Category: Comics

Amish Otaku, Bubonic Comics, Comics, Features, Marvel

Bubonic Comics: The Incredible Hulk #456

Guest Post

It’s been quite a while since I dug through the comic bins, but I’ve decided to share with you a comic that marked my departure from reading Marvel Comics for roughly six years.

Growing up, I had been a huge Marvel Zombie. It had the most popular characters, the coolest adventures and the best artists, but the crapfest that was Onslaught and Heroes Reborn killed my affection for Marvel. I followed a few titles, including The Incredible Hulk, afterward.

The ridiculousness that was The Incredible Hulk #456 sealed the deal, however. And, as you read on, you’ll agree this issue should stay crammed in the back of your collection, never to see daylight again.

Currently, Hulk is receiving tons of well-deserved attention. World War Hulk is perhaps his brightest moment, especially considered how cut off from the rest of the Marvel Universe Hulk was during Bruce Jones’ run on the title. World War Hulk is as exciting as it is destructive. This issue, though, is embarrassing. It revolves around Apocalypse transforming Hulk into the Horseman War. Before we find out how that transpires, though, the issue begins with Rick Jones and his great-granddaughter (she’s from the future…don’t ask) driving around New Orleans. Continue reading “Bubonic Comics: The Incredible Hulk #456”

Charlie Robinson
Amish Otaku, Comics, Features, Interviews, Loaded Barrel

Interview: Jared Barel on Brielle and the Horror

Guest Post

A few months back, I reviewed the first issue of Brielle and the
Horror, which you can check out in our archives. I had the great fortune to find the first issue while at the Wizard World Philly Con a few months back and was blown away by both the uniqueness and the quality of the book. As con season begins to wind down, Jared found some time to speak to me about the genesis of this work, his studio and what comes next…

Jared, you have a background in both film and graphic design. Do you feel they complement each other when it comes to producing a comic book?

My experiences in design and film have definitely proven a complement to each other. Both disciplines are visual mediums, and in their own ways they’re both about telling stories and packaging those stories in a way that is pleasing to the audience. In a sense, it is a marriage of the storytelling abilities of both art forms that allow us to tell the story of Brielle and the Horror in the way that we do. Continue reading “Interview: Jared Barel on Brielle and the Horror”

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Amish Otaku, Comics, Vertigo

DMZ: America’s Second Civil War

With DMZ, Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli have created one of the best comics of this decade. While it’s just as good as Y: The Last Man or 100 Bullets, DMZ is almost patriotic, albeit in a very subversive way.

The story takes place in an alternate-present or near-future setting, whichever makes you more comfortable. An army calling themselves the Free States and espousing a return to the true democratic principles of America has come from the Midwest. On the other side of the line is the incumbent, the good ol’ United States of America, which goes about things just as you’d expect our current administration to. Continue reading “DMZ: America’s Second Civil War”

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Amish Otaku, Comics, Oni

Geisha: Artificial Artist

Guest Post

Geisha is a fun little book. Just take a look at the dimensions: five and three-quarters inches long, eight and one-quarter inches wide and a scant one-quarter of an inch thick. I suppose this makes it manga-sized and manga-styled since it’s in black and white and maybe even manga-fun but since I’ve never read any, I don’t really know how fun manga is. I have, however, seen it in the wild so I know the size is correct. Well, that and Matt Wagner helped me out by referring to the Japanese-originated genre in the introduction.

Geisha centers around an android, Jomi Sohodo, a starving artist who lacks credibility with a critic based on her artificial origin. Her lifelong passion is to become successful at painting and to avoid having to get a humdrum day job, which in her case would be defined as working for her adoptive human family that owns a personal security business run mainly by her three brothers and her father. Though the freedom limitations for androids are not clearly defined, Continue reading “Geisha: Artificial Artist”

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Amish Otaku, Comics

Superhero Icons

Guest Post

For my first article, I thought I’d discuss a topic that’s relevant to both my comics hobby (or is it a habit?) and my profession, graphic design. Wearing a distinctive icon or logo can say a lot about a person, their religious beliefs, political affiliation, favorite brands, or in this case, comic book character.

The t-shirt never goes out of style, but what’s on it changes every decade or so. With all the mainstream attention given to comic book characters lately, I see more and more people wearing comic-related (or any geek culture) apparel. I’ve been a big fan of graphic tees for as long as I can remember and would probably wear one every day if my employer allowed it. I’m also very picky about what kind of shirts I buy. My preference for comic-related tees seems to be drawn to the simple, iconic logo. Continue reading “Superhero Icons”

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Amish Otaku, Comics, Vertigo

Swamp Thing Vol 1: Saga of the Swamp Thing

Even for a guy who lost his wife in a bomb set up to kill him, was burned alive during the explosion and reemerged as a man whose primary fear should be Weed-B-Gon, the [debatably] “former” Alec Holland has it pretty rough. All the while, during his transformation, his wife was shot to death. Fast forward and we have a similar scenario occurring just a few years later. He’s been run out of his home, cornered down and shot, only to be left for the dead (again) but then cryogenically frozen by some G-Men, only to be dissected by Jason Woodrue (aka the Floronic Man, whom the Feds have on loan from prison). Woodrue, like Holland, is a botanist and has a plant form. The difference is that the Floronic Man has a believable and easily achievable human appearance. He literally sprays on artificial skin and shaves the facial hair-reminiscent wooden protusions from his face.

As if my introduction to the Swamp Thing could not get any more depressing, the pathos that – from what I’ve come to comprehend is at the core of Moore’s version – gets magnified when Woodrue discovers that the Swamp Thing is not Holland at all; he is just a collection of plant cells that think they’re Alec Holland, fused with his memories and therefore human. While conducting an autopsy on our hero, Woodrue (being as highly regarded a genius as Holland was), discovers that all of Swamp Thing’s organs are merely non-functioning replicas of human versions. He concludes that all human traces of Holland are gone! Continue reading “Swamp Thing Vol 1: Saga of the Swamp Thing”

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Amish Otaku, Comics

Death Comes to Dillinger: Western style Horror

Another great Wizard World find was Death Comes to Dillinger, a horror/western. James Patrick, the writer, was a person I was quite familiar with from being a member of several of the same comic message boards. (That sounds incredibly geeky!) He did some online comic strips years ago that I enjoyed reading, and I’d heard about this series for awhile but never had a chance to pick it up.

One of the more interesting things about this new age of comics and how it relates to the Internet and vice versa is that you feel you actually know these people. I’ve probably read posts from James for five or six years now, and you get the sense you know these people. In actuality, I’ve never met him and I don’t even believe we ever communicated in a message board thread. That has its perks, since I actively sought out the book, which made it an easier find for me. Participating in these comic groups can have its advantages.

None of this is really the point, I guess. Death Comes to Dillinger is a great book. It’s a great-looking book. It’s got a great story. It’s got moments of fantastic dialogue, and it even has some iconic images that just capture your attention and stay with you. Death on a horse… riding into town. There’s your movie poster right there. Continue reading “Death Comes to Dillinger: Western style Horror”

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Amish Otaku, Avatar, Comics

Black Summer #0

Warren Ellis is no stranger to taking a concept as simple as superheroes and turning it on its ear. He reinterpreted the superhero team concept with his acclaimed run on The Authority years ago for DC/Wildstorm. He seems to be set to do it again with Black Summer.

The Seven Guns were a group of adventurers who used science and technology to enable themselves to fight evil and corruption. When one of their members was killed and another injured, the team drifted apart.

John Horus was one of the most idealistic and powerful of these heroes. When he decided the President of the United States must be made to pay for betraying his country and leading the nation into a war under false pretenses, Horus executed the President, Vice President and most of his Cabinet. Continue reading “Black Summer #0”

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Amish Otaku, Comics, DC, Features

Caught My Eye: Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special

First of all, let me start out by saying that all I know about the Green Lantern is what can be seen on the Justice League cartoons. I’m not a huge fan of space-related comics simply because they’re so fantastical and far removed from reality that I have a hard time getting emotionally involved in the plot. I can count on one hand the number of space comics that I enjoyed and didn’t feel like I was being punished by reading them.

Sinestro Corps was an interesting venture for me because I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into. The $4.99 price tag certainly was a gamble, but I’ve been craving something by Ethan Van Sciver so I decided to take the plunge.

The art was the most enjoyable aspect of the comic. Every page was filled with huge visuals that remind me of the summer blockbusters that I love. I felt like a kid looking at the coveted Toys“R”Us big book of toys that comes out at Christmastime every year. It really was that good. Ethan Van Sciver took his time with this comic and it shows. Continue reading “Caught My Eye: Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special”

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Amish Otaku, Comics

Brielle and the Horror #1: Actors Come to Graphic Fiction

I picked up a lot of comic books at the recent Wizard World Con in Philadelphia. A lot of comic books. None of them have stayed with me as much as Brielle and the Horror. I picked up a copy on that first Friday and immediately returned to the creative team the next day to give them a heaping dose of positive feedback. I pulled a couple of wayward guests over to their table, as well.

This is the first issue of a live-action graphic novel. The creators have used real actors to portray the characters in the book and then photographed the “panels” in sequence to the story and then hand drew over the photos to create a pretty unique-looking piece of art. The only time I remember someone doing anything like this was Brian Michael Bendis (New Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man) on his early work, like AKA Goldfish and Jinx, but it didn’t seem to be done to the same extent as this. I can’t begin to tell you how strange it was to see the “actors” at the Loaded Barel stand, read the book and then see the actors again. Continue reading “Brielle and the Horror #1: Actors Come to Graphic Fiction”

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