Origins #3 (of 6) (W) Clay Chapman (A/CA) Jakub Rebelka, Patricio Delpeche (L) Jim Campbell
Fire Power #7 (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Chris Samnee, Matthew Wilson (L) Rus Wooton
Grit #2 (W) Brian Wickman (CA) Mark Laszlo (A) Kevin Castaniero, Simon Gough (L) Micah Myers
Barbalien Red Planet #3 (W) Tate Brombal (A/CA) Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Jordie Bellaire (L) Aditya Bidikar
05/02/21
PanelxPanel #43 (February) Year in Review
07/02/21
Modern Masters Vol. 04 Kevin Nowlan (W) Eric Nolen-Weathington (A/CA) Kevin Nowlan
Kevin Nowlan celebrated his 63rd birthday and I finally grabbed a copy of Modern Masters Vol 4 from Twomorrows Publishing. I’ve been after this in print for a while now but it’s damn near impossible to track down at a reasonable price. Thankfully the digital edition is great and available here for purchase now.
13/02/21
Hellboy Complete Short Stories TP Vol. 02 (W) Mike Mignola, Joshua Dysart (A) Richard Corben, Scott Hampton, P. Craig Russell, Kevin Nowlan (A/CA) Mike Mignola
14/02/21
The Walking Dead – The Alien HC (W) Brian K. Vaughan (A/CA) Marcos Martin (C) Cliff Rathburn (L) Rus Wooton
This is superb, an absolute joy for fans of TWD or Panel Syndicate, highly recommended!
01/03/21
Declan Shalvey included the process and thumbnails for Immortal Hulk: Flatline in this months PanelxPanel craft corner. The moment below put a massive smile on my face and I laughed like an idiot when I saw it again in print.
Solid Blood #17 (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn (L) Rus Wooton
Barbalien Red Planet #2 (W) Tate Brombal (A/CA) Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Jordie Bellaire (L) Aditya Bidikar
Fire power #6 (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Chris Samnee, Matthew Wilson (L) Rus Wooton
The Plot #7 (W) Michael Moreci, Tim Daniel (A/CA) Josh Hixson (C) Kurt Michael Russell (L) Jim Campbell
The Autumnal #3 (W) Daniel Kraus (A/CA) Chris Shehan, Jason Wordie (L) Jim Campbell
I Walk with Monsters #1 (W) Paul Cornell (A) Sally Cantirino, Dearbhla Kelly (L) Andworld Design (CA) Nathan Gooden, Tim Daniel
Origins #2 (of 6) (W) Clay Chapman (A/CA) Jakub Rebelka, Patricio Delpeche (L) Jim Campbell
Crossover #2 (W) Donny Cates (A/CA) Geoff Shaw, Dee Cunniffe (L) John J. Hill
Stealth TP (W) Mike Costa (A) Nate Bellegarde, Tamra Bonvillain (L) Sal Cipriano (CA) Jason Howard
Fire Power #6 was EPIC! such a great end to the second arc, the choreography by Samnee continues to blow my mind with each issue.
Finally got my hands on a print copy of Stealth by Mike Costa, Nate Bellegarde, Tamra Bonvillain, Sal Cipriano & Jason Howard. I’m a HUGE fan of Nate’s work so I was ecstatic to learn about this series and his return to drawing comics at Image again after his outstanding run on Nowhere Men. If, like me you missed out on Stealth due to lockdown/speculators I’d highly recommend picking up this trade.
Solid Blood #17 was a MASSIVE surprise this month, an awesome homage by Kirkman, Ottley & Rathburn to all the early 90’s Image books that defined the period. It’s clear Ryan Ottley had a blast here with overly elaborate character designs, splash pages and his signature spatter practically featuring on every page. The inks by Cliff Rathburn are equally impressive, his colouring perfectly evokes the retro style of books like WildC.A.T.S, Stormwatch, Prophet, etc… and THAT paper, oh boy… just glorious… so great to read a book printed on newsprint again!
Batman Black and White #1 (of 6) (W) Various (A) Various
I love collections like this, different interpretations of a well known character by various creative teams/creators. I’ve read the previous volumes and couldn’t resist grabbing this latest issue as I’d already seen some previews of Greg Smallwood’s art for “Metamorphosis” written by G. Willow Wilson with letters by Clem Robbins (above).
Wonder Woman Dead Earth #4 (W) Daniel Warren Johnson (A/CA) Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer
Wolverine Black, White & Blood #1 (of 4) (W) Various (A) Various
Fire power #5 (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Chris Samnee, Matthew Wilson (L) Rus Wooton
Crossover #1 (W) Donny Cates (A/CA) Geoff Shaw, Dee Cunniffe (L) John J. Hill
Origins #1 (of 6) (W) Clay Chapman (A/CA) Jakub Rebelka, Patricio Delpeche (L) Jim Campbell
Girl TP (W) Peter Milligan (A/CA) Duncan Fegredo, Nathan Eyring (L) Ellie De Ville
The Scumbag #1 (W) Rick Remender (A/CA) Lewis LaRosa, Moreno DiNisio (L) Rus Wooton
Grit #1 (W) Brian Wickman (CA) Mark Laszlo (A) Kevin Castaniero, Simon Gough (L) Micah Myers
Hellboy & The BPRD The Seven Wives Club (W) Mike Mignola (A) Adam Hughes (L) Clem Robins (CA) Mike Mignola, Dave Stewart
Stillwater #2 (W) Chip Zdarsky (A/CA) Ramon K. Perez, Mike Spicer (L) Rus Wooton
Wolverine Black, White & Blood has firmly rekindled my early nineties obsession with the art of Adam Kubert, still undoubtably one of my favourite artists on Wolverine. Weapon X has never looked so good in “The beast within them” (below), I mean look at those pages, 32 panels of sheer jaw dropping detail, AMAZING! As a teenager, the Kubert’s were my comic art GODS, the image of Magneto ripping the adamantium from Logan in X-Men #25 by Andy is permanently seared into my brain along with the page by Adam in Wolverine #79 when Cyber smashes the Ol’ Canucklehead’s bone claws.
“The beast within them” (W) Gerry Duggan (A) Adam Kubert, Frank Martin (L) Clayton Cowles “Cabin Fever” (W/A) Declan Shalvey (L) Clayton Cowles
The limited colour palette is such a unique selling point for this book and the creators show real restraint with the application of red to draw the eye or create mood, etc. When red features on a panel or page its genuinely striking, for example, in “Cabin Fever” by Declan Shalvey you really feel the flash of machine guns in the page above.
Great to see Shalvey’s use of grey wash so clearly here as well, it’s something I’ve enjoyed in his work since the early days of Eclectic Micks and also the short story “Ball Park” published in Tripwire Magazine, 2009 (page one, page two& page three are available on his old dshalv blog).
21/11/20
Oblivion Song #28 (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Lorenzo De Felici, Annalisa Leoni (L) Rus Wooton
Barbalien Red Planet #1 (W) Tate Brombal (A/CA) Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Jordie Bellaire (L) Aditya Bidikar
The Autumnal #2 (W) Daniel Kraus (A/CA) Chris Shehan, Jason Wordie (L) Jim Campbell
Frank at home on the farm #1 (W) Jordan Thomas (A/CA) Clark Bint (L) Lettersqids
Sea of Sorrows #1 (W) Rich Douek (A/CA) Alex Cormack (L) Justin Birch
I’ve been looking forward to Barbalien Red Planet since the early solicits. I’m a huge fan of the Black Hammer books by Lemire and Ormston so I’m always particularly interested in anything related to that series.
This is a fantastic first issue that expands on the back story of Barbalien and his personal struggle with identity during the 80’s, highly recommended!
22/11/20
The Plot #1-6 (W) Michael Moreci, Tim Daniel (A) Josh Hixson (C) Jordan Boyd, Kurt Michael Russell (L) Jim Campbell (CA) Various
Tim Daniel kindly sent me a pdf copy of The Plot #7 after he offered the issue up on twitter. I’ve been curious about the series for some time and was hooked straight away, I pretty much tracked down issues 1-6 immediately after reading issue 7.
I buy trades fairly regularly so it was a pretty satisfying experience to sit down with six single issues from a series like this and read them all in one sitting.
The story of The Plot is hugely compelling, I love the characters and the creeping feeling of dread that practically oozes from every page.
28/11/20
Rick and Morty presents Jaguar (W) Marc Ellerby (A/CA) Marc Ellerby, Leonardo Ito (L) ccrank
I recently finished watching this series based on the science fiction horror manga by Hitoshi Iwaaki. It’s produced by Madhouse Inc. the studio behind the first season of one punch man.
Black Widow (2016) #1-6 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson and Joe Caramagna
Holy crap! This book grabs you from the first page at break neck speed and just doesn’t let go! Highly recommended for fans of Chris Samnee’s artwork, the fight choreography and explosive action sequences are something else!
An unnerving and tense Polish drama thriller, Maciej Musialowski is fantastic as the nihilistic Tomasz Giemzo.
Possessor (2020) – trailer
I’ve been avoiding the details about this film as much as possible before it’s release. If you’re not familiar with director Brandon Cronenberg I’d highly recommend watching Antiviral (2012).
The Mandalorian Season 2 (2020) – Disney+ trailer
I watched the first season during lockdown and LOVED IT! Really looking forward to the release of season 2… this is the way.
Matt’s infectious enthusiasm for comics and storytelling shines through as he breaks down the comic writing process into easily digestible chunks of sheer positivity. As a fan of BFOW it’s also been fun to hear him discuss some of the characters from the first issue and his future plans for the series with cocreator J Francis Totti.
This is a gorgeous book featuring full colour high resolution reproductions of original art by more than 80 artists, illustrators, and comics creators. There’s a preview gallery here at publisher Kondasha Comics and also a great review by Vong Yonghow on his Halcyon Realms blog.
Glenariff forest has become a regular weekend walking destination for me (I’ve been 3 times in the last month). I find it’s best to get there early to secure a parking space and avoid the afternoon crowds.
I’ve largely been reading digital comics in the last few years, only really picking up the occasional small press printed book from creators at comic markets or through their websites. It’s really a space thing for me, there’s only so much stuff I can keep and I’ve even been selling things online to reduce my collection. With lockdown though and everything else that’s going on (insert internal screaming) the urge to visit comic shops again has been reignited for me in a big way. Newsagents like WHSmith and Eason have already closed in Northern Ireland and some other small newsagents have paused their magazine sales entirely. Comic publishers and local comic shops are taking a HUGE hit right now and it really feels crucial to get behind them in whatever minuscule way I can. With that in mind, I’ve now got a regular pull list with a LCS and thought I’d post some of the stuff I’ve been reading the last few months… it’s all great btw.
15/07/20
NEGAN LIVES #1 (Jul 01, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A) Cliff Rathburn (CA) Dave McCaig (A/CA) Charlie Adlard (L) Rus Wooton
OBLIVION SONG BY KIRKMAN & DE FELICI #25 CVR A DE FELICI (Jul 08, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A) Annalisa Leoni (A/CA) Lorenzo De Felici (L) Rus Wooton
Negan Lives #1, Oblivion Song #25 by Image Comics (Skybound)
When I heard Cory Walker was returning to draw Science Dog again in Oblivion Song #25 I couldn’t wait to grab a copy, check out that cover!
Science Dog is back in Oblivion Song #25 by Image Comics (Skybound)
22/08/20
FIRE POWER BY KIRKMAN & SAMNEE TP VOL 01 PRELUDE (Jul 01, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson (C) Matt Wilson (L) Rus Wooton
FIRE POWER #1 PROMO ED FORMERLY FCBD (Jul 01, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Chris Samnee (C) Matt Wilson (L) Rus Wooton
FIRE POWER BY KIRKMAN & SAMNEE #1 (Aug 05, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson (C) Matt Wilson (L) Rus Wooton
FIRE POWER BY KIRKMAN & SAMNEE #2 (Aug 05, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson (C) Matt Wilson (L) Rus Wooton
Absolutely loving Fire Power atm, the process pages from Kirkman & Samnee in issue 1 was an unexpected bonus!
Fire Power by Robert Kirkman, Chris Samnee with Matt Wilson and Rus Wooton
FCBD 2020 INVINCIBLE #1 (August 5, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Cory Walker (C) Bill Crabtree
So excited for the Invincible animated show, these designs by Cory Walker are awesome.
FCBD Invincible #1 by Image Comics (Skybound)
OBLIVION SONG BY KIRKMAN & DE FELICI #26 (Aug 12, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A) Annalisa Leoni (A/CA) Lorenzo De Felici (L) Rus Wooton
BIG GIRLS #1 (Aug 12, 2020) (W) Jason Howard (A/CA/C) Jason Howard (L) Fonografiks
Lorenzo’s fight sequences in Oblivion Song #26 are something else!
Oblivion Song #26, Big Girls #1 by Image Comics
12/09/20
FIRE POWER BY KIRKMAN & SAMNEE #3 (Sep 02, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson (C) Matt Wilson (L) Rus Wooton
OBLIVION SONG BY KIRKMAN & DE FELICI #27 (Sep 09, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A) Annalisa Leoni (A/CA) Lorenzo De Felici (L) Rus Wooton
17/09/20
STILLWATER BY ZDARSKY & PEREZ #1 (Sep 16, 2020) (W) Chip Zdarsky (C) Mike Spicer (A/CA) Ramon K. Perez (L) Rus Wooton
23/09/20
X-MEN MARVELS SNAPSHOT #1 (Sep 16, 2020) (W) Jay Edidin (A) Tom Reilly (CA) Alex Ross (C) Chris O’Halloran (L) Tom Orzechowski
SUPERMANS PAL JIMMY OLSEN #1 (OF 12) (Jul 17, 2019) (W) Matt Fraction (A/CA) Steve Lieber (C) Nathan Fairbairn (L) Clayton Cowles
Oblivion Song #27, Fire Power #3, Stillwater #1, X-men Marvels Snapshot #1, Supermans Pal Jimmy Olsen #1
