Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.
Infinite Kung Fu
by Kagan McLeod
Introduction by Gordon Liu
Foreword by Colin Geddes
Promo copy:
Read the first 250 pages online at Top Shelf 2.0!
Watch the killer animated trailer video!
Infinite Kung Fu walks you through familiar corridors in the house of martial mayhem, but still smashes your face through walls of wonder and into rooms where kung fu is afraid to go.
Catastrophe has knocked most of the world back to the middle ages — and to make matters worse, the dead are rising from the grave as zombies (reincarnation gone wrong)! In this world, where the way of the fist is a way of life, ex-soldier Lei Kung must infiltrate the evil emperor’s five kung fu armies and stop him from destroying all life on the planet. Allegiances are blurred as techniques are perfected, and Lei Kung becomes less certain who’s friend and who’s foe in each chapter!
Fists fly, limbs are lost and blood vessels burst in this tale of furious rivals, supernatural masters, walking corpses, and above all, raging kung fu! — a 464-page deluxe flexi-cover graphic novel.
Promo copy:
Based on the bestselling Marvel Comics series, CAPTAIN AMERICA stars Matt Salinger (What Dreams May Come) as a crime-fighting superhero whose strengths and abilities may save the United States from nuclear destruction.
During World War II, a brave American soldier (Salinger) volunteers to undergo experiments to become a new super-soldier, codenamed “Captain America.” Infiltrating Germany to sabotage Nazi rockets pointed at the U.S., Captain America faces off with Nazi superhuman warrior Red Skull (Scott Paulin, The Right Stuff) who defeats the hero, throwing him into suspended animation. Frozen for 50 years, Captain America is found and revived only to find that Red Skull has changed identities and has targeted the President of the United States (Ronny Cox, RoboCop) for assassination. With America on the verge of utter chaos, it is up to one man to save the day!
CAPTAIN AMERICA also features supporting performances from Ned Beatty (Superman), Darren McGavin (A Christmas Story), Michael Nouri (Flashdance) and Melinda Dillon (Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and Kim Gillingham (“One Big Family”).
I covered this in “Patriotic Potential: Captain America’s History on Film.”
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| The Albert Pyun-directed movie actually stays remarkably true to the comic-book vision: “Captain America” (1990) begins in World War II, traps Cap (Matt Salinger) in ice and concludes in the present. It’s the only film to portray Captain America’s archnemesis, über-Nazi Red Skull (Scott Paulin), though halfway through the Skull’s trademark red skull suddenly and inexplicably lacks the proper pigmentation. As with Pyun’s other trash flicks such as “Cyborg,” “The Sword and the Sorcerer” and “Dollman,” inferior production values, poor writing and despite the presence of reliable veterans Darren McGavin and Ned Beatty, terrible acting doom the film. “Captain America” received a brief theatrical stint in Europe but in the U.S. went straight to video. |
I obviously crafted my comments before the release of the recent Cap film.
The Homeland Directive
Written by Robert Venditti
Art by Mike Huddleston
Promo copy:
A new thriller from the author of the New York Times bestseller The Surrogates!
As a leading researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Laura Regan is one of the world’s foremost authorities on viral and bacteriological study. Having dedicated her career to halting the spread of infectious disease, she has always considered herself one of the good guys. But when her research partner is murdered and Laura is blamed for the crime, she finds herself at the heart of a vast and deadly conspiracy. Aided by three rogue federal agents who believe the government is behind the frame-up, Laura must evade law enforcement, mercenaries, and a team of cyber-detectives who know more about her life than she does—all while trying to expose a sinister plot that will impact the lives of every American.
Set in the Orwellian present, The Homeland Directive confronts one of the vital questions of our time: In an era when technology can either doom or save us, is it possible for personal privacy and national security to coexist?
I reviewed The Homeland Directive in “Nexus Graphica.”
| Quote: |
| For his first creator-owned work since the groundbreaking Surrogates, Venditti delivers a taut thriller that elevates the genre within the comics medium. After Dr. Laura Regan’s research partner is murdered and she is blamed for the crime, police, the FBI, cyber-detectives, and mercenaries hunt for the CDC researcher. Why does everyone want Regan dead? What are the upper echelons of the federal government trying to hide? Who are the mismatched quartet of inter-agency spooks trying to protect Regan? The nuanced and extraordinary art of Huddleston enhances Venditti’s intelligent, tension-filled script. Paranoid and addictive, The Homeland Directive provides a level of suspenseful excitement rarely encountered this side of a John Le Carre novel. Let’s just hope they do a better job with the movie version than they did with The Surrogates. |
Stuff received 8/25/11 was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon