Casanova: Acedia #1 Written by Matt Fraction Art by Fabio Moon Colors by Cris Peter Lettering by Dustin K. Harbin Back-up Story by Michael Chabon & Gabriel Ba Published by Image Comics Have you guys heard of Matt Fraction? Okay, okay. But have you ever really read Matt Fraction? Well, okay, fine. But, if you’ve …
As comic book readership becomes ever more aware of problems within popular media, it’s been harder and harder to find a book that isn’t problematic. Kelly Sue DeConnick’s ongoing independent book, Bitch Planet, is a gem in the slowly improving realm of comic books and geek culture. Only two issues in, it’s of course, impossible to say whether Bitch Planet is entirely non-problematic, but as of last week’s issue, and seems far more indicative of equality and representation than many other books. At least this is the case when the reader is old enough for strong language, nudity, and certainly violence. This book is not for the kids! Nor is it for those whom become incensed immediately upon hearing the “f word” (feminism). For those who are more open-minded, and those who have been searching desperately for a comic book that represents them, look no further!
The Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw #3 Written by Kurt Busiek Art by Benjamin Dewey Colors by Jordie Bellaire Published by Image Comics Kurt Busiek’s Autumnlands series continues to be one of the most bizarre and fascinating reads currently hitting the shelves. Set in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals of all shapes and sizes, Tooth …
The Wicked + the Divine #7 Written by Kieron Gillen Art by Jamie McKelvie Colors by Matthew Wilson Published by Image Comics The Wicked + the Divine #7 is all about the world-building. In the “Faust Act” arc, the focus was predominantly on Luci and Laura, but in “Fandemonium”, Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie slow down the pace (slightly in this issue) and …
Rat Queens Special: Braga #1 Writer: Kurtis J. Wiebe Art: Tess Fowler Letters: Ed Brisson Edits: Laura Tavishati Troll Boy: Jim Valentino Publisher: Image Comics Purchase: https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/rat-queens-special-braga-1 You may have felt it: that odd hole in your heart. Like a tiny piece of you has gone missing. You may have noticed that you’re not alone. Almost …
They’re Not Like Us #1 Story by Eric Stephenson Art by Simon Gane Colors by Jordie Bellaire Published by Image Comics Modern storytelling really isn’t about doing something new. In the saturated media landscape we live in, new isn’t “the thing” we look for. “The thing” is taking an old story and finding a way …
First and foremost, The Gutters was a twice weekly webcomic that made fun of various aspects of the comics industry. It took the comics news of that week and spinned into something hilarious and self-contained with a rotating cast of artists, including ones you might know like Annie Wu (Hawkeye), Darick Robertson (Transmetropolitan), Joe Eisma (Morning Glories), Nick Bradshaw (Wolverine and the X-Men), and even comics legend Neal Adams, who pencilled a heartfelt tribute to the late Joe Kubert in 2012. The humor of The Gutters is highly topical. However, in the tradition of the best MAD Magazine strips or SNL sketches, it can act as a nice time capsule to 2010 when people were arguing whether Steve Rogers or Bucky Barnes (or Clint Barton) should be Captain America, or 2012 when the circle of snark around Before Watchmen and if it was doing irreparable damage to comics was going on.
2014 was an incredibly rewarding year to be a comics reader. Veteran creators, like Grant Morrison, Kurt Busiek, and Matt Wagner continued to churn out some of the best work of their career while new creators, like Noelle Stevenson, Babs Tarr, and Tula Lotay had very strong starts. Marvel and DC published their fair share of events, including Original Sin, …
The Wicked + the Divine #6 Written by Kieron Gillen Art by Jamie McKelvie Colors by Matthew Wilson Published by Image Comics If there is one word to describe The Wicked + the Divine #6 (WicDiv from now on) it would be: somber. The book begins in dreary Brockley, South London, and Matthew Wilson’s bright, gaudy palette has been muted …
Kelly Sue DeConnick has been on an absolute role as of late. It seems like everything the writer releases turns into a hit. Captain Marvel, Pretty Deadly, and now, Bitch Planet: all great quality titles. All right, that’s enough praise. Let’s get a little more serious now. Bitch Planet #1 is awesome.
The Odyssey is one of the oldest and best stories of Western civilization and has been adapted, retold, and expanded upon many times over the years in mediums as disparate as film (O Brother Where Art Thou), modernist novel (Ulysses), and even epic poem (The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel). In Ody-C #1, Matt Fraction and Christian Ward move the wanderings of wily Odysseus to space while performing gender swaps on the majority of the characters. Odysseus is now Captain Odyssia, the leader of one of the only three ships to survive the war against the siegeworld Troia. Like any good adapter, Fraction keeps much of the core of the Odyssey, which is the fickleness of the gods, the difficulty of returning home, and Odyssia’s personal struggle between her yearning for adventure and settling peacefully for her family.
Ray Fawkes’s Intersect is one of the more challenging new series that Image has released. From the immediate first pages, it feels like one has awoken from a deep slumber only to welcome the reader into an incredibly dark nightmare. The words and images flow forth like a river forming into a vast ocean. The use of empty space only adds more anxiety to the horrific setting. Though there often isn’t any colour, the splashes of white lead the reader towards a combination of rough colours and lines, forming pools of chaotic imagery. With Fawkes doing pretty much everything with this series, his creative control feels right at home with this awry story.
There are many of definitions of comics out there. One French theorist Thierry Groensteen decided to not define comics, but instead create a system for them. Part of this system is the frame. The frame is a panel and its boundaries including the margins and gutters. The frame has various (actually six) functions. One of the functions of a frame …
The first issue of the massively successful Wytches provides readers with a solid base while leaving us with a cliffhanger and excited for more. This issue finds Sailor trying to cope with the aftermath of her traumatic attack, while her parents attempt to search for answers to what’s happened to their daughter. Wytches #2 doesn’t reveal exactly what crashed through Sailor’s window at the end of the last issue, but it does show us how it effected her mind and body.
After the shocking conclusion of the first arc, which consisted of the brutal, animalistic murder of a prominent character, we return to Craw County with a glimpse into the past of Euless “Coach” Boss. We dive into the life of the legendary high school football coach and ringleader of plenty of illegal activities taking place in Craw County. Via flashbacks, readers are provided a window into a few incidents that helped shape Coach into the man he is today, And now that Earl Tubbs is dead, Euless deals with the aftermath of what he’s done.
Kurt Busiek is not afraid of large scale, epic stories. He does an excellent job at creating an unfamiliar world, such as the detailed universe within Astro City, and even feeling comfortable with established characters like The Avengers. Tooth and Claw starts off within an unknown land, presenting plenty of interesting elements. The universe presented in the first issue feels very fleshed out already, even though a lot is withheld. Many places of this exotic place are thrown around in dialogue by name, like the Crystal Archipelago: mysterious and intriguing. A lot is thrown at you in the form of a present, through over forty pages of no ads, truly adhering to fans of fantasy.
C.O.W.L., or the Chicago Organized Workers League, consists of individuals with powers and some without. All members of the league, whether it is the telekinetic Radia or the honest detective John Pierce, are out to fight a common enemy: the villains that commit crimes and threaten the greater good of the city of Chicago. The premise may sound redundant, however, there are particular examples that utilized the genre of superheroes in a very unique way. C.O.W.L. has the potential, and to a certain extent captures an early feel of the impact that Watchmen would have not only on the genre, but also on comics as a whole.
History is filled with monsters. Grab any history book, close your eyes, and open a page. Chances are that the page is riddled with corpses of people long since passed. Backtrack a bit, and it’s safe to assume that those bodies can be linked to one person, give or take. People often forget that the most terrifying stories are real and have taken place all over the globe. People like Elizabeth Bathory, Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia and Adolf Hitler have lined our pages with a body count that would make Freddy Krueger blush. But a leaving high body count isn’t the only way to become labelled a monster.
Image Comics is thrilled to announce that Criminal, the award-winning series by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, is finally returning to print in beautifully designed new editions, beginning in January. And to celebrate the return of the comic that solidified their reputations as Masters of Noir, Brubaker and Phillips, along with colorist Elizabeth Breitweiser, are …
Five Ghosts #13 Writer: Frank J. Barbiere Art: Chris Mooneyham Colors: Lauren Affe Publisher: Image Comics The Archer. The Wizard. The Detective. The Samurai. The Vampire. If you were to add ‘walked into a bar’ to these subjects, this might turn into a joke someone might have told you at one time. Five Ghosts is …
Goners #1 Written by Jacob Semahn Art by Jorge Corona Colored by Gabriel Cassata Published by Image Comics After a confusing opening page with an inconsistent color scheme of red, grey, and brown, Goners #1 gathers itself with a nice lead-in hook of two kids (Zoe and Josiah Latimer) watching their parents kill monsters on reality TV. Writer Jacob Semahn builds suspense with a …
Wytches #1 Writer: Scott Snyder Artist: Jock Publisher: Image Comics Of the many comics set to make their debut this year, few are as hotly anticipated as Wytches. As Hollywood continues to hoard the comic book industry for inspiration, Image Comics’ newest horror series from writer Scott Snyder (American Vampire) and artist Jock (Batman: The …
Using the murder of a Hollywood starlet as a catalyst to expose the web of dark secrets that runs through the City of Angels, the award-winning team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips have put together the most intriguing comic of 2014. Brubaker & Phillips’ new crime noir is just getting started but it is already destined to be a cult classic. Brubaker’s name has been synonymous with the noir genre from the very start of his career, but The Fade Out is different from his books that came before it. Set in the Hollywoodland era of the 1940s, with painstaking attention to historical detail, The Fade Out relishes in classic Hollywood tropes – so much so that every page looks like a storyboard from an Anthony Mann film. The Fade Out is clearly, a labor of love from its creative team who go the extra mile by assembling a series of supplementary content that really helps readers get into the mind set of the time.