes his kids to the place where he grew up, the whorehouse in Nowhere, PA. The dilapidated, boarded up house closes the scene as Judy Collins singing Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” playing us out. Now Don is seeing the bottom half (again) after spending so much time at the top.

What fate belies Don Draper next season? Humility? Honesty with his family? Sobriety? Growth? Will we even see Ted, Pete and the California office? What about Megan? She’ll be there too, perhaps. Season 7 will be the last for Mad Men, and we will be back here in April of next year for more.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

Triple Shot: THE X-FILES #1, HARBINGER #13, MARA #5 (of 6) at FORCES OF GEEK

We’ve got a peek inside the military industrial complex this week at Triple Shot.

Mara and Harbinger books both show the importance of a best laid plan while we marvel at the return of X-Files: Season 10 and a Pentagon break-in that could doom Mulder and Scully.

THE X-FILES #1
WRITER: Joe Harris
ART: Michael Walsh
COLOR: Jordie Bellaire
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Chris Carter
Publication Date: June 19, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: IDW Publishing
UPC: 82771400475500111
Buy it HERE


What better way to revisit the X-Files than in comic book form?

Do you want to believe in good comics?

IDW has teamed up with Executive Producer Chris Carter to tell new tales of Mulder and Scully set in the present day.

FBI Deputy Director Skinner pays a visit to the home of Mr. and Dr. Blake—the pseudonyms of Mulder and Scully in the Witness Protection Program or new identities formed after they were last seen in X-Files: I Want to Believe. 

Skinner warns the couple that FBI archives and personnel have been compromised, including the X-Files. Scully is concerned about the safety of her son, William, who was put up for adoption in case his records were also compromised. 

Mulder, struggling to work on his memoir gets a call from Skinner’s hotel room, eking out that he is in danger there. Mulder heads to rescue him, leaving Scully vulnerable to a similar attack by hooded mystery men and women. With Scully away from the boys will she also get to make a plea for help, or will she succumb to the attack by the young girl patient she was treating earlier?

This book captures the voice of the show and the actors and is setting us up for a great mystery. Are the people who adopted Scully’s son William responsible for the attacks? Michael Walsh’s art reminds us of Chris Samnee or the work Antonio Fuso is doing on G.I. Joe: Cobra Files, a simplified but sophisticated line with good storytelling.

This book is highly recommended for fans of the show!

HARBINGER #13
WRITER: Joshua Dysart
ART: Khari Evans & Trevor Hairsine
Publication Date: June 19, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Valiant Comics
UPC: 85899200304801321
Buy it HERE


The Harbinger Wars continue in this, the first crossover event for the new Valiant Universe.

Psiot Peter Stanchek leads fellow teenage super powered kids in the fight against master Toyo Harada, head of The Harbinger foundation.

This issue leads the fight to Vegas for big action, as well as a trip down Harada’s past to his first Harbinger War in 1969 at Project Rising Spirit R & D Headquarters in flashbacks.

Peter and his crew lay a well thought out plan to attacking the oncoming Bloodshot and rescue the kids under Bloodshot’s watch. What they don’t plan on is that the kids aren’t exactly looking to be rescued and that Bloodshot is way more powerful than they can imagine. The man/machine has more firepower than the five Harbingers combined, they barely slow him down.

This Harbinger Wars tie-in was action packed and we get to see how all of these teams and powered beings deal interact with each other in the Valiant Universe. While not a fan of huge crossovers in the Big Two books, the clarity of focus for these stories in a much smaller universe makes for compelling storytelling.

MARA #5 (of 6)
WRITER: Brian Wood
ARTIST: Ming Doyle 
COLOR: Jordie Bellaire
Publication Date: June 19, 2013
Price: $2.99
Publisher: Image Comics
Buy it HERE


Mara Prince is the ultimate sports hero, or rather was until her secret superpowers started to manifest themselves in front of a global audience.

She has since rejected moves made on her by the military to be the ultimate weapon.

In the penultimate issue of this acclaimed mini-series the stakes are higher.


The military has her brother detained for the crime of being her brother and is tested with violence to see if he can withstand the same punishment that is superpowered sister can (he cannot, he has not manifested any powers). 

What we see here in this issue is an increasingly used psychological theme in comics with a nigh-invulnerable lead character (powers like Superman for example). Seen in The Mighty(Tomasi/Samnee/Snejbjerg) and Irredemable (Waid/Krause/Barreto) are tales of heroes being callous with their powers or more simply turning from good to bad. It is hinted that Mara’s story could end similarly or that we will be surprised at Mara’s actions in the conclusion of the story.

Wood and Doyle have created a strong female lead here not typical of the genre and we look forward to the end of this story to be able to recommend the trade to our friends. There is no doubt that no matter what the outcome of issue 5 will be, this story will sell well in trade on art alone.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

CLAY N. FERNO / CLAY FERNALD - Writing Samples

DOWNLOAD

MAD MEN: "THE QUALITY OF MERCY" S6E12 (REVIEW) at FORCES OF GEEK

How can Season Six be over already?

In the penultimate episode of Mad Men for this year, the darkness is penetrating the tone as a mad dash is made to resolve loose ends as we step ever closer to the 1970s.

Don Draper (Jon Hamm) is reeling from the effects of the last episode and is drinking over his problems.

Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) is concerned with Bob (James Wolk) as he takes over the Chevy account from Ken Cosgrove (Aaron Staton) and Sally (Kiernan Shipka) takes a trip upstate.

Why is Ken moving away from his Chevy account? Well, they’ve already injured his leg, but the cold open after Don & Megan’s morning ritual shows Ken out on a hunting trip with the Chevy executives. He’s had to do tap-dance to keep these guys happy and full of steak “Its my job”, but these goons have gone too far with the hazing by SHOOTING KEN IN THE FACE. The buckshot does not kill Ken, but after talking with Pete, the newly expectant father walks away from Chevy with at least his life intact.

Pete, who is desperate and lonely takes the traveling job offer from Ken, pending partnership approval. We’ll get to that later!

The Ocean Spray/Sunkist accounts are competing still after Don’s promise to Ted that he drop Sunkist. Harry (Rich Sommer) comes through with a multimillion dollar buy from Sunkist if they drop the cranberry campaign that Ted (Kevin Rahm) and Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) are working closely on.

In fact, Ted and Peggy are working closely in the office together—and others are taking notice. Especially Don, who seems to be taking the Sunkist ad and shots at Ted in order to break those two up. Don is jealous of their relationship and of Ted’s success.

Pete learns that Bob comes with the Chevy assignment, and after their awkward leg touch last episode, Pete is resistant but agrees with this when the partners force Bob on him, albeit reluctantly.

Pete makes a call to Duck (Mark Moses) to have him look in to Bob Benson’s past. The reveal is that Bob is a fraud, and like Don, has forged a new life out of nowhere and weaseled his way into SC&P.

When Pete confronts Benson, he doesn’t expose his fraud to the world, instead he maturely accepts Bob as his partner on Chevy on the terms that Benson not go after Pete or his family any more. Bob’s friend/partner, Manolo (Andres Faucher) is asked to step away from Pete’s mother.

Sally does an overnight at the boarding school she’s applying at, and trouble follows her there. She invites Glen (Marten Holden Weiner) and another boy, Rolo for a party. How they got these boys here after just a few hours of conspiring is beyond me. The kids get drunk and stoned, ending in a ruckus of Glen protecting Sally by attacking Rolo. The girls give Sally a glowing recommendation to the headmaster to be accepted to the school after so much excitement.

At SC&P, Don embarrasses Ted in front of the St. Joseph’s aspirin people, but to the benefit of saving the account and the ad that Peggy and Ted ran over budget. In a sinister way, Don’s actions make everyone uncomfortable around the table. Don is picking at Ted’s bones—and Peggy knows this and calls Don a monster.

Don’s business acumen is now leaning more toward being a shark than having creative ideas. This can’t be good for the partnership. Ted is enthusiastic and idealistic, Don has dark secrets affecting all of his relationships. This conflict may carry over into the next season or we may see this resolve in the finale in a big way.

There’s no “On The Next Mad Men” this week as we all speculate on the season finale. Let’s recap some important characters. Betty and family seem to be doing OK and Sally is on the track to go to boarding school. Megan is playing two roles on her show (a soap opera that Don clicks by after seeing her on screen as he’s home sick). Megan’s strength is carrying her on to be an independent woman that loves Don.

Peggy and Ted are flirting, but not beyond that. Pete will move to deal with the Detroit account. Roger and the senior partners are taking a step back from the limelight. Harry Crane could predictably move to a Hollywood career.

What surprises are in store? We’re happy to have the Bob Benson reveal in this episode, because we couldn’t wait any more! We always hope to see more Joan in the finale as she continues to define herself at the company as a partner.

Tune in Sunday at 10 for the season finale!

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

TRIPLE SHOT DIGITAL: Comixology Submit Presents DEMETER #1, THE KITCHEN WITCH #1, TIME SAMPLERS #1

Here at the digital ComiXology Submit camp we confront the dirty sea in Becky Cloonan’s Demeter, protect the secret family ingredient with the help of a witch and tune in to some time travel, man!

The leader in the digital comics space opened up the platform to indie creators back in March of this year.

Writers and artists now have the chance to publish comics or graphic novels on the browser, tablet or phone using the Guided View technology. Comixology curates the submissions and soon the comic is put into panel by panel production for the viewer. The comics appear right on the digital store alongside all of the major publisher’s books. 

Demeter #1
Written and drawn by: Becky Cloonan

Price: $0.99
Imprint: Ink and Thunder
Digital Release Date: 6/19/13
Age Rating: 15+ Only 
BUY IT HERE
 
Becky Cloonan (Buffy, Batman, Strange Tales) delivers Demeter, part of her one-shot short story series.

This is a richly illustrated romantic tale in one issue of a maiden in a lighthouse and her passionate love affair with Colin. The sea does not forget the debts owed to her, and seeks to take back from Anna that which is most precious to her.

Amazing art coupled with the tale that reads like classic literature makes for astounding comics.

Hard copies can be purchased at Becky’s new webstore with options that include silkscreen covers and sketch editions.

The Kitchen Witch #1
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Olivia Pelaez
Price: $0.99
Page Count: 27 Pages
Imprint: 215 Ink
Digital Release Date: 5/29/13
Age Rating: All ages
BUY IT HERE

Kevin feels a little neglected as his father, chef Bennett Gordon, prepares to open a new restaurant.

The restaurant Traddodiad is guarded by kindly witch Lovis at night as the kitchen is also a fantastical landscape where creativity comes from.

Kevin and Lovis pursue The Gremlin King in the Traddodiad realm to track down Gordon’s secret ingredient.

The Kitchen Witch is great fun for an all ages book, for fans of cooking reality TV and The Wizard of Oz.

TIME SAMPLERS #1
Writers: Thomas Gorence, Erik Koconis, David Pinckney

 Artists: Nicolas Colacitti, Christopher Hanchey 
Price: $2.99
Page Count: 37 Pages
Imprint: Paranoid American
Digital Release Date: 5/29/13
Age Rating: 15+ Only
BUY IT HERE

Time Samplers is a fun adventure title based on psychedelic time travel.

In order for the two main characters Cal and Lex to make a copy of the past and investigate Alexander Graham Bell’s illuminati time crimes, they must also dose on heavy DMT.

To be honest the storytelling in issue #1 has a lot going on that could use some simplification, but this is still a fun Butterfly Effect time travel tale. 

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

MAN OF STEEL (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

MAN OF STEEL (review)

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, 

Emma Thomas, Deborah Snyder

Screenplay by David S. Goyer

Story by Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer

Based on Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

Directed by Zack Snyder

Starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, 

Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne, 

Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Russell Crowe

Warner Bros. / PG-13

Superman, though not in the title, and only spoken once in the movie has returned in Man of Steel.

Starring Henry Cavill as Clark/Kal/Superman, Amy Adams as a smart and engaging Lois Lane and Michael Shannon as our villain, last seen in the comics or Superman II,General Zod of Krypton.

Kevin Costner is an earnest, sensitive and sensible Jonathan Kent, Kal’s adoptive father with Diane Lane as Martha Kent by his side. Laurence Fishburne stars as the Daily Planet’s Chief, Perry White.

The film opens on doomed planet Krypton, Russell Crowe as Jor-El helps deliver his son to Lara Lor-Van played by Ayelet Zurer. 

With a cast like this, we can’t go wrong, right?

I tend to love almost everything superhero related and this movie was no exception. After cramming in a Dark Knight trilogy over the weekend, I was well prepared for this Man of Steelscreening. To be honest, I thought the bridge would be there for me like the Timmverse versions of the characters. Batman first. Superman second. One dark. One light. Similar vibe. I was happy to be half correct in that assumption. This is a modern looking film, and perfect for our time. Snyder and Nolan are different stylistically, and I appreciate that.

Having Christopher Nolan as a producer did inform the look of Metropolis somewhat, and the collective success of Dark Knight did get the wheels turning for Superman. I’m happy this all worked out the way it did.

They tell a different sort of origin story with pacing, flashbacks and nonlinear jumps in Man of Steel. Breaking the predictable pattern was welcome, and allowed for more time spent on the story of Krypton as a planet and it’s fate. Zod and Jor-El open the movie fighting and it is this fight over the fate of Kryptonians and their last son that drives the plot. 

Krypton is an organic alien planet filled with strange rounded spaceships, elaborate birdcage steampunk costumes, and Giger-esque (or, more recently and to the point, Prometheus) settings and ships. The time we spend on Krypton is delightful, and much different from the crystalline palace of Brando’s Jor-El.

They’re doing it right with the Houses of Krypton and the General Zod-ness of Krypton just before the explosion. The “S” seal of the House of El is in tact and standing for “hope” in Kryptonian (‘borrowed’ from Mark Waid’s Superman: Birthright). Zod seems to have another pentagon-shaped sigil on his chest, not exactly a “Z”, more of a horseshoe tilted 45 degrees. Heck, I’m no translator! The Kryptonian letters are also different from that of Smallville and comics versions. Spend half a day over at Kryptonian.info if you are curious. 

It couldn’t be Zod without The Phantom Zone exile, The Phantom (Zone) Projector and some bitter allies. He’s got that in a bad-ass Faora (sorry, Ursa fans, a new/old girl is in town—and she can fight!).

On Earth, as Clark grows up he’s initially freaked out by his powers until he grows older and starts to roam the world, TV-Hulk style (or JMS: Grounded style, for the snarky). All the while he chooses to do good, save people and shun bullies. 

Ma and Pa Kent do their best to protect the young boy Clark from revealing his secret before the world is ready and there are great moments of father son bonding between Jonathan and young Clark (Dylan Sprayberry). Jonathan assures Clark that people are afraid of what they don’t understand. 

Missing Smallville pals? Don’t worry, you’ve got Pete Ross and Lana Lang keeping Clark company…and perhaps his secrets? You know Pete is always gonna keep his lips tight. Smallville varsity football kids even pick on Clark with the traditional maroon and yellow jackets. Go Crows!

Slight spoilers, though don’t expect many from this review. Lois has figured out Clark’s secret before she’s even met him through the doors of the Daily Planet. He saves her as they both are investigating an ancient Kryptonian scout ship on the North Pole (Fortress of Solitude?). It’s a different Lois, and as I think she also likes pink very much, Amy Adams brings an intelligence and powerful female to her performance. Lois is in the middle of the action and helps take down the baddies in the end. We don’t get the feeling that she’s putting herself in harms way to bait Superman’s enemies or to be saved. Lois is willing and able to fight with her wits against a Kryptonian army, and that’s respectable.

Origins of Kryptonian births, and how Krypton found Earth are revealed by Jor-El’s consciousness projection when near Kryptonian tech. Much more than the ghost head of Jor-El in the Reeve films, this Jor-El walks and talks and interacts with both Kal and Lois. He’s not alive…but his spirit or memory or virtual reality is very much a real being. This expansion of the relationship Jor-El gets to have with Kal makes it more direct than previous ‘man behind the curtain’ interactions (Smallville, Superman I, II). 

After donning the costume (sorry ladies, no red undies!) Jor-El coaches Kal on flying, or at least using his powers to the full potential. It’s tough not to recall both Spider-Man movie versions as Superman first takes flight like a klutz and crashes through a mountaintop. 

The flight? Just right. Hovers? Perfect. Floating parallel to the ground? OK, never seen that before, so you must be doing it right. Our imagination leaping from the comic page and the recollection of blue screen Christopher Reeve on a glass cube days are long gone. I would say a huge selling point to comic fans is that the powers are right. The Powers are Right. THE POWERS ARE RIGHT!  Heat vision, X-ray vision, impervious to bullets (and anything else) coupled with flight makes for great superhero moviemaking. Batman was all about the Tumbler and The Bat and Bat-Pod. Here, we can believe a man can fly…finally! Sonic BOOM!

Speaking of Spider-Man (both versions) Ma Kent and Aunt May have a lot in common. Probably hard to separate thinking about the history of other superhero movies while watching this one. Diane Lane is fantastic, and does not dote over Clark. She encourages him to reveal himself when the time is right.

Zod’s motivation is to take over the Earth and repopulate Krypton with stored DNA from a Krypton artifact. In the process he’d terraform and kill all humans. This is a standard story for a bad guy but the buildup from the opening sequence was way more satisfying compared to Nero’s motivations in the first Star Trek (2009). 

As a Superman fan, and one that doesn’t wish to spoil anything more than necessary for the purposes of this review, I have both praise and criticisms.

I applaud every effort to include major and minor fan service moments, characters, re-imaginings (Jenny Olsen instead of Jimmy, Kryptonian atmosphere affecting Kal instead of Kryptonite proper), LexCorp trucks and Wayne Enterprises artifacts. Digging deep into the history of Superman by keeping true to the main players is important and approachable. The new tone of the movie (a darker palette in set design and for mood) is a welcome update as well.

Let Donner be Donner. Let Smallville and Geoff Johns comics be those things. This is a new thing. Were this movie to take major liberties with Krypton, Kal and the Ma and Pa Kent dynamic I would be offended. Even Nolan’s Batman trilogy, a masterwork in my opinion, felt at times too based in reality. 

Man of Steel scratches the itch of a sci-fi fan in a modern film context while inserting the aesthetic of a news camera crew or reality show when appropriate. Big action here. Elaborate ships and Kryptonian armor texture the movie with fantasy. Inception and Avengers style of building destruction shows us just how real and elaborate CGI has become. Do I need to mention that the Hans Zimmer score is amazing? Though I wish I could have the movie at home now so that I can mash up the John Williams score with 10 minutes of Cavill flying scenes….for my own use!

On to the criticisms of the film, from a fan of Superman in all forms. I could have used a but more brightness on the camera settings. Though not every shot, I’m disappointed in the use of filters on some of the film processing. Hey, I’m no expert but my untrained eye was put off by the “Instagramification” of some scenes in the film.

Maybe this is the trend, a stylistic choice by Snyder, or something beyond my comprehension. To contradict an earlier statement somewhat, Nolan’s lens is more clean, crisp and cinematic. Some emotional scenes in this film were given a post production filter to break the scene visually from the action, but it took me out a bit. A small complaint on my part, really. Overall with visual effects and CGI, I still would give this movie 5 stars.

Superman doesn’t exactly stand for truth, justice, and the American way in 2013. In Man of Steel, Clark stands for what’s right, his family, and believing in himself to do good. I might be missing something in there but that’s the general idea. He’s only on his first ‘missions’ as a superhero, so he has growing up to do. My major (and for some, the make it or break it) opinion about his victory over Zod in the end had me asking these questions. What exactly does a 75 year-old hero mean in a modern context. Were curveballs thrown at the audience to see how much they can take? Is the world seen through “Instagram X-Pro II” colored glasses? I just don’t have the answer to that, except that for just 5 minutes of the film, I wanted a Christopher Reeve to be there in his red undies instead of the equally handsome Henry Cavill fighting off Zod’s newfound Earth-based uncontrolled heat vision.

This is Superman. You must see this movie in the theatre and enjoy an HD copy at home when the time comes. Just imagine the binge you can have with a Dark Knight Trilogy and Man of Steelmarathon. I may sidestep sleep and any social engagements to do just that again this weekend. If there is any doubt in your mind, Henry Cavill is Superman, he deserves the cape for the DC Cinematic Universe and fan drawings on Tumblr. I believe he can fly. Michael Shannon’s Zod is an assertive villain and worth watching every moment he is on the screen.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

Triple Shot: BATMAN #21, THE BLACK BEETLE: NO WAY OUT #4, ARTIFACTS #28 at FORCES OF GEEK

Can Scott Snyder retell the origin of Batman all the while respecting the past?  Has Black Beetle put together the pieces of Labyrinto’s dangerous puzzle?  What is the fate of The Glacier Stone?

We just barely answer any of these questions in this week’s Triple Shot! Light week!

BATMAN #21
WRITER: Scott Snyder
PENCILS: Greg Capullo
INKS: Danny Miki
Publication Date: June 13, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: DC Comics
UPC: 6194130640702111
Buy it HERE

Sure, it is Superman week with Man of Steel opening in theaters, and also this Snyder (Scott) writing the new Superman title, Superman: Unchained.

There’s no reason for us not to go back to Wayne Manor for the origin of The Batman in Batman #21. This embossed cover comic is the first in the ‘Zero Year’ storyline—one meant to replace Batman: Year One in The New 52 parlance.


Fans of the Batman Begins will recognize a beat or two, from Bruce Wayne being away from Alfred for a period of time, but this story is all new, all different.

We’re introduced to Bruce’s Uncle Philip (Martha’s Brother) who is running Wayne Enterprises. Also, we get an origin of the giant penny, shining in copper glory in front of Wayne Tower. We get introduced to the Batcave, Riddler, and The Red Hood Gang as well.

Intriguing story here so far but something is missing. I love seeing tales of Bruce Wayne training to become Batman, and let there be a million of them, please! Denny O’Neil and Edward Hannigan’s Shaman delivers an awesome origin of the Batcave from Legends of the Dark Knight, set just before Miller’s Year One.

We’ll see how this susses out, Snyder sneaks in tropes of the Batman lore in interesting ways, but he only has one shot at telling the origin of Batman in The New 52. Trying to top the 26 year oldYear One could be daunting, Batman fans have held on to that story very tightly. Snyder’s modernizations and imaginings of the Lucius Fox tech are already super cool here in issue #21.

THE BLACK BEETLE: NO WAY OUT #4 (of 4)
WRITER / ARTIST: Francesco Francavilla
Publication Date: June 13, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
UPC: 
76156822686700411
Buy it HERE

The first miniseries of Francesco Francavilla’s The Black Beetle, which sold out of initial copies, concludes this week. The slick pulp detective superhero book will be collected in hardcover in the fall for a beautiful collected edition.

Francavilla’s Eisner Award winning art coupled with his love for the noir pulp drama gives us a book based on a character that’s both familiar and unique. You might assume this is a reboot or an old hero, but The Black Beetle who serves Colt City is an entirely original creation.

In this fourth issue, we discover the secret of his nemesis Labyrinto and the mysterious mob murders. A deep seeded revenge tale leads the cool looking Labyrinto to unspeakable deeds against friends and family, but The Black Beetle is hot on his trail, and has been for a while. 

The Black Beetle will return, also in the fall for the start of a new arc, Necrologue. Francavilla is on to a hit with this Dark Horse series, we will be returning for more.

ARTIFACTS #28
WRITER: Ron Marz
ART: Marco Turini
COLOR: Bill Farmer
Publication Date: June 13, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Image Comics
UPC: 70985300779102811
Buy it HERE

The 13 Artifacts of the Witchblade / The Darkness universe are being sought in the latest Ron Marz comic.

Defrocked priest and wielder of the Rapture Tom Judge along with The Magdalena and thief Michael Finnegan descend upon a mansion Norway, each hoping to get their hands on The Glacier Stone.  A terrifying demon has been summoned to protect the stone and the three team up to scare the powerful demon into the woods after a drawn out fight scene in the mansion.

The speechless demon baits Magdalena onto some ice, where she ends up single-handedly slaying the demon with her Spear of Destiny. The Glacier Stone is lost to the depths of the ice to be found, presumably after the the spring season hits.

As a comic book fan, I couldn’t have been less prepared for picking up a Witchblade title randomly from the shelf! My unfamiliarity with the book, and clean slate with the characters gave me a good perspective. Ron Marz can write an action packed comic and Turini is great at drawing the two major fight scenes as well. I enjoyed the supernatural elements that reminded me ofHellblazer, and thought the character design of the demon was quite spooky. 

This was a solid comic that I didn’t feel I needed a tutorial on Witchblade mythos to enjoy. Next month’s arc starts off the brand new ‘Geometry of Hell’ storyline.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

MAD MEN: "FAVORS" S6 E11 (reviewcap) at FORCES OF GEEK

Mad Men’s favorites are calling in favors this episode as we approach the end of season six.  Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) deals with pests in her life (including the desperate Pete Campbell), Don’s (Jon Hamm) favors are crossing the line, and young Sally (Kiernan Shipka) solidifies her Daddy issues when she sees something that can change everyone’s world for good.

And Bob Benson reveals more of himself this episode; have we cracked his code finally?

 

Peter’s senile mother Dot (Channing Chase) visits the office with her new caretaker Manolo (Andres Faucher). Peggy entertains Dot, but the old bird mistakes her for Trudy and asks about their child! Awkward, Pete and Peggy sired a child way back in season one.

Sylvia (Linda Cardellini) and Dr. Arnold’s (Brian Markinson) kid Mitchell (Hudson Thames) is dodging the draft and had dropped out of college. He seeks downstairs Canadian neighbor, Megan’s (Jessica Paré) help. Arnold explains the dire situation over drinks to Don. If guilt is a motivation for Don, he’ll find a way to help if he can but at what cost?

Upon talking with Pete, Don broaches the subject of helping Mitchell at the firm’s Chevrolet dinner. The right wing arms manufacturers are not quick to talk about the war or helping his plight.

Roger (John Slattery) and Ted (Kevin Rahm) get Don out of this awkward rabbit hole with the client. Don’s been slipping out of creative and now is struggling with business etiquette. Where is the confident and controlling Draper we all know and love? Has his love for Sylvia blinded him from his business and family obligations?

At SC&P two sales leads, Ted and Don assemble their opposing juice teams. Ted has Ocean Spray about to sign and Roger and Don have Sunkist. Both juices are important clients but they must only present to one.

Manolo drops off Dorothy to visit Pete at his apartment, where Dot admits to Pete she and her nurse are getting intimate.  Pete’s infuriated and threatens to fire Manny for his perversions. Mom tells Pete how it is, “You’ve always been unloveable”. She leaves Pete, forever alone, with a face not even his mother can love. Where is Pete’s redemption this season? All signs pointing to Pete suffering this year!

At Peggy’s apartment, a blood trail goes from her bedroom door to under the couch. It’s not the blood of another harpooned boyfriend, we’ve got a rat trapped under there. She calls on Stan (Jay R. Ferguson) to help her clean it up, but he is otherwise occupied. Not even the tease of a snog will entice him uptown, he is already with company.

Ted is willing to help Don with Mitchell’s draft problem by calling in a favor to a high ranking general that taught him to fly. They agree to drop Sunkist and get along. Ted seems to be dominating at the company as Don’s distractions sustain.
  
Ted assumes Don doesn’t have many friends, so that this is important. Meanwhile, Ted struggles at home as his wife feels neglected.

When Pete confronts Bob Benson (James Wolk) about his nurse hire, Bob talks of love and affections. Bob nudges Pete’s knee with his in a very suggestive 60 frames of video. Do these two-seconds of leg touch reveal that Bob is not only gay but in love with Pete? Or is it that ‘60s Pete can’t take a leg touch from another man. Oh, Bob, you sly enigma, you!

At the end of this episode our heart takes a jump!

Sylvia is grateful for Don’s assistance with the kid’s draft problem so they rekindle their affair at Sylvia’s house. Mitchell and Arnold are gone for the day. Sally was pranked by her friend and heads back to the apartment building to retrieve a love letter written to Mitchell. The doorman gives Sally master keys to the apartment complex. Sneaking in the back door of the Rosens. She doesn’t initially see the letter on Sylvia’s kitchen floor. What she does see is her dad and Sylvia doing the deed!

She’s startled and drops the keys, startling everyone.

Finally some drama that hits close to home. How will this affect Sally’s relationship with her father, but more importantly is she going to tell her mom or Megan?

The young adult is now under a lot of pressure to do the right thing. Don tells Sally that he was consoling Sylvia, and that it is complicated. Sally stays locked in her room, obviously upset.

Don’s world can start to crash around him at any moment. The chaos is consuming his life. Arnold and Mitchell come down and thank Don for his efforts. Don’s in a cold sweat and goes straight to bed.

On the next Mad Men, the penultimate episode for the season we’re teased with a hunting trip for Pete, the trouble with Sally and Don wearing a turtleneck like some beatnik.

Let’s see if Sally told Betty about the affair or if she follows her father’s lead and starts to keep dark secrets.

[READ MORE at FORCES of GEEK]

TRIPLE SHOT DIGITAL: Comixology Submit Presents BIKINI COWBOY VOL.1, DEADHORSE VOL.1, NOWHERE MAN VOL 1.1 at FORCES OF GEEK

An unusual cowgirl with a surfboard invades a western town, a man tries to figure out the mystery of his father’s death and a super powered detective gets himself in too deep.

The leader in the digital comics space opened up the platform to indie creators back in March of this year.

Writers and artists now have the chance to publish comics or graphic novels on the browser, tablet or phone using the Guided View technology. Comixology curates the submissions and soon the comic is put into panel by panel production for the viewer. The comics appear right on the digital store alongside all of the major publisher’s books.

BIKINI COWBOY Vol. 1
Writer & Artist: Fresherluke
Price: $5.99
Page Count: 377 pages
Digital Release Date: 5/8/13
Age Rating: 9+ Only
BUY IT HERE

This collection of a webcomic started at the beginning of this year clocks in at an impressive 377 pages of a bizarre twist on a western.

Whisky Jill rolls into town with her surfboard and only a duster covering her bikini! She demands an energy drink from the barkeep and gains the attention of the outlaws in the bar.

It’s not long before a drag out fight and an encounter with a soldier and rescues her new young boy companion Rod McCloud.

A deftly illustrated out-of-time book here with a fun story. Follow Fresherluke on Tumblr for new pages as they appear.

DEADHORSE Vol. 1 - DEAD BIRDS
Writer: Eric Grissom
Artist: Phil Sloan
Price: $9.99
Imprint: Frankenstein’s Daughter
Page Count: 184 Pages
Digital Release Date: 5/8/13
Age Rating: 15+ Only
BUY IT HERE

William Pike seeks to solve the mystery of a key left to him by his dead father and as he embarks on his journey, his nice neighbors the Vogels invite him in for a sandwich…of death!

The neighbors are hot on getting their hands on that key but Pike fights his way out. In the second issue, Pike finds himself chased by a man in a Sasquatch suit also looking for the key. With the help of companions Edgar and Elise they keep the key safe, for now.

This is a great book, for fans of the classic illustrative styles of Darwyn Cooke or Moon and Ba.

Deadhorse is a time spanning mystery set in the real world with bizarre twists that keep you laughing as you get deeper into the mystery of the key. 

NOWHERE MAN Vol. 1.1: You Don’t Know Jack
Writer & Artist: Jerome S. Walford
Price: $4.99
Imprint: Forward Comics
Page Count: 37 Pages
Digital Release Date: 5/8/13
Age Rating: 15+ Only
BUY IT HERE

Nowhere Man is the story of a detective in love with his partner.

Since his accident in 2006, Jack Maguire is impervious to bullets but needs to rely on his street sense to break the illegal arms case in front of the department right now.

Nowhere Man is fun street-level comics starring a cop trying to do right by the death of his father.


Using his powers makes him stronger, but Jack is a tortured man on the inside. For fans of The Punisher, Luke Cage and Powers.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

TRIPLE SHOT: DAREDEVIL: DARK KNIGHTS #1, ACTION COMICS #21, SAVAGE DRAGON #188 at FORCES OF GEEK

This week’s Triple Shot focuses on big dumb superhero action with more than one Daredevil and an unfinished script from Andy Diggle over at Action Comics #21 only a week before the highly anticipated release of Man of Steel.

DAREDEVIL: DARK KNIGHTS #1 (of 8)
WRITER: Lee Weeks
ART: Lee Weeks
COLOR: Lee Loughridge
Publication Date: June 5, 2013
Price: $2.99
Publisher: Marvel Comics
UPC: 75960607856100111
Buy it HERE

Marvel’s Daredevil—The Man Without Fear. The alter-ego of blind lawyer Matt Murdock can tell us a lot about what we take advantage of in life as he faces loss constantly through his life. Writers from Miller to Bendis to Diggle skewed his character to the dark brooding Hell’s Kitchen son of a prize fighter and enemy of the Kingpin since the ‘80s.

Recently, we’ve praised Mark Waid’s serious but brighter take on Daredevil in his current Eisner Award winning run.

We’ve also mentioned Daredevil: End of Days, a future tale written by a super-team of Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack best compared to Dark Knight Returns. The final issue of End of Days also ships this week, to be reviewed later when the collected edition hits.

Daredevil: Dark Knights is an anthology mini-series with more of the great Marvel creators taking a shot at our red-horned attorney. Penciler Lee Weeks returns to the title by writing and drawing the first three issues of this anthology (his is the only story in each of these books). 

Snow replaces rain in this book as the natural enemy and backdrop for this story.
As Matt awakes as a John Doe in the hospital when he awakes from his concussive state to hear a mugging in the emergency room. The hospital has become shelter for many desperate to escape the snow. Daredevil’s sensitive hearing makes him aware of a little girl’s heart transplant being delayed by a helicopter flight. He leaves to assist, but may be too late.

If this was the Daredevil book on the shelves monthly right now, it would also be winning Eisners. This is more of a classic superhero story than we are used to in comics today, but with a thick meaty story and no romantic overtures, we have ourselves a great companion limited series to the Mark Waid book, Daredevil fans will be quite pleased.

ACTION COMICS #21
PLOT: Andy Diggle & Tony S. Daniel
SCRIPT: Tony S. Daniel
PENCILS: Tony S. Daniel
INKS: Batt & Norm Rapmund
Publication Date: June 5, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: DC Comics
UPC: 76194130637702111
Buy it HERE

Movie tie in? No! We wish.

This issue is transitional between the departure of writer Andy Diggle (who left for unrevealed reasons) and our favorite Bat-Artist Tony S. Daniel taking over both the writing and art duties for the book.

I have to say, this worked to the advantage of the overall story and completion of the Hybrid story arc, started after Grant Morrison left the title after issue #18. 

Diggle and Daniel brought this to a more traditional Superman story, focusing on saving Metropolis, his relationship with Lois and Jimmy rather than the quite awesome but intentionally confusing Mr. Mxyzptlk and origin story buildup of the Morrison run.

Superstar artist Tony S. Daniel has impressive writing credits, having written Batman: Battle For The Cowl, Batman, and most recently The New 52 Detective Comics. It is no surprise that DC trusts him with the ‘other’ flagship book and character now. 

One can pick up this issue (without reading #19 or #20) to find this.

Spoiler warning!

Superman defeats big dumb Hybrid monster that consists of citizens of Metropolis. Lex Luthor suits up in The New 52 version of his Warsuit. Punching. Superman is weakened. Superman flies toward the sun to gain strength. Superman socks Luthor. Lois loses cell phone video documenting the fight. Clark returns cell phone, says he watched from sideline. Lois’ date Jon Carroll shows up. Jimmy cracks a joke. The End.

Thank you, Mr. Daniel (and Mr. Diggle) for delivering what I needed. The doctor prescribed two punches to Lex Luthor and no magic. A simple, incredibly drawn Action Comics issue practically had me in tears with it’s celebration of superhero storytelling.

SAVAGE DRAGON #188
WRITER / ARTIST: Erik Larsen
Publication Date: June 6, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Image Comics
Buy it HERE

The Image Revolution was just yesterday, right?

I think Erik Larsen just took over for McFarlane on Amazing Spider-Man only last year. Ugh! It has been so long, though since those halcyon days.

Now, we can follow Erik Larsen on Facebook to watch his coloring and logo design process months before the book hits the shelves.

I like to check in on Savage Dragon every once in a blue moon — if only to say, “Yup, dude’s still got it”! Issue #200 isn’t too far away at this point. 

I won’t even start on what’s happening plot-wise here, my ignorance of the Dragonverse would doom me to mockery on message boards across the world.

Dragon is being sentenced for murder, and meanwhile Daredevil (Golden Age!) and Dragon’s son Malcolm take on Golden Age villain The Claw and his flying monkey men.

Lots happens here, we’ll avoid the spoilers, but consider picking this book up to see that dude has still got it. He’s practically Jack Kirby reincarnated. Also, the cover is way cool, faux-aged like a dog eared copy of Tales of Suspense on the hopper in the barber shop!

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

TRIPLE SHOT DIGITAL: Comixology Submit Presents THE ACCELERATORS #1, SECUNDUS #1, HELL’S BREW at FORCES OF GEEK

This week at our ongoing coverage of creator-owned digital comics reviews at Comixology Submit we time travel for gladiator battles and hot rod desert races.

The leader in the digital comics space opened up the platform to indie creators back in March of this year.

Writers and artists now have the chance to publish comics or graphic novels on the browser, tablet or phone using the Guided View technology. Comixology curates the submissions and soon the comic is put into panel by panel production for the viewer. The comics appear right on the digital store alongside all of the major publisher’s books.

The Accelerators #1
Writer: R.F.I. Porto
Artist: Gavin P. Smith 
Cover: Walt Flanagan
Price: $2.99
Page Count: 29 Pages
Imprint: Blue Juice Comics
Digital Release Date: 5/22/13
Age Rating: 15+ Only
BUY IT HERE

Time crimes! The story starts out in the future in a gladiator arena, good and bad guys throughout history are pitted against each other for dominance. Stormtrooper vs. Caveman, The Mayan vs. The Professor.

We then cut to a doctor being chased by a soldier through time and pick up a smart teenager along the way.

The time travelers are using a device shaped like a donut to travel through time.

By the end, the chase has led our heroes back to the arena, surely to face combat in the Games.

Fun story here, I’m a sucker for time travel stories and superhero battles like Deathmatch andAvengers Arena. Looking forward to issue #2.

Secundus #1
Written and drawn by: Mike Tomas
Price: $2.99
Page Count: 32 Pages
Digital Release Date: 5/22/13
Age Rating: 15+ Only
BUY IT HERE

Secundus is the story of a brave warrior in Roman times, also set in a battle arena.

He always wins his battles, and he got his name by always fighting two at a time.

After winning his last battle and gaining freedom, he’s challenged by a magician who conjures up a creature to aid him in his battle against the mighty Secundus “Secundus fights two”! 

I loved this mostly black and white story, at once a parable and classic story set in ancient time.

A very quick read but a story that makes you think!

Hell’s Brew #1
Story & Art: Michael Liggett
More info: TBA
Imprint: Forgotten Dialect Publishing
BUY IT HERE

This book is drawn like underground comics of the 60s, and is also set in an alternate history 1968. In this land, muscle cars, or ‘firebugs’ are king, and this is the story of infamous racers The Brothers Garcia.

There’s a fun car chase, an element of a murder mystery and some romance in the first issue. I’m really attracted to the art in this book, with a minimal color palette and sometimes awkward but not bad storytelling.

Overall, it works and I enjoyed this hot rod tale.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

MAD MEN: "A Tale of Two Cities" S6 E10 REVIEW AT FORCES OF GEEK

MAD MEN: “A Tale of Two Cities” S6E10 (recap)

The firm is still quibbling over naming rights as some partners go for business trips and Joan (Christina Hendricks) expands her horizons at the office with Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) as a companion and accomplice.

Will Bob Benson’s (James Wolk) enthusiasm and inserting himself into every situation finally give him the leg up he’s been waiting for? 

We open to a partner’s meeting that Don arrives at the end of. The merged firm’s name “Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Cutler Gleason & Chaough” or “SCDPCG&C” is agreed to be a mouthful, but the subject is tabled as Ted (Kevin Rahm) leaves for Detroit to handle Chevy and Don and Roger head to L.A.

In this John Slattery (Roger) directed episode we’re treated to a bit more color—from the wardrobes of the stars as they visit California—to the color television set coverage of the Chicago riots at the Democratic National Convention, 1968. National television and Hollywood take center stage as Don (Jon Hamm) and Roger visit Los Angeles to woo West Coast clients.

Slattery shines on the plane with Hamm as the two go back and for the about the trip. Roger wants Don to be the self-assured east coast business man that he knows he is, and not to be an over-prepared worry wart. Roger knows that the New York confidence and swagger will get the job done, not reading about Carnation Instant Breakfast and Sunkist on the flight.

Harry Crane (Rich Sommer) is aplomb as he dons a scarf and sunglasses to check Don and Roger into the hotel.  Roger heads to the Sunset Strip for a Steak, Don orders room service in the hotel and sees the riots on TV. He gets a phone call from Megan, who, as we are reminded of, cannot vote in the election because of her Canadian citizenship.

When Joan’s friend Kate was visiting, she made the connection with Avon Cosmetics to Joan directly. Looking to expand her role or define herself as a partner, Joan takes a meeting with the Avon executive, on the pretense that it was a date.

Joan returns to the office (having picked up the tab) with a hot lead on the company and tells Peggy. Ted is excited but takes Joan off as the contact and assigns partner Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) to the job, frustrating Joan.

In an act of defiance and claiming her own stake in the company, Joan takes the next meeting with Avon without inviting Pete. Peggy is along for the breakfast meeting, and Joan leans on her for the heavy questions. Joan handles the meeting well but deals with the consequences later. Back at the office, Peggy is convinced that Joan has made a mistake by breaking protocol, but Joan firmly explains herself and asks for support.

What about Bob Benson, you may ask? He may be found listening to “How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling” on phonograph in his office, or breaking the tension between former Air Force officer Jim Cutler (Harry Hamlin) and Michael Ginsberg (Ben Feldman). Cutler puts Bob to the test as Roger is out of town to take care of the Manischewitz account. The account puts the firm under review, so Benson had best give that record another spin.

Out in Beverly Hills, Harry, Don and Roger hit up a pool party with hot men and women, no shortage of dope and they run into an old friend, Danny Siegel (Danny Strong). Danny is a failed copywriter and former employee of SCDP. Roger jabs at Danny’s height and tries to steal his girl, Lotus. Lotus is tripping and high as a kite, but as we know, Roger is ‘experienced’.

Don makes his way to the restroom but is distracted by beautiful ladies smoking hashish out of a hookah. When the stuff hits him, it’s bad news. He hallucinates a pregnant Megan stalking him, and Private Dinkins visiting him from Vietnam, missing an arm. Cut to Don being fished out of the pool by Roger. Never trust a hookah nipple from a stranger!

Back at the firm, Joan’s secret Avon meeting is exposed to Pete and Ted. As she’s asked to repent for her crimes, and Pete is dressing her down, Peggy saves the day by lobbing a fake phone message into the conference room by way of her secretary. The Avon rep is calling for Joan, so Ted demands she take the call. Where Peggy did not agree with how Joan took her piece of the pie, the women stick together to change are changing the sexist workplace environment together.  Gender roles are expanding and now Joan has an account she is responsible for. Since Lane’s suicide, Joan’s partnership has been purely as a figurehead.

All partners except for Joan meet in Don’s office upon everyone’s return. Ted is excited that Chevy’s approvals will come easier now, Don and Roger’s trip may or may not bear fruit, and Manischewitz goes away. 

Jim Cutler and Bert Cooper (Robert Morse) reveal the company name to be reduced to Sterling, Cooper & Partners. Jim says this is the only way because it is equally offensive to members of both firms. Don and Ted drop the fight about the name and all agree that SC&P will look good on the stationary. The partner with the most to say about the change is the resistant Pete, to whom Don invites to leave if he doesn’t like it. Pete storms out of Don’s office to steal a joint from Stan’s mouth and mellows out on the couch.

What can we expect from the preview of next week’s episode?

Megan’s got a surprise visitor or two, Peggy and Ted have more than a drink together, Betty returns and Don pays Pete a visit to his desperate bachelor pad. We’re also reminded of the countdown. There are only three episodes left this season before we see the summer of love in 1969.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

Triple Shot: X-MEN #1, CHEW #34 and EARTH 2 ANNUAL #1 at FORCES OF GEEK

This week’s Triple Shot relaunches one of Marvel’s hottest books with an all-female cast, you’ll be hungry for more after reading the latest issues of Chew and Earth 2, but for different reasons.

There’s a new Batman in the town, but is his reveal the ultimate bat-tease?

X-MEN #1
WRITER: Brian Wood
ART: Olivier Coipel
Publication Date: May 29, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Marvel Comics
UPC: 75960607924700111
Buy it HERE

The role of female characters and creators diminishes over the years for some unknown reasons. When a book stars a female, or if Gail Simone publishes a new book, tumblr explodes with glee. 

This book, is certainly no exception to that rule, as popular writer Brian Wood (The Massive, Star Wars, Mara) relaunches X-Men at number one. 

Starring in the book are Psylocke, Rachel Summers, Storm, Kitty Pryde, Rogue and the return of Jubilee.

Jubilee’s a mom now, that is to say she’s the adopted mother to an orphaned baby. She’s on here way back to the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning with the tyke when she realizes she’s being followed and calls home for help.

This book has all of the elements of great comics, X-Men or otherwise. An orphaned baby with powers that may hold the secret to mankind’s survival, the best train scene we’ve seen since Skyfall, and a billion year old mystery to be solved with Caselli and his sister, Arkea Prime.

Oh, and there’s a Doop cameo. 

So far Bendis has done Uncanny and All-New X-Men right, and here comes along Brian Wood to add to the modern mythos. This is for certain the book people will be talking about most this week.

CHEW #34
WRITER: John Layman
ART: Rob Guillory
Publication Date: May 29, 2013
Price: $2.99
Publisher: Image Comics
UPC: 70985300808803411
Buy it HERE

This cover ships with three covers!

No, no no, silly, not three variant covers available from exclusive retailer, three covers on your book, with the cut along the lines marks so that you, the comic collector can play the interchangeable face game with the covers.

ComiXology customers will have to use their imagination on this gimmick cover that is the direct opposite of your comic shipping in a bag, it’s asking, nay, begging for you to take scissors to your cover!

Do you have the guts…or another $2.99 to spend? Layman and Guillory continue to have fun with this detective book from the lettering to the cover concepts and sneaky inside jokes. This issue has Olive donning a Mike Norton Battlepug shirt.

We’re 4/5ths of the way through the Bad Apples storyline, wherein our hero Tony Chu is hunting down the Vampire Cibopath. His hunt leads him to Eastern Europe, an undisclosed location that could be Transylvania.

This issue serves us up a plate of new food-related powers including one guy that can string guitars with pasta noodles. Admittedly, not a very useful power but he looks like Slash so that’s cool. Senator David Eccles is a Bromaformutare—meaning his head transforms into the last thing he ate. On his campaign trail, he first looks like Mayor McCheese but takes a bite out of an apple pie before his speech is over. That is one way to get votes in the Chew-verse. Also, this can get you in trouble if you are literally what you eat in the Chew-verse where chicken is illegal.

This book is consistently great and surprising, and the schedule ships toward the end of each month. Just as I’m getting full from a month’s worth of comics, I always find room for Chew!

EARTH 2 ANNUAL #1
WRITER: James Robinson
ART: Cafu / Julius Gopez / Cam Smith
Publication Date: May 29, 2013
Price: $4.99
Publisher: DC Comics
Buy it HERE

It all seemed right. I mean, I’m not buying issues of Earth 2regularly, but I’m hip to the concept.

Earth 2 is the closest we’ll get to Elseworlds in the New 52 so you an imagine how I nearly made a boom tube when the solicits were shoving a new Batman my way. I’d already bought the action figure in my mind because the design was equal parts Batman Beyond, Flashpoint Thomas Wayne Batman and Alex RossKingdom Come Batman.

Spoiler warning - if you desperately want to know the identity of the Earth 2 Batman, you won’t find him here. Batman stays on the sidelines as we watch the origin of Captain Atom and briefly see some action with Kirby Fourth World creations Mister Miracle and Big Barda. 

James Robinson is a great writer, and the art by Cafu (T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents) is amazing. Sure, not everyone buys these Annuals, but I feel completely duped by DC Editorial promising something (for a hefty $5, noless) and not delivering. 

I’ve no gripe with the Captain Atom origin or the Barda, Scott Free and Hawkgirl cameos but I bought this book under false pretenses. Marketing led me to believe an alternate version of the Dark Knight would be revealed. He was there and he fought a bit, but we are no closer to knowing the man behind the mask. This was a miscalculation, I can’t imagine I’m the only one feeling this way. I don’t care about the Earth 2 continuity a year after it’s launch but thought this might lead me in.

No way am I enthusiastic about getting the next issue to have the same bait and switch happen. This was a $5 trick you played on me, DC. I’m not happy.

TRIPLE SHOT DIGITAL: Comixology Submit Presents THE RED TEN #1, TIGER LAWYER #1 and MULTIPLAYER #1 at FORCES of GEEK!

This week at our ongoing coverage of creator-owned digital comics reviews at Comixology Submit we tackle the superhero murder mystery The Red Ten, a feline attorney, Tiger Lawyer from FOG! alum Ryan Ferrier and aLeague of Extrordinary Gentlemen for video gamers!


The leader in the digital comics space opened up the platform to indie creators back in March.

Writers and artists now have the chance to publish comics or graphic novels on the browser, tablet or phone using the Guided View technology. Comixology curates the submissions and soon the comic is put into panel by panel production for the viewer.

The comics appear right on the digital store alongside all of the major publisher’s books.

The Red Ten #1 (of 10)(Digital Deluxe Editon)
Writer: Tyler James
Artist:  Cesar Feliciano
Price: $0.99
Page Count: 48 Pages
Imprint: ComixTribe
Digital Release Date: 04/24/2013
Age Rating: 15+ Only
Buy it HERE

The Red Ten is, unapologetically, a send off to the classic Agatha Christie novel “And Then There Were None”.

The cool twist is that this is also the author’s chance to use a creator owned property to kill the Justice League or the Avengers one by one.

Drawing some influence from Meltzer’s Identity Crisis as well, James and Feliciano have created a familiar world of the superhero team and injected a compelling mystery with top notch art.

Supporting this series for 1/4th the price of a mainstream comic is a steal. Oxymoron, our Joker/Luthor villian is scary, but is he picking off these heroes?

Tiger Lawyer #1
Written By: Ryan Ferrier
Art By: Mat McCray / Vic Malhotra
Price: $0.99
Page Count: 31 Pages
Digital Release Date: 12/21/2013
Age Rating: 15+ Only
Buy it HERE

A sucker for an animal in the courtroom and Harvey Birdman, I tried out Tiger Lawyer for a parade around the three ring circus of the courtroom.

The first story seemed like a scene from Night Court, as a weary judge concedes to Mr. Tiger Lawyer’s defense strategy.  The second story was quite good, a more noirBatman: Year One short story told in black and white.

Not sure the strategy on presenting a cartoony version of the main cat vs. a dark detective story, but both worked on different levels.

This book is worth checking out, for fans of Frosted Flakes and Perry Mason.

Multiplayer #1
Story & Art: Tomi Hanzek

 Price: $0.99
Page Count: 28 Pages
Digital Release Date: 05/07/2013
Age Rating: 13+ Only
Buy it HERE

Multiplayer is a fun release combining the mythos of familiar but dissimilar video game heroes into a superhero team across time to the present day to save the world.Legends of Zelda, Tomb Raider, and Street Fighter fans will recognize some faces, as the strongest warriors are assembled to take on Necrolord.

Fun stuff!

My lack of familiarity with all of the video game references did not distract nor turn me off on this book. I enjoy the concept.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

MAD MEN: "THE BETTER HALF" S6 E09 REVIEW at FORCES OF GEEK

The family dynamic is explored in depth on the latest episode of Mad Men.

Now that Don (Jon Hamm) has more time to focus on his work and relationships, will he drown in a sea of margarine, or stay afloat on his bourbon ice cube?

Who will Joan (Christina Hendricks) trust to be the father figure to Kevin?

It’s not that smiley Bob Benson (James Wolk) is it?

Roger (John Slattery) has difficulty connecting with the children in his life, but Don and Betty (January Jones) re-connect at Bobby Draper’s (Mason Vale Cotton) upstate summer camp.

We open on Don and Ted (Kevin Rahm) arguing over the price of margarine, or rather the strategy to woo the Fleishman’s Margarine account.

 

Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) , Harry (Rich Sommer) and Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) try to stay neutral, but Don’s insistent on Peggy’s input. She doesn’t relent, as she is loyal to both men and the company itself. In fact, her loyalty to Ted may be romantic. The two have feelings for each other, but Ted does not want to have an office romance (though his feelings for her are strong).

Harry recommends Pete see a headhunter, a familiar face, Duck (Mark Moses) from Season 2. The men are weigh their options on leaving the firm with no name but Pete’s not worth much to the market these days, he’s not a partner.

On the set of Megan’s (Jessica Paré) soap, we find Megan in a blonde wig, playing double duty as Collette, her character Marie’s twin. Megan opens up to Don about work drama over a drink, as we hear the din of sirens in the city as the ‘60s youth revolts and a crime wave hits Manhattan.

Don hits the road for the weekend to visit Bobby at summer camp. Along the way, he runs into a slim Betty at the gas station. The two make love at the Motel and talk about Don’s relationship to Megan and his disconnectedness to the act of sex. Betty has a line that steals the episode, “That poor girl, she doesn’t know that loving you…is the worst way to get to you”. Betty admits that she’s forgotten about how upset she was with Don over the events of the last episode, leaving his kids alone in the apartment as it was robbed.

Megan invites fellow actress Arlene (Joanna Going) over to talk about the acting craft, but Arlene is more interested in making more passes at Megan, which Megan denies. Arlene’s husband, also a swinger is Megan’s boss, so she fears recourse. In the end, there are no hard feelings as Arlene leaves to walk back home.

Uptown, Peggy and Abe (Charlie Hofheimer) are feeling unsafe. Abe has been stabbed and mugged, but refuses to tell the cops what the race of the perps were. Peggy feels uneasy in her new home, and Abe stays on the side of the oppressed.

Peggy sleeps with a homemade harpoon by her bed with a knife attached to a broomstick. A smash and grab outside startles her from bed, armed with the harpoon. Abe is there to ask what is up, and Peggy ends up stabbing her boyfriend…with a harpoon! This unexpected violent act was comic relief for many, I’m sure.

On the way to the hospital, Abe breaks up with Peggy. He does so not because his girlfriend stabbed her, but because he sees her as part of the establishment, and he is a cutting edge journalist. They simply cannot exist in the same world. Peggy is left alone at the end of this chapter, as Ted pushes her away when she confides in him of the breakup. Poor Peggy, but we’ve seen her on the prowl as of late, she will bounce back.

Hey, how about that Bob Benson? He’s swell and certainly has found himself at Joan’s apartment for a trip to the beach! As Joan (elegantly) is packing beach blankets for the trip with Bob and baby Kevin to the beach, Roger pops in with Lincoln Logs for the little tyke (Roger is Kevin’s biological Dad). Roger doesn’t recognize the brownnose Bob from the office, and feels awkward coming by unannounced. Joan flawlessly conducts Roger’s exit and makes Bob feel at home. Oh Joan, you are so independent and wonderful. And a supermom at that! Yay Joan!

Poor Roger, this is his second failing with kids this week. His daughter Margaret (Elizabeth Rice) wasn’t happy with Roger taking 4 year-old grandson to Planet of the Apes. Maybe 4 years old is a bit young for that movie, but that’s when I saw it…and I’m obviously perfectly fine!

When Don returns home to Megan, they talk about their relationship.

Don promises to be more present, though we will have to see if anything else distracts him. Let us not forget, the main motivation to having this talk with Megan was an affair he had with his ex-wife.

This episode explored how close we can get to people in our lives, and once again we see how being close to people makes it easier to hurt them. Quite literally in the case of Peggy and Abe! Pete searches for something, we don’t know what, but Bob Benson has come to Pete’s rescue with a nurse recommendation for Pete’s senile mother. Don and Megan have some issues to work out, and both seem willing.

On the next Mad Men puzzle game we hear Ted talking about “kissing the ring”, perhaps Don’s ego is pushing his business acumen from the subtle to the blunt. Ginsberg talks of body bags from the war and Roger calls a partner’s meeting. Let’s hope Peggy gives up her dream to be a whaler and concentrates on what she does best, writing copy and breaking hearts.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

TRIPLE SHOT: GREEN TEAM TEEN TRILLIONAIRES #1, AKANIERO #1 and THE DEEP SEA #1 at FORCES OF GEEK!

Your triple shot inoculation this week is full of 1% rich kids with money to blow on special toys, a solution of Japanese folklore mixed with video game action and Little Red Riding Hood and is topped off with your cure for the bends in Palmiotti & Gray’s The Deep Sea.

GREEN TEAM: TEEN TRILLIONAIRES #1
WRITERS: Art Baltazar & Franco
ART: Ig Guera
Publication Date: May 22, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: DC Comics
UPC: 76194131597300111
Buy it HERE

Aw, Yeah Green Team!

DC Comics has resurrected the 1975 Joe Simon Green Team in The New 52 to compliment Gail Simone’s The Movement comic.

The best part?

It’s written by Art Baltazar and Franco—the famous cartoonists behind Tiny Titans, Superman Family Adventures and most recently Aw Yeah Comics.


Up until now, the guys of have been on an all ages initiative at DC, so it is exciting news to see them writing in The New 52.

The Green Team consists of Commodore, J.P. Huston, Cecilia Sunbeam, and young Mohammad. The kids don’t have super powers, can’t tell you where the Batcave is, and aren’t trying to save the world…yet.

They all meet up in the first issue at a pop up expo, POXPO ’13. Here, inventors try to gain angel funding for their latest and greatest machinations. Commodore (Nicknamed “64”—an excellent joke referencing the ‘80s computer) Murphy strolls around the expo determining who should get the funding. That is until he discovers Prince Mohammad is broadcasting the location with his Instagram app. This brings on the trouble and the bad guys looking to rob the youngsters, and steal the tech.

This is a very fun book, and it is great to see Art & Franco in The New 52, bringing their unique brand of humor and universal appeal. These are not known properties, so we can imagine some fun stuff coming down the pike, as the team works from a pretty clean slate.

These kids have a good heart, so let’s not condemn this 1% — I have a feeling they will use this funny money to help the world, not doom it.

 

AKANEIRO #1 (of 3)
WRITER: Justin Aclin
ART: Vasilis Lolos
Publication Date: May 22, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
UPC: 76156822674400111
Buy it HERE

Who’s afraid of a big bad mash-up? Not us!

Akaneiro is part fairy tale, part Japanese folklore and 100% video game tie in. The book is based on America McGee’sAkaneiro: Demon Hunters video game which itself draws it’s storyline from Little Red Riding Hood.

Set in a mystical version of Japan’s Edo era, the Red Hunter Fumiyo avenges the death of her mother who was killed by a wolf yokai (apparition).

She is sent to train with a rival clan, the Akane.

In order to start this training journey, she must travel through the woods alone, with her axe. Some demon rabbit yokai try to slow her down but do not. She is faced with a fork in the path and a wolf yokai has disguised himself to trick her into choosing her direction. She awakes in a strange cottage, with a doting Mother Tanaka taking care of her. What big head Tanaka has, we notice.

Will the wolf spirit devour Fumi, or will her axe lead her out of the forest?

The demons are well drawn, and the color palette seems consistent with the game. This is a fun book for fans of Fables and The Unwritten.

THE DEEP SEA #1 (One-Shot)
WRITERS: Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
ART: Tony Akins & Paul Mounts
Publication Date: May 22, 2013
Price: $2.99
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
UPC: 76156822662100111
Buy it HERE

Writers Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray (Jonah Hex, All-Star Western) give us a time-displaced underwater exploration team in this one-shot comic originally published in Dark Horse Presents.

In 1958, a team of underwater explorers are set to explore the Mariana Trench. An injury leaves team leader Paul topside for the mission. When the ship descends, the powerful winch rigging cannot support the ship any more, it is being dragged to the depths by a force more powerful than ever. The crew is mourned and thought lost.

Fast forward to present day and 80 year old Paul is sent to recover the just discovered wreckage. He’s surprised to find his teammates alive, and they have not aged a day. Mixing the Captain America frozen in ice idea with the Fantastic Four team tragedy seems to work.

Both sides are skeptical of the reality of the situation, but as they are trying to figure this out, the recovery ship is attacked by a sea monster. Does the monster hold the secret to the disappearance of the crew?

Palmiotti and Gray are expert storytellers, and this is the great start to a series that I should hope gets continued in later chapters of DHP. Submarine and nautical battles are great fun, and not seen nearly enough in comics. Art and story remind me of John Byrne’s Star Trek titles and they have laid the groundwork for the mystery of the monsters to be solved. Great story and art!

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]