Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.
Rough Justice: The DC Comics Sketches of Alex Ross
by Alex Ross
Promo copy:
Alex Ross opens his private sketchbooks to reveal his astonishing pencil and ink drawings of DC Comics characters, nearly all of them appearing in print here for the first time in paperback.
Thousands of fans from around the world have thrilled to Alex’s fully rendered photo-realistic paintings of their favorite heroes, but, as they may not realize, all of those works start as pencil on paper, and the origins of the finished images are rarely seen—until now.
From deleted scenes and altered panels for the epic Kingdom Come saga to proposals for revamping such classic properties as Batgirl, Captain Marvel, and an imagined son of Batman named Batboy, to unused alternate comic book cover ideas for the monthly Superman and Batman comics of 2008–2009, there is much to surprise and delight those who thought they already knew all of Alex’s DC Comics work.
Illuminating everything is the artist’s own commentary, written expressly for this book, explaining his thought processes and stylistic approaches for the various riffs and reimaginings of characters we thought we knew everything about but whose possibilities we didn’t fully understand.
As a record of a pivotal era in comics history, Rough Justice is a must-have for Alex’s legion of fans, as well as for anyone interested in masterly comic book imagination and illustration.
The Wanderers
by Paula Brandon
Cover by Kathleen Lynch
Promo copy:
Paula Brandon’s acclaimed fantasy trilogy comes to a triumphant conclusion in an unforgettable collision of magic, intrigue, and romance.
Time is running out. Falaste Rione is imprisoned, sentenced to death. And even though the magical balance of the Source is slipping and the fabric of reality itself has begun to tear, Jianna Belandor can think only of freeing the man she loves. But to do so, she must join a revolution she once despised—and risk reunion with a husband she has ample reason to fear.
Meanwhile, undead creatures terrorize the land, slaves of the Overmind—a relentless consciousness determined to bring everything that lives under its sway. All that stands in the way is a motley group of arcanists whose combined powers will barely suffice to restore balance to the Source. But when Jianna’s father, the Magnifico Aureste Belandor, murders one of them, the group begins to fracture under the pressures of suspicion and mutual hatred. Now humanity’s hope rests with an unexpected soul: a misanthropic hermit whose next move may turn the tide and save the world.
Whore
Written by Jeffrey Kaufman
Art by Marco Turini
Cover by Felix Serrano and Jeffrey Kaufman
Promo copy:
After getting downsized from the CIA, he takes any job he can to pay his debts and alimony. He isn’t a bad guy by nature, but out of necessity. He has to live a life where things don’t matter, and long as he gets paid. His motto, simply stated: "Every man has his price."
I reviewed Whore for the mid-August Nexus Graphica.
| Quote: |
| Returning to the universe of their previous collaboration Terminal Alice, creator/writer Kaufman and artist Turini introduce CIA assassin/fixer Jacob Mars. After being downsized out of a job, Mars takes on any job to pay off his numerous debts. For all intents and purposes, he becomes a whore. Kaufman, a recognized legal expert and defense attorney, clumsily manages to successfully ape trashy men’s adventure series such as the Destroyer and Executioner. Turini’s art matches the tale, but for some inexplicable reason there is no nudity where, by rights, there should be. The suitably misogynistic Whore engages the reader, only stumbling during the latter fourth when a new character appears out of nowhere. |
The Broken Ones
by Stephen M. Irwin
Cover by Michael J. Windsor
Promo copy:
Award-winning author Stephen M. Irwin returns with a thrilling, supernatural crime novel built around an intriguing question: What happens when every single person is haunted by a ghost only they can see?
Without warning, a boy in the middle of a city intersection sends Detective Oscar Mariani’s car careening into a busy sidewalk. The scene is bedlam as every person becomes visited by something no one else can see. We are all haunted. Usually, the apparition is someone known: a lost relative, a lover, an enemy. But not always. For Oscar Mariani, the only secret that matters is the unknown ghost who now shares his every waking moment . . . and why.
The worldwide aftershock of what becomes known as "Gray Wednesday" is immediate and catastrophic, leaving governments barely functioning and economies devastated . . . but some things don’t change. When Detective Mariani discovers the grisly remains of an anonymous murder victim in the city sewage system, his investigation will pit him against a corrupt police department and a murky cabal conspiring for power in the new world order.
Stephen M. Irwin has created an unforgettable crime novel and an intense, textured vision of the near-future. The Broken Ones is the riveting search for hope in the darkest corners of the imagination.