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Valiant's "X-O Manowar" Is Like "Game Of Thrones" For The Sci-Fi Set

Posted 10 hours ago by in Comic Books, Valiant


With solid story and art -- as well as slick packaging -- Valiant's X-O Manowar is poised to be that midway comic between the Big Two and the independents that might grab fans from both. The first issue features a smartly-designed infographic (!) in the inside front cover to set the historical tone, and the battle between the Visigoths and the Romans that opens the story is both convincing and swiftly paced. How do we get to a highly-developed suit of armor in the middle of 402 AD? Spoilers!

I could position this review for readers familiar with the long history of Valiant Comics, that unique publisher that launched in 1989, went on to produce such memorable comics as Magnus Robot Fighter, Shadowman, Archer & Armstrong, and the aforementioned X-O, and had several sea-changes as the company fell into different hands. But as loyal as that fanbase is, I don't think they alone are going to be enough to put this current run of "rebooted" titles to the top of the charts.*

And I don't think the new Valiant thinks that way either. Instead of resting on the laurels of an older brand, advanced quality is evidenced in everything about X-O Manowar #1: such as the writing, art, coloring, even the trade-dress and logo (thanks to noted designer Rian Hughes). But that's the sort of high bar set for talent that was the calling-card of most of the previous Valiant incarnations, and what provided them with the conceit goal of being the publisher closest to becoming Number Three to the Big Two. Read More...

Dial H #1 Dials Up a Better Hero

Posted 14 hours ago by in Comic Books, DC Comics, Reviews


China Miéville's Dial H, along with Jeff Lemire's Animal Man, is DC's best book in its New 52 initiative. The writing is dark, edgy, sharp, surreal, smart and most of all, fun as all hell.
Read More...

'Wild Children' Takes School Shootings Head On From Ales Kot and Riley Rossmo [Interview]

Posted 15 hours ago by in Comic Books, Image Comics



In July, Image will release a brand new graphic novel called Wild Children, from writer Ales Kot and artist Riley Rossmo, that deals head on with school shootings, LSD, and… Well, that’s probably enough to create a bit of controversy, right? Still, the book isn’t just trying to provoke a reaction (though it will), it’s also exploring the ideas of what school is, why we go there, and how it affects who we are in the long run. We chatted with the busy team in advance of the release about all of this, as well as their inspiration – and what’s coming up next for them. Oh, and we've also got an exclusive first look at some panels and interior pages from the book:

MTV Geek: I’m sure it was any number of things, but given the subject matter, was there a specific event, or circumstance that inspired Wild Children?

Photo by Zoetica Ebb

Ales Kot: I had gone through six schools by the time I was seventeen. The schools felt designed to thwart my creative impulses. I did my best to explain that to the teachers and to my parents, but I eventually had to take the hard way and drop out while I still had something that resembled free will, critical thinking and creative impulses. I never regretted leaving school behind.

There's more, though: reading Douglas Rushkoff's 'Life, Inc.' and seeing this Ellwood P. Cubberley quote for the first time: "Our schools are, in a sense, factories, in which the raw product (the children) are to be shaped and fashioned into products to meet the various demands of life. The specifications for manufacturing come from the demands of twentieth-century civilization, and it is the business of the school to build its pupils according to the specifications laid down."

Ellwood P. Cubberley is, by the way, still somehow considered to be a pioneer in the field of educational administration.

That quote definitely sparked something interesting. See also: Marilyn Manson talking about school shootings in 'Bowling for Columbine'. Hakim Bey's essays. Grant Morrison's and Philip Bond's 'Kill Your Boyfriend' and 'Hellblazer: Shoot' by Warren Ellis and Phil Jimenez. Gus Van Sant's 'Elephant', Godard's 'Pierrot le Fou'. Musicians like Fuck Buttons, MGMT, Nosaj Thing, Coil and Digital Mystikz, Matt Seneca's comics theory...all of this, and much more, created a lot of useful madness in my head. So I sat down and started transcribing the noise. Read More...

The 5 Best Avengers Cartoons Of All Time

Posted 16 hours ago by in Animation, Comic Books, Marvel, TV


Given their status of Marvel’s premiere super-team, you’d think they would have been all over your TV screens... But it’s taken a while for The Avengers to gain a following, and break on through to the animated side. Okay, that’s not exactly true - as you’ll see in a moment - but where Spider-Man and Hulk have been gracing the boob tube for decades, Thor, Captain America, and the rest of the crew have been seen few and far between. Here though (from the slim pickings) are the five best animated Avengers ‘toons of all time:


5. Ultimate Avengers
The adaptation of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s ground-breaking (sometimes literally) Ultimates series eschews the distinctive Hitch look, but otherwise remains relatively faithful to the first series. Good thing, too, as the first Ultimates series is very, very good.


4. The Marvel Super Heroes
A series of five cartoons featuring Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and Namor, this show was the first attempt to bring Marvel heroes to the small screen. The 1966 show might seem quaint now, but without The Marvel Super Heroes, we wouldn’t have anything else on this list. Read More...

Exclusive Preview: FCBD Witchblade 'Unbalanced Pieces' Comic

Posted 5/1/12 4:30 pm EST by in Comic Books, Free Comic Book Day, Top Cow


Free Comic Book Day is Saturday May 5, 2012 and we've got an exclusive extended preview of Top Cow's offering!

Witchblade: Unbalanced Pieces is the debut of Sara Pezzini's new caretaker, Hack/Slash creator Tim Seeley and according to Top Cow, the prefect jumping-on point for new readers.

With a brand new creative team and a fresh new direction, now is the time for new and lapsed readers to try out Witchblade! Since the events of Artifacts, Sara Pezzini's entire life has been altered in immeasurable ways. Not the least of which is she's living in a new city and has a new career, but one thing remains constant - the Witchblade. A mysterious, ancient Artifact which often takes the form of a powerful gauntlet and serves a magnet for all things supernatural. In this Free Comic Book Day edition, fans will get a look at the first complete story, "Unbalanced Pieces," by the new creative team Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash, Bloodstryke) and Diego Bernard (The Man With No Name). This issue serves as a perfect introduction so readers can either pick up the new trade collection or dive into Witchblade #156!

Click the image below to read the exclusive preview:
Read More...

The 10 Best Comics of April 2012

Posted 5/1/12 2:09 pm EST by in Comic Books, DC Comics, Marvel



If April showers bring May flowers, then something about rain as a metaphor for comics, right? Seriously, I couldn’t figure out the best way to intro this, so let’s just get into the ten best comic books of April:


10. THE SIXTH GUN #21
There’s been so many silent issues of comic books before (including an entire month of ‘em over at Marvel) that just eschewing dialogue isn’t enough to grab our interest. What makes this one work, though, is that it’s full of epic, big action moments, huge character beats (a character reclaiming their hat hasn’t been this exciting since Indiana Jones), and all the crazy ideas we’ve come to expect from this horror/western mash-up. There hasn’t been a bad issue of Sixth Gun yet, and this easily ranks as one of the best. Read More...

Exclusive First Look: "The L'il Depressed Boy" #16

Posted 5/1/12 1:00 pm EST by in Comic Books, Image Comics


MTV Geek is pleased to give you your first look at "The L'il Depressed Boy" #16, hitting comic stands August 29th from Image:

THE LI'L DEPRESSED BOY #16
story S. STEVEN STRUBLE
art SINA GRACE
cover CHRIS GIARRUSSO

August 29
32 PAGES / FC / T
$2.99

“I'M IN LOVE WITH A GIRL NAMED SPIKE”
Things get serious. Featuring a cover by the always astounding G-MAN wunderkind, CHRIS GIARRUSSO. Read More...

Mark Waid Enters The Brave New Digital World With 'Thrillbent' [Interview]

Posted 5/1/12 12:23 pm EST by in Comic Books


If you want to know how the digital evolution will change the face of comics? So does Mark Waid. The prolific writer may not know what will happen in the current, ongoing struggle between print and digital comics in the long run; but he does know he's going to keep experimenting until he finds out.

The next step in his ongoing step into the digital world? Thrillbent, a digital comics outlet with content specifically formatted for the iPad, iPhone, and other tools of the computer age. The site launches today with Insufferable, a new comic co-created with Waid's Irredeemable co-creator Peter Krause, but will soon expand to include fellow comics (and TV) creator John Rogers, and many more before the year is out. Will it work? Will Waid be able to succeed in creating digital only comic books where many others have failed? And where will things go from here? To find this all out, and much, much more, we chatted with Waid prior to today's paradigm shifting launch:

MTV Geek: Okay Mark, just to get this out of the way, what stage is Thrillbent in your long range plan to destroy comic book stores?

Mark Waid: Stage Five. Stage One was “write comics they can sell for 25 years.” Stage Two was “Do a million store signings, for free, during all that time.” Stage Three, unfortunately, shifted into “Help keep the secret that their distributor is a monopoly, which is lousy for business,” and Stage Four was “watch with frustration as what used to be a mass medium becomes even more of a niche market.” Stage Six involves flamethrowers, BTW. Read More...

The 5 Weirdest Avengers Plots - Ever!

Posted 5/1/12 11:27 am EST by in Comic Books, Marvel


With over five hundred issues, plus spin-offs and mini-series, you can’t expect every single Avengers story to be a gem. And while there are plenty of arguably bad stories, far more interesting are the ones that are just plain weird. Whether they worked or not are up for debate and opinion... But here are the five weirdest Avengers stories of all time.


5. Iron Man Goes Nuts And Kills Everyone, Then Turns Into a Teenager
Okay, we’ll contradict ourselves immediately: The Crossing, a multi-part crossover that preceded both Heroes Reborn (where a former hero went nuts and killed most of the Avengers) and Avengers: Disassembled (where a former hero went nuts and killed most of the Avengers), found Tony Stark - a former hero - going nuts, and killing most of The Avengers, and is widely considered one of the worst Avengers stories of all time. It isn’t just that he went inexplicably crazy that makes this story so strange... It’s that it kicks off with a character traveling back in time to warn everyone this will happen, only to be immediately killed before they can warn the team, and ended with Iron Man getting replaced by a teenage version of himself. Needlessly confusing and unmotivated, but also, luckily, collected in a purchasable Omnibus, so you can decide whether you’re going crazy while reading it for yourself. Read More...

Fury MAX, Earth 2, and Teen Boat: New Comics For May 2nd

Posted 5/1/12 10:47 am EST by in Comic Books, DC Comics, Marvel


This weekend may be Free Comic Book Day, but that doesn’t mean the comics companies haven’t devised a nefarious way to get you to spend money: they’re releasing new comics this week. I KNOW! Here’s some of our top picks:

First off, we’re most curious about FURY MAX #1, which, in case it isn’t clear from the title, isn’t for the kiddies. The previous FURY MAX series by Garth Ennis was notoriously foul-mouthed, and reportedly led to the firing of then Marvel EIC Bill Jemas. We imagine this book won’t have quite the same effect, but hey, Ennis hasn’t stopped grossing us out for decades, lets hope he doesn’t stop now.

Also from Marvel? AVENGERS VS X-MEN #3, of course, which continues the intimate tale of two men and their super-powered armies. There’s also EXILED #1, kicking off a crossover between New Mutants and Journey Into Mystery; and DAREDEVIL #12, the first post-Omega Effect issue of the title.

Over at DC, it’s ANIMAL MAN #9 and SWAMP THING #9 week again, but we’re most fascinated by James Robinson and Nicola Scott’s EARTH 2 #1. We chatted with Robinson about the book a while ago, and if it isn’t as fun as he said, we’re going to find him and say, “It wasn’t as fun as you said. Sir.” We have no backbone. Read More...

'Avengers Academy' Takes Its "Final Exam" Starting In August [Interview]

Posted 4/30/12 4:24 pm EST by in C2E2, Comic Books, Marvel


In August, the end begins for Avengers Academy, as the students we’ve known - and loved - are about to take their “Final Exam,” during a four part arc by writer Christos Gage and artists Tom Grummett and Andrea Di Vito. Starting in issue #34, shipping twice a month through September, the arc will take the core roster of students, lock them in a building with arch... Enemy? Friend? Benefactor? Well, arch something or other The Alchemist, and force them to choose sides, as the billionaire industrialist gives them the opportunity to be free of their powers forever.

Though this isn’t the end of the series by any means, we will find out once and for all who in the Academy will go on the path to becoming a hero, and more importantly, who’s headed to becoming the next great Marvel villain. We chatted with Gage about all of this, how long he’s had this plan in place, and whether the next arc will have any special guest stars (you may be surprised):

MTV Geek: The title of this arc set off little alarm bells in my head…Is this the end of Avengers Academy? Or just the roster we know and love (which would also, of course, make me very sad)?
 
Christos Gage: It’s not the end of the book. But it may be the end of Avengers Academy as we know it! After all, we have a history of big changes following big events.

Geek: Now that you’re in the thick of it, is this the end-game you’ve had in mind for the kids since you started? Or have you found that where you’ve taken them over the last thirty-odd issues has changed their individual journeys? Striker, for one, seems far less likely to turn out to be a villain now than he did back in issue one…
 
CG: For a while now, certainly the past year to year and a half, I’ve had a definite end point in mind for where I would want to leave these characters as a group. It allows for specific character journeys to change, and characters to come in and out, but in a general sense, I’ve known where I’d end things if the time came…Which, in today’s market, for a title that hasn’t been around since the sixties, is something I think you have to at least consider. I’ve also had specific thoughts on where I’d leave each character. Some of those points will be reached in “Final Exam.” Read More...

Interview: Simon Bisley Gives Us Hell in Heavy Metal's The Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse

Posted 4/30/12 3:36 pm EST by in Comic Books, Heavy Metal, Interviews


The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Trailer

Simon Bisley has been melting fans' faces with the power of his wickedly cool art since the 1980s. Bisley's style of extreme musculature, buxom babes, and horrifying monsters has been a calling card that fans just can't get enough of. His latest project, Heavy Metal's The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, sees Bisley handling interior art chores and this time melting quite a few character's faces, thanks to the main setting being the fiery depths of Hell itself! The first of four graphic novels, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Helldiver plunges the readers into the world of Adam Cahill, part of a Pope-approved assassin squad set on destroying evil wherever it may pop up-- and this time, he's been taxed with going straight to the source.

We recently had a chance to interview Mr. Bisley, a.k.a. Biz, about his collaboration with writer Michael Mendheim, his use of traditional versus digital art, and just about everything else that popped into our heads when tasked with interviewing a personal hero.

MTV Geek: You are an artist that has become synonymous with Heavy Metal and its brand of no-holds-barred storytelling. Do you feel like they give you more freedom to let loose with your imagery than other publishers can/do?

Simon Bisley: I think so--generally yes--it is usually all creator owned stuff, so I tend to take a little more time with it--go a little deeper--but it still has to go out and the world and sell so you can't go to far. Some of my favorite Heavy Metal work has been on the covers--I've done 15 or 20 of them over the years--and Kevin leaves the door open for any ideas I might have for one--I'll pretty much catch an idea, paint it out, and send if off--a few months later it's on a cover.

Read More...

DC Launches New DC Nation App - For Kids!

Posted 4/30/12 2:38 pm EST by in Comic Books, DC Comics



Are you a fan of DC’s kid (and kid at heart) friendly Cartoon Network block of programming, DC Nation? Which there was a way you could read it instead of see it? And on a digital device? Then good news, person with very, very specific needs: DC has just announced they’re launching a DC Nation dedicated app focused squarely on everything a growing kid needs to read DC Comics.

The free app also has a number of free features, including BATMAN ADVENTURES #1, SUPERMAN ADVENTURES, #1, and TINY TITANS #1, which is cool and all… But probably the biggest draw is the brand new DC Nation Super Spectacular, a 64-page magazine featuring new Young Justice and Green Lantern comics, as well as print versions of other DC Nation features, like DC Nation Secret Files and a DC Nation Sneak Peek. The magazine will, of course, also be part of the app – but your print people may want it as well. Read More...

MoCCA Fest's 'To Run A Comic Shop' Panel Talks Protesting 'Before Watchmen', And More

Posted 4/30/12 12:32 pm EST by in Comic Books


Where most areas - even big cities - in the United States might be home to one, maybe two comic book stores, New York City might have the largest concentration per capita of funny-book purveyors. More than that, New York hosts not just big chains, like Midtown Comics, but also a plethora of smaller, independent comic book shops, like Brooklyn’s Bergen Street and Desert Island. So MoCCA Fest was the perfect place to host a discussion about the art - and commerce - of running a comic book store.

The panel was anchored by the CBLDF’s Alex Cox - himself a former store owner, of the much beloved Rocketship in Brooklyn - with Tucker Stone (Manager, Bergen Street Comics), Gabe Fowler (Desert Island Comics), Thor Parker (Midtown Comics), and Robert Conti (Manhattan Comics, and Brooklyn Comics) on the panel. Read More...

The Top 10 Avengers... Ever!

Posted 4/30/12 11:57 am EST by in Comic Books, Marvel


When you’re talking about Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, you’re already grading power - and importance - on a pretty high end of the spectrum. But which characters have been most integral to The Avengers? And as we’ll soon see, needed the team the most? Here are the top 10 Avengers characters... Ever:


10. Wonder Man
Sure, he may be all decrying the team in current continuity, but Wonder Man’s insanely high power level, and quick switch from villain to iconic (or should we say, ionic?) hero lasted far, far longer. It’s hard to think of Wonder Man without the Avengers, even with a long running solo series... Here’s hope he gets returned where he belongs, and soon. Read More...

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