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

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

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

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

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

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

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

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

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

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

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


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

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

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Celebrating HALLOWEEN COMICFEST on The Cosmic Treadmill at FORCE OF GEEK

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

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

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

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

[READ MORE AT FORCE OF GEEK]

FOG! Visits KING RICHARD'S FAIRE! - Forces of Geek

Huzzah!

The Renaissance Faire is still in fashion, as evidenced by my recent voyage to Carver, Massachusetts’ (aka The Carvershire) King Richard’s Faire.

The 34th Season of the Faire’s medieval revelry, turkey leg meals and large cat viewings grows ever-popular with the cosplay crowd and special events peppered throughout the eight New England weekends shows no sign of slowing down.

Perhaps my very own faux chainmail Knights Templar costume ($41.99) and gleaming knight broadsword ($8.99) added to my enjoyment to this year’s Faire, or perhaps it was just something in the mead served cold that made the day most glorious.

We witnessed Highland Hunks lift their kilts for judgement, we saw Jack Lepiarz break a Guinness Book of World Records whipping record. And of course, there were mighty cats. 

What follows is a Knight Templar’s experience in King Richard’s court!

Our merry band of misfits first strode with confidence toward the mighty victualers and purveyors of fine food to energize our bodies after a long journey and a longer day ahead.

Last year’s fare for me was the turkey leg, which to be honest, is a throwaway meat.

The leg is delicious yet salty and but even with a handle the leg is difficult to eat.

This year, I opted for the shepherd’s pie while m’lady ate one of the most gigantic and square cheese pizza slices I have ever seen for that many tickets.

That’s right, tickets.

You must trade your gold and US Dollars for tickets that may be used for amusements, food, drink, ice cream, half-sour pickles, nuts and many other treats at King Richard’s kingdom.

Perhaps this is to ensure that no bandits make way with your purse, but for practicality reasons, the safety of the vendors must be on the King’s mind (this becomes clear after seeing how many ales fellow Faire goers are able to consume in a day)!

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

A Slacker Across Multiple Timelines - Back To The Future Day at Forces Of Geek

A Slacker Across Multiple Timelines

“What, did you sleep in your clothes again last night?”

— Dave McFly, 1985

As far as inspiring quotes, this doesn’t immediately go into the meme bank for everyone, but it’s something I can relate to. 

I sleep in my clothes, sort of more than I should. Perhaps it’s the late nights at my job or that I stay up so late I don’t want to ever go to bed. Recently, domestic life has steered me into the bed sans jeans more often than not, but hey, it still happens. 

Was I a ten year old looking up to Marty and subconsciously aping his sleep hygiene habits? Maybe I thought I’d have a hot girlfriend when I got to high school and I could take her to the lake like Marty did in a shiny new Toyota Hilux 4X4. 

Marty McFly was one of my first movie heroes. And damn, I loved that DeLorean. In fact, I still think about the plutonium and fusion powered, hover-converted bird-winged time machine nearly every day of my life. Here’s what I can remember of the movie and the car, in my sleep deprived old age. 

Let’s take this to 88 miles per hour! 

Have you ever been in a DeLorean? It’s pretty sweet but the backseat doesn’t exist. Fitting two adults and two kids into a two-seater is possible, if a bit uncomfortable. 

For most of my developmental and adult life, I cherished this ride as one of my fondest memories of the 1980s. Until, like when Marty wakes up under his Mom’s care in a dystopian 1985-A in BTTF Part II, everything is not exactly as Marty remembers it. First, everything in this future is a bit darker, and his Mom looks different. Under Biff’s influence, Lorraine Baines-McFly was enhanced, endowed with certain assets.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

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

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

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

This is all ages science comics with a purpose! 

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

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

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

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

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

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

FOG! Takes a Look at CON MAN starring Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion! at FORCES OF GEEK

This weekend at New York Comic Con, Alan Tudyk (Firefly) appeared with geek celebrities Felicia Day, Seth Green and Nathan Fillion to promote the new Con Man webseries at Vimeo.

Tudyk stars in the 10-minute episodes as Wray Nerely, a sci-fi actor who has entered the world of celebrity convention guest after his lauded but cancelled Spectrum series was taken off of the air.

Near to Tudyk’s heart is the story of the inner workings of fandom and conventions, and the thirteen episodes of theIndiegogo-funded series are being released on Wednesdays.


Read my review of Con Man after the jump.

‘I will see you in hell!” — that’s actor Wray Nerely’s character, pilot Cash Wayne’s catch phrase.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

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

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

Man, I really hate going to bed. 

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

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

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

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

As to why BOOM! for John Flood?

Well, it’s a weird book.

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

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

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

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

FOG! Chats With IDW EIC and DIRK GENTLY Scribe CHRIS RYALL at FORCES OF GEEK

IDW’s CCO and Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall (Zombies vs. Robots, Onyx) takes on Dirk Gently in the latest mini-series from the publisher. Dirk, for the uninitiated, was a character created by Hitchhiker’s Guide author Douglas Adams that made his debut in 1987.

Chris took some time to join us today for a deep dive into this “ghost-horror-detective- time-travel-romantic-comedy-epic”. Issue 4 (of 5) is out today wherever fine comics are sold or iPads are resting. Stay tuned also for a Dirk Gently TV show from Max Landis and BBC America. Chris gives us some insight into the television adaptation as well.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

FINDING NEIGHBORS (movie review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Produced by Judy Korin, Jennifer Day Young
Written and Directed by Ron Judkins
Starring Michael O’Keefe, Catherine Dent, Blake Bashoff,
Julie Mond, Sean Patrick Thomas, Mike Genovese

Do you ever feel stuck?

I’m sure some of us (speaking for myself of course) reaching middle age feel that way all the time. Even when stuff is going well, it’s never going anywhere it seems. Or, at least that’s how it is on the bad days.

When Sam Tucker (Michael O’Keefe — Caddyshack, Michael Clayton), a working cartoonist feels stuck he looks for his neighbors for some inspiration, support and a change of pace.

This independently released film was a great exploration into realistic characters and their lives intertwining. While dealing with somewhat mundane routines, Finding Neighbors never itself feels that way. This is a colorful portrait of Sam, his sensitivities as an aging man in a relationship and his relationship with his work and other people’s expectations of him.

Sam struggles with his ever straining relationship with his wife Mary (Catherine Dent, The Shield, Auto-Focus) and befriends his gay neighbor Jeff (Blake Bashoff, Lost) and gets intimate with the details of Jeff’s own ennui. Another neighbor Sherrie (Julie Mond, Exit Speed, General Hospital) plays the temptress next door whom Sam can see showering outdoors from his drawing studio window.

Will all of these complications make things better between Sam and Mary, and will Sam follow up his latest graphic novel with something — daresay anything? Mostly he’s stuck on his story and can’t get anywhere with it.

This is where Jeff comes in.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

APAMA THE UNDISCOVERED ANIMAL V. 1 (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Written by Ted Sikora and Milo Miller

Art by Benito Gallego

Colors and Letters by Ted Sikora

Buy it HERE

Available Digitally on ComiXology

The Kickstarter video for Apama explains the origin of our favorite new super hero story.

Hero Tomorrow was a film project screened at New York Comic Con in 2009. Since then, the animalistic hero did a backflip into the pages of comic books themselves.

A successful Kickstarter, ComiXology Submit issues and a Cleveland origin story that rivals Segel and Shuster combined with amazing feedback for the overall project bring this hardcover collected edition to the masses.

The creative team of co-writers Milo Miller and Ted Sikoro and artist Benito Gallego have an awesome independently funded and fun Bronze Age style tale on their hands.

Comparisons can be made from Animal Man and Concrete to Iron Fist and Ka-Zar with Apama: The Undiscovered Animal Vol. 1.

Apama is set against the backdrop of modern day Cleveland, Ohio where our soon-to-be hero Ilyia the ice cream truck driver is having typical malaise. He’ll never get the girl, his parents are dogging him about doing something with his life and his boss makes the joyful act of selling ice cream somehow miserable.

One day while hiking in the woods, Ilyia chases a Native American ghost, trips and falls and has the strangest dream about animals facing off against each other.

In the end, an animal called Apama, an ancient, unfamiliar and mysteriously powerful beast with unique markings.

When Ilyia awakens, he finds his way to a cave adorned with paintings and a shrunken corpse. Perhaps the power of Apama comes from this place.

He takes an ancient scroll and some cave clothes home and mediates on his dream and new discoveries to find the answers.

The supernatural cave origin is both new and familiar, referencing Captain Marvel or Concrete.

After nearly a hundred days of investigating and meditating on his scroll, he throws on the clothes and BLAMMO — Ilyia has the power of Apama flowing through his veins.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Triple Shot: THE INFINITE ADVENTURES OF JONAS QUANTUM #1, CAPTAIN AMERICA: WHITE #1, D4VE2 #1 at FORCES OF GEEK

Who isn’t ready for the weekend, amiright? We hope your weekend is filled with many glossy pages (or screens) of comics outdoors for one last time this summer. Crack open that cold can and drink in this last weekend of the Summer because it’s all crashing to an end.

Looking for something to read as you slowly realize you wasted your summer away at the DMV and Dunkin Donuts? Maybe you were toiling away at the boat motor you never could get started?

Here’s some suggestions!

Mark Guggenheim (Arrow, The Flash, Amazing Spider-Man) teams up with Freddie E. Williams II and the tight bros at Legendary Studios (yes, that Legendary responsible for Pacific Rim, The Dark Knight Trilogy and so many more) to give us the smartest man in the world, The Infinite Adventures of Jonas Quantum #1.

Contrast that book with the most put upon robot in the world in former FOG! columnist, Ryan Ferrier’s D4VE2 #1, the sequel to his desk-jockey-robot-turned-hero book D4VE. 

Of course, 98 pound weakling Marvel nerds exhaled a collective wheezy “yay” when they heard that Captain America: White from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale was finally going to see the light of day and the $4.99 price point is totally worth it if you can’t wait for the collected edition.

The Infinite Adventures of Jonas Quantum #1

Writer: Marc Guggenheim

Pencils and Cover: Freddie E. Williams II

Colors: Chris Sotomayor

Pub. Date: September 16, 2015

Age Rating:15+ Only

Publisher: 2015 Legendary Comics, LLC

Buy Here on ComiXology

I’m not shy when it comes to my love of the work that the CW team has done with Arrow and The Flash. I scoop up insider information on the shows like a Hoover in a hotel lobby from Twitter and have always enjoyed behind the scenes interviews with Marc Guggenheim. 

Marc was also one of the weekly writers of Spidey when I had my resurgence back into comic book fandom so I always keep an eye out for his work. 

What appears to be on the Millarworld model of writing a volume of comics custom built for an easy adaptation to the big (or small) screen is this very fun superhero story about the smartest man in the world.

A clever way of marking time in the book marks Jonas’ advanced intellect and milestones. Keep that calculator handy because you need to know that in the flashbacks on DAY 4800, Jonas is 13 years old and mastering time travel.

At 35, he cures Death.

The superheroing comes in as someone has broken into an off-world pocket universe and stolen his ‘Cure for Death’. 

Jonas has powers, or has invented suits and gear to make him superpowered, can travel through time and there is plenty of action. Interacting with real humans, Jonas has some social problems but he seems to get by.

Great fights and action for the first issue, and as usual Freddie Williams is a master. Quite a great looking book with Chris Sotomayer on colors. 

Five stars for me on this first issue for fans of über-smart heroes (Reed, Tony, Bruce) and the cliffhangers and high drama of Guggenheim’s TV work.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

FOG! Chats With CHRIS HUNT About CARVER: A PARIS STORY From Z2 Comics

Paul Pope’s protege Chris Hunt has a new comic from Z2, Carver: A Paris Story hitting shelves November 11. 

Chris joins us today to tease the red wine and whiskey soaked black and white noir mystery comic and the short film that serves as a prequel to the story.

FOG!: Chris, thanks so much for joining us today. What brought the Carver story to life for you? 

Chris Hunt: Carver started as something of an experiment for me about 5 years ago, when I was applying for Paul Pope’s residency at The Atlantic Center For The Arts. I did a short story about this old school, mustachioed adventurer having to fight off a man-eating lion. 

It was very straightforward, and the main character didn’t have any back story. I kind of just started playing around with what his background would be, how he may have become this old school bad ass. 

I found that I really enjoyed the idea of building a world around this pseudo-Hemingway archetype and I just started playing around with different concepts. I had actually been in Paris with an ex-girlfriend when I came up with the idea for the original story and concept for the character. 

I thought it would be an interesting place to start the saga, so to speak. The backbone of the story is my personal experience when I was there, but it spiraled out into something much bigger as the story was developed.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Triple Shot: ATOMIC ROBO AND THE RING OF FIRE #1, STAR TREK/GREEN LANTERN: THE SPECTRUM WAR #2 & TET #1! at FORCES OF GEEK

IDW Publishing takes over Triple Shot with as many big phasers and constructs as there are handguns. 

That is to say, you’ve heard us gush at the Star Trek and Green Lantern crossover but the publisher’s connections withComics Experience bring Tet to print and independent creator-owned titles like Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener’sAtomic Robo keep the independent spirit alive among a sea of licenses. 

TET #1 (of 4)

Writer: Paul Allor

Artist: Paul Tucker

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Pub. Date: September 09, 2015

UPC: 82771400916300121

BUY IT HERE

Our friend Paul Allor (TMNT, G.I.Joe) sent FOG! an advance copy of his latest,Tet #1, out today from IDW in association with Andy Schmidt’s Comics Experience class. 

Paul is a comics professional with some great titles under his belt, but also he is a crucial part of the community and staff over at Comics Experience. His title is Pro Critique Provider, helping would-be creators develop scripts and gives students much needed feedback as a professional that has worked with publishers.


Tet is a murder mystery set during the Tet Offensive, one of the key campaigns in the Vietnam War. 

Much like Marvel ‘80s books The ‘Nam and flashbacks in Classic G.I.Joe, Tet offers a look at the war from the soldier’s perspective. 

This book satisfies a lot of checkmarks for an interesting war tale. Romance, a murder mystery and a team up with U.S. soldiers and local authorities to solve said mystery. Of course the new partners don’t get along.

I’m compelled to recommend this issue. Tet is different than Allor’s other work and in my opinion, shows his growth as a writer. Setting the story in the Vietnam War gives a gritty backdrop to the mystery and allows for some great dialogue work.

Much praise to Paul Tucker’s realistic art, in the vein of David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One style as an easy comparison. 

I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the story and recommending the trade. Tet runs four issues.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

THE NEW DEAL By Jonathan Case (graphic novel review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Written and Illustrated by Jonathan Case

Published by Dark Horse Comics

ISBN: 978-1-61655-731-7

Price: $16.99

Publication Date: 9/23/15
Buy it HERE

While based in 1936, Jonathan Case’s The New Deal is not a hum-drum historical drama based on FDR’s realignment. 

No sir, this is a beautifully rendered period heist comedy based the Waldorf Astoria highlighting income disparity from the bellhops and chamber maids kowtowing to the needs of the very rich that choose to make the ritzy hotel their home.

Published under Dark Horse’s seldom used, but high end Dark Horse Originals imprint, The New Deal looks as if it was published at Fantagraphics or Drawn and Quarterly, not necessarily at the home of Barb Wire and Itty Bitty Mask. 


Nice production design, classy art deco endpapers and a black and white plus wash look to the pages make for an excellent looking hardcover.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

SALAD DAYS: A DECADE OF PUNK IN WASHINGTON DC (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Wishing for the days
When I first wore this suit
Baby has grown older
It’s no longer cute
Too many voices
They’ve made me mute
Baby has grown ugly
It’s no longer cute

But I stay on, I stay on
Where do I get off?
On to greener pastures
The core has gotten soft

— Minor Threat, Salad Days (1985)

Reflecting on these lyrics thirty years later, the documentary Salad Days: A Decade Of Punk In Washington DC serves as a backstage pass to one of the most explosive and important hardcore punk scenes in this country. 

One could argue that Ian MacKaye’s bands and Dischord Records label defined the look, attitude and stage behavior of East Coast hardcore and straight edge kids from up in Boston down to Gainesville for years to come. 

This documentary puts the spotlight on McKaye and Jeff Nelson (Minor Threat, Dischord Records), Henry Rollins (Black Flag), Dave Grohl as well as horror comic writer Steve Niles (Gray Matter) among many others to patch together a decent image of D.C. punk in the 80s.

I was pretty stupid back then.

Well, let’s say uncultured. Let me go back. I was a teenager once.

Like many teenagers, I needed to rely on older siblings to clue me into my next move. It wasn’t my sister (Guns-N-Roses fan) that got me into punk rock. Rather, it was a complex web of a social circle and older siblings that circulated mix tapes of everything cool from Violent Femmes (who’s ‘Add it Up’ connected with me the way it could only connect with a virgin’s sex drive) to Minor Threat, we had it figured out. 

And then we started our bands. The rest as they say is a rather boring personal history that means nothing besides that it was real. Real to us. Music, expression, Minor Threat and the Dead Kennedys and the through line to McKaye’s later band Fugazi and $5 shows was very real. 

Hot summertime basements were filled with our bands. We scrawled giant X’s on our hands one week and then asked the same older brothers to buy us beer the next. We played next to washing machines and bicycles in the cellar and waited for the cops to come.

We bought army jackets, paint, sewed patches and made our own version of ‘The Sound of Punk to Come’. We weren’t very cool, but that’s what we were.

90% of what we were TRYING to do every day was to be like Minor Threat.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

ARMY OF DARKNESS: ASH IN SPACE TPB (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Writer: Cullen Bunn

Artist: Larry Watts

Cover: Gabriel Hardman
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Pub. Date: August 26, 2015
UPC: 978160690691051999
$19.99

Buy it HERE

The recent Ashley Williams hack has exposed information that has global and interstellar consequences.  

Ash in Space has revealed that Sheila (his bride from Army of Darkness) is long dead and there may have had some hanky-panky between The Chosen One, the real Ash Williams, and a female astronaut on the International Space Station.

What are we talking about, here?


Come on, baby! We’re just using the latest click bait headlines to get you into the world of the Deadites once again as we review Dynamite’s Army of Darkness: Ash in Space! 

Cullen Bunn (The Sixth Gun, Harrow County, Magneto) brings Ash, his new hand and a chainsaw all the way past the stratosphere to fight Deadites and an evil satellite. Larry Watts (Robyn Hood, Grimm Fairy Tales) slays it on the art.

I wonder if Ash’s boss at S-Mart ever wondered where he went. He’s been gone awhile in the time stream, thanks to the spells in the Necronomicon.

If he times his return right, maybe he’ll be able to cash in some sick days.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

FOG! Chats With IAN McGINTY, Creator of WELCOME TO SHOWSIDE at FORCES OF GEEK

Ian McGinty is familiar name to Bravest Warriors, Hello Kitty and Adventure Time comics fans, drawing countless issues for the weirdo all ages bubble pop space adventures contained therein.

Z2 Comics (formerly Zip Comics) recently tapped Ian for a new creator owned title that even caught the attention of spoken word artist and punk rock singer Henry Rollins.

Today Ian talks to us about his new book for Z2, Welcome to Showside, Hank’s roll in voicing the pilot for Showside and introduces the heart attack-inducing Mallo-Butter-Waffles. 

Who said bubble-gum pop with a hint of punk edge should be relegated to the turntable?

Looks like we have a sticky cotton candy comic book in the world of Welcome to Showside hitting shelves in October.


FOG!: Ian, thanks for joining us today! We know you are probably super busy! Are you working on a ton of books at the moment or just concentrating on Welcome to Showside?

Ian McGinty: Absolutely, my pleasure. At the moment I’m working on six different licensed properties that include comics, animation, card games and video games.

Some I can’t talk about right now, but the ones I can include Steven Universe, Munchkin, FLUXX and, of course, Bravest Warriors. 

Added on to that is my own book, Welcome to Showside, so it’s been quite a month, to say the least, but wow, what a rad month.

Thankfully, I’m someone who thrives on being busy and I love juggling all the different characters/storylines.

It’s weirdly invigorating to switch from having to be strictly on-model for some projects and then getting to go crazy with my own stuff, so I’m having a blast, and I’m definitely most excited about Welcome to Showside coming out soon.

I just love drawing and creating, so it’s been extremely fun overall.

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Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1952 TPB (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1952 TPB

Written by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi

Art by Alex Maleev

Colored by Dave Stewart

Cover by Mike Mignola

Published by Dark Horse Comics

Cover Price: $19.99

Diamond ID:APR150064

ISBN: 978-1-61655-660-0

Published: August 12, 2015

Buy it HERE

Hellboy embarks on his first mission with the B.P.R.D. Team and wouldn’t you know it, there are demon monkeys, drunken priests and someone out to get the Big Red One.

Returning to Hellboy for the first time since 2003 is frequent Bendis collaborator Alex Maleev for art duties on this Mike Mignola & John Arcudi penned tale set in 1952.

Of course, regular Hellboy colorist Dave Stewart joins the fun on this fantastic adventure.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1952 is part mystery, part adventure story and explores some growth and development to how Hellboy came up in our world.

The 5 issue series is collected in one volume to hit shelves next week. This is a highly recommended addition to your Hellboy collection and also a great introduction this world as it focuses on a younger Hellboy and Maleev’s art fits the world of the B.P.R.D. so well.

Hellboy fanatics have likely grabbed these issues in floppy form, or perhaps are waiting until this trade drops to line up the spines perfectly with their other Hellboy volumes. However you end up consuming this (Dark Horse is finally onComiXology, FYI), be prepared for some familiar faces as well as some creepy introductions.

Mignola admits to being a bit of a control freak when it comes to other artists drawing his stories. What evolved from tweaking camera angles on Alex’s initial sketches eventually became Mike sending his own thumbnails to the artist. I’m sure the two got along fine, however. The pages and storytelling have the patina of classic Mignola Hellboy tales or old vampiric horror movies. You know how you feel when you read Hellboy Vol. 1: Seed of Destruction? You feel the same here.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]