Art by Alex Solis
Galleys should be shipping out shortly to reviewers. The final version of The Apes of Wrath will be available from finer booksellers, both virtual and real, and as an ebook in early February.
Even though RevolutionSF hosts this blog, I know some of you may not routinely check out the main page. For y’all slackers, here’s the news that I reviewed the latest James Bond Skyfall for the site.
One of the finest James Bond installments, 2006’s magnificent Casino Royale infused an air of realism rarely seen in the previous films. Daniel Craig’s expert portrayal of the neophyte agent hearkened back to the dark, less humorous visage of Fleming’s novels. Picking up immediately after the conclusion of Royale, the disappointing Quantum of Solace paled in comparison to its predecessor, derailing much of the hoped-for future promise of the series. In the franchise’s 50th year, Craig returns for his third outing in Skyfall, a picture that successfully returns to the excitement and quality of Casino Royale.
Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.
Written by Al Feldstein, Gardner Fox, and others
Art by Wallace Wood
Promo copy:
Horror and crime shockers from the EC vaults, illustrated by a comics grandmaster.
Wallace Wood applied his preternaturally lush brushwork to over two dozen stories in the thematically overlapping (“dreadful things happen to people, both innocent and guilty”) horror, crime, and suspense genres. This work is the subject of one of the two premiere releases in Fantagraphics’ highly-anticipated new EC reprint line.
Taking its title from one of Wood’s all-time classics, the evil little paranoid thriller “Came the Dawn,” this collection features page after page after page of Wood’s sleek and meticulously crafted artwork put in the service of cunning twist-ending stories, most often from the typewriter of EC editor Al Feldstein.
These tales range from supernatural shockers from the pages of Tales From the Crypt and The Haunt of Fear (“The Living Corpse,” “Terror Ride,” “Man From the Grave,” “Horror in the Freak Tent”) to often pointedly contemporary crime thrillers from Crime SuspenStories (“The Assault,” “The Whipping,” and “Confession,” which was singled out for specific excoriation in the anti-comics screed Seduction of the Innocent, thus giving it a special cachet), but the breathtaking art and whiplash-inducing shock endings are constants throughout.
Like every book in the Fantagraphics EC line, “Came the Dawn!” will feature extensive essays and notes on these classic stories by EC experts — but the real “meat” of the matter (sometimes literally, in the grislier stories) will be supplied by these ofted lurid, sometimes downright over-the-top, but always compelling and superbly crafted, classic comic-book masterpieces.
WOW! OH WOW!
by Ben Katchor
Promo copy:
From one of the most original and imaginative American cartoonists at work today comes a collection of graphic narratives on the subjects of urban planning, product design, and architecture—a surrealist handbook for the rebuilding of society in the twenty-first century.
Ben Katchor, a master at twisting mundane commodities into surreal objects of social significance, now takes on the many ways our property influences and reflects cultural values. Here are window-ledge pillows designed expressly for people-watching and a forest of artificial trees for sufferers of hay fever. The Brotherhood of Immaculate Consumption deals with the matter of products that outlive their owners; a school of dance is based upon the choreographic motion of paying with cash; high-visibility construction vests are marketed to lonely people as a method of getting noticed. With cutting wit Katchor reveals a world similar to our own—lives are defined by possessions, consumerism is a kind of spirituality—but also slightly, fabulously askew. Frequently and brilliantly bizarre, and always mesmerizing, Hand-Drying in America ensures that you will never look at a building, a bar of soap, or an ATM the same way.
Written by Skip Brittenham
Art by Brian Haberlin
Promo copy:
EARTH 2717: THE 3RD GOLDEN AGE
Building a better tomorrow today…
The planet we call home slowly dies beneath us.
Most humans now live in teeming surface “Terrarium Cities,” off world colonies or orbiting space stations. All of earth’s resources have been depleted.
All corporations, nations and technologies have merged into THE CONGLOMERATE, whose Enforcer Battalions now conquer whole planets to feed its shareholders’ insatiable appetites.
THE CONGLOMERATE, which began with the spirit of the best mankind had to offer, saved humanity from itself by taking us to the stars and has become the most ruthless profit machine to ever exist.
Never use a robot when a human will do…
Dishonorably discharged from the Conglomerate’s elite Enforcer Corps, Jon is doing a job too lowly for a robot. He leaps at the chance to go on a peaceful, first contact mission to an untainted world. Playing armed babysitter to Samantha, the daughter of a powerful Conglomerate executive, shouldn’t be too hard.
What could go wrong?
Everything…
For Jon, it’s a relief to get away – on an easy assignment protecting a couple of do-gooders visiting a peaceful new planet. For Samantha, it’s a mission to change the world. For Jasson, it’s a chance to put his theories to the test.
Being marooned on Anomaly where technology doesn’t work, the terrain is lethal and the creatures even more so, Jon quickly learns he’s not the man he once was. Dark secrets surround the various species that call this world home. Jon’s actions here have the potential to ripple across the void of space, and touch everything in it… Maybe even the Conglomerate…
But when Anomaly sprouts synthetics-eating viruses, flesh-eating mutants and deadly magic, it becomes a race against which form of death will come first. Who will survive? Who will return?
Join us on an adventure that reclaims our humanity and saves a world!
Bonus: includes Anomaly UAR that integrates the print and virtual experience like never before.
Contributors:
Jeanne Thornton (fictioncircus.com/Jeanne )
Sam Hurt (eyebeam.com)
Aaron Whitaker (www.aaronwhitaker.com)
Mack White (mackwhite.com)
M. Austin Bedell (skweegieisland.com/)
Gilbert Smith (crithit.org/spooky)
K. F. Harlock (crithit.org)
Nouri Zarrugh (www.nourizarrughart.com)
Geoff Sebesta (unnecessaryg.com)
Brian Horst (http://www.flickr.com/…
Antonius Wolfsblut (muskville.com)
Jason Poland (robbieandbobby.com)
John David Brown (flickr.com/photos/jdbrow npopart)
Miracle Jones (miraclejones.blogspot.co m/)
Simon Jacobs (simonajacobs.blogspot.co m)
Monte Hayward
Mast (absolutemaster.blogspot. com)
Dylan Edwards (studiondr.com)
Dieter Geisler (dietergeisler.com)
Kathleen Jacques (bvbcomix.com)
Cover by Zach Taylor (gnourg.org)
I picked up this interesting looking b&w strip magazine (printed on newsprint) at the Austin Comic Con. The entire issue is available for free online.
Written by Kim Harrison
Art by Gemma Magno
Promo copy:
You can’t tell the story of how it all began for supernatural cops Ivy Tamwood and Rachel Morgan without telling how it all nearly ended. The fiery living vampire and erstwhile earth witch never asked to be paired up in the first place. And having to work Inderland Security’s crummiest beat—busting two-bit paranormal street punks—sure didn’t sweeten the deal. But when it counts, Ivy and Rachel always have each other’s backs. They’d better—because someone just hung targets on both of them.
It doesn’t take a hotshot homicide detective to know that nearly getting flattened by a falling gargoyle or impaled by a lead pipe aren’t on-the-job accidents. But it doesn’t seem possible that the class of crooks Ivy and Rachel routinely collar could kill anything but brain cells. So who put Cincinnati’s tough and tender twosome on their “to do in” list? Is Ivy’s vampire master, the powerful and seductive Piscary, jealous of her growing bloodlust (and just plain lust) for Rachel? Or have forces unknown—living or undead—made the partners prey in a deadly witch (and vampire) hunt?
Before this case is cracked, Ivy and Rachel will face down vicious dogs, speeding locomotives, rogue bloodsuckers, and their own dark desires; spells will be cast and blood will be spilled; and Kim Harrison’s hair-raising, heart-racing, dark urban world of magic and monsters will leap howling from the pages of her second electrifying, full-color graphic novel.
At last weekend’s Austin Comic Con (aka WizardWorld Austin), I ran into some familiar though long seen personages. Same thing happened last year when I visited with artist Mark A. Nelson for the first time in nearly 15 years. This time I found Weird Business contributor Miran Kim.
Miran illustrated Poppy Z. Brite’s story “Becoming the Monster.” Poppy was the first contributor to the book, turning in her script before Joe R. Lansdale and I even had contract for the book. (Loads more behind the scenes of Weird Business) At the time Miran was the primary cover artist for Poppy’s novels.
Art by Miran Kim from Weird Business
Though I couldn’t recall if I had met Miran previously, she had vague memories of meeting two guys from Mojo at a New York convention. Neither me nor Mojo Press publisher Ben Ostrander ever went to a NYC con. After a few minutes, we figured it must have been at one of the San Diego conventions.
We caught up on things. Miran was in town visiting her brother. She showed off some of her recent works including the new graphic novel 27 Graves, written by Steve Niles. Remarkably, the gorgeous work has yet to find an American publisher.
In the duh-department, Miran revealed she doesn’t like her work from Weird Business. Really, what artist does like their work from 20 years ago?
The other old acquaintance renewed never actually worked with me though I wish he had. The legendary Berni Wreightson made his first of what will surely be many appearances at the Comic Con. Berni moved to Austin back in February.
I first met him at the 1997 San Diego Comic Con, shortly after Weird Business came out, when he asked me why he wasn’t include in the book. Dumbfounded and flattered, I told him that Joe and I didn’t know how to contact him.
Image from Berni Wrightson’s Frankenstein
Wrightson has long been one of my artistic heroes. His work in Creepy and House of Mystery informed much of my earliest works. Without him, I doubt Weird Business would exist.
I chatted with him and his wife Liz about Austin and comics. Berni happily signed my copies of Roots of the Swamp Thing, Frankenstein, and The Reaper of Love. I am looking forward to more interactions with the couple in hopefully the near future.
I’ve been reading Grant Morrison’s interesting treatise on super hero comics Supergods when I ran across his reference to the infamous cover of Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #73.
The kind of behavior this primed young boys to expect from their own future girlfriends was more obscene than the blow jobs, boob jobs, and anal entry they now expect as a result of boring old Internet porn. Superman was educating a generation of sadomasochistic swingers with tastes trending beyond the outré.
This immediately recalled my own grandfather’s work with similar images featuring the ideal 1950s girl-next-store Bettie Page donning a whip. Course none of Irving Klaw’s photos and short films contained a man of steel (though that probably featured prominently with many of the viewers) nor any men at all.
Makes me wonder if the editor of the Superman titles Mort Weisinger, who designed all the covers for his artists (Kurt Schaffenberger in this case), was another comics professional who frequented Movie Star News. Thanks to Blake Bell’s extraordinary retrospective Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko, I learned that the Spider-man creator (along with Al Williamson) visited the store.
The art direction, set design, lighting, characterizations, plotlines and dialog of movies had been a strong influence on comic-book artists from the beginning, and with its many theaters and ready access to research material, Manhattan was a movie haven. One of the most popular haunts for acquiring 8X10-inch movie still photos was Irving Klaw’s Movie Star News on 18th Street.
“Al Williamson once said he always ran into Ditko at Irving’s,” says artist Batton Lash.
My grandfather died in 1966 believing he was the victim of a decade-long witch hunt. The fact that this cover, which appeared a year after his death, caused nary a public outcry might very well support this supposition. Or could it be that he helped to usher in a new morality?
Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.
by George R. R. Martin
Covers by Dominic Harman
Promo copy:
Even before A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin had already established himself as a giant in the field of fantasy literature. Dreamsongs is a rare treat for readers, offering fascinating insight into his journey from young writer to award-winning master.
Gathered here in Dreamsongs are the very best of George R. R. Martin’s early works, including his Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker award–winning stories, cool fan pieces, and the original novella The Ice Dragon, from which Martin’s New York Times bestselling children’s book of the same title originated. A dazzling array of subjects and styles that features extensive author commentary, Dreamsongs is the perfect collection for both Martin devotees and a new generation of fans.
by George R. R. Martin
Promo copy:
In this unforgettable space opera, #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin presents a chilling vision of eternal night—a volatile world where cultures clash, codes of honor do not exist, and the hunter and the hunted are often interchangeable.
A whisperjewel has summoned Dirk t’Larien to Worlorn, and a love he thinks he lost. But Worlorn isn’t the world Dirk imagined, and Gwen Delvano is no longer the woman he once knew. She is bound to another man, and to a dying planet that is trapped in twilight. Gwen needs Dirk’s protection, and he will do anything to keep her safe, even if it means challenging the barbaric man who has claimed her. But an impenetrable veil of secrecy surrounds them all, and it’s becoming impossible for Dirk to distinguish between his allies and his enemies. In this dangerous triangle, one is hurtling toward escape, another toward revenge, and the last toward a brutal, untimely demise.
by George R. R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle
Cover by Stephen Youll
Promo copy:
From #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and acclaimed author Lisa Tuttle comes a timeless tale that brilliantly renders the struggle between the ironbound world of tradition and a rebellious soul seeking to prove the power of a dream.
Among the scattered islands that make up the water world of Windhaven, no one holds more prestige than the silver-winged flyers, romantic figures who cross treacherous oceans, braving shifting winds and sudden storms, to bring news, gossip, songs, and stories to a waiting populace. Maris of Amberly, a fisherman’s daughter, wants nothing more than to soar on the currents high above Windhaven. So she challenges tradition, demanding that flyers be chosen by merit rather than inheritance. But even after winning that bitter battle, Maris finds that her troubles are only beginning. Now a revolution threatens to destroy the world she fought so hard to join—and force her to make the ultimate sacrifice.
by George R. R. Martin
Cover by David Stevenson
Promo copy:
From #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin comes the ultimate novel of revolution, rock ’n’ roll, and apocalyptic murder—a stunning work of fiction that portrays not just the end of an era, but the end of the world as we know it.
Onetime underground journalist Sandy Blair has come a long way from his radical roots in the ’60s—until something unexpectedly draws him back: the bizarre and brutal murder of a rock promoter who made millions with a band called the Nazgûl. Now, as Sandy sets out to investigate the crime, he finds himself drawn back into his own past—a magical mystery tour of the pent-up passions of his generation. For a new messiah has resurrected the Nazgûl and the mad new rhythm may be more than anyone bargained for—a requiem of demonism, mind control, and death, whose apocalyptic tune only Sandy may be able to change in time . . . before everyone follows the beat.
The first trailer for the feature film Christmas with the Dead premiered on You Tube last night. Based on the Joe R. Lansdale short story of the same name and executive produced by Lansdale, his ownself, Dead chronicles Calvin (Damian Maffei) efforts to celebrate Christmas despite being the only human left following a zombie Apocalypse.
His first full length effort, Terry Lee Lankford directed Christmas with the Dead from the screenplay by Joe’s son and accomplished journalist Keith Lansdale. Completing this Lansdale family affair, daughter Kasey, the blonde at the beginning of the trailer, and son-in-law Adam Coats play prominent roles in the movie. An internationally acclaimed singer, Kasey also provides much of the movie soundtrack.
Made for less than a reported $1.5 million in conjunction with Stephen F. Austin University, Christmas with the Dead was shot entirely in Lansdale’s hometown of Nacogdoches, TX.
Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Art by Shane Davis
Promo copy:
Following the events of the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling graphic novel by acclaimed writer Michael J. Straczynski and superstar artist Shane Davis, comes the long awaited sequel SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE VOL. 2!
Young Clark Kent continues his journey toward becoming the World’s Greatest Super Hero, but finds dealing with humanity to be a bigger challenge than he ever imagined! From a ruthless dictator to a new love interest who’s NOT Lois Lane, things are never easy for this emerging Man of Steel.
And the worst is yet to come, in the form of a man-monster with an insatiable appetite, the Parasite! The only thing that might appease his hunger is The Last Son of Kryptonian! But that will also mean he will have Superman’s powers without his conscience, and Kal-El cannot come anywhere near him, even though he has to stop him!
by Terry Brooks
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Adapted by Charles Dixon
Art by David Wenzel
Cover by Didier Graffert
Promo copy:
AN ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF THE FANTASY CLASSIC WITH SIX NEW PAGES OF ILLUSTRATIONS!
First published in the United States more than seventy-five years ago, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is one of the best-loved books of all time. Now a blockbuster film by Peter Jackson, Academy Award–winning director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit was also adapted into a fully painted graphic novel, a classic in its own right, presented here in a new expanded edition.
When Thorin Oakenshield and his band of dwarves embark upon a dangerous quest to reclaim stolen treasure from the evil dragon Smaug, Gandalf the wizard suggests an unlikely accomplice: Bilbo Baggins, a quiet and contented hobbit. Along the way, the company faces trolls, goblins, giant spiders, and worse. But in the end it is Bilbo alone who must face the most dreaded dragon in all Middle-earth—and a destiny that waits in the dark caverns beneath the Misty Mountains, where a twisted creature known as Gollum jealously guards a precious magic ring.
I’ve never read this graphic novel. Perhaps unlike any of Tolkien’s prose books, I could actually finish a comic adaptation. Might as well give it a shot.
by Mike Resnick
Cover by J. Seamas Gallagher
Promo copy:
It’s August 19, 1884. The consumptive Doc Holliday is preparing to await his end in a sanitarium in Leadville, Colorado, when the medicine man Geronimo enlists him on a mission. The time the great chief has predicted has come, the one white man he’s willing to treat with has crossed the Mississippi and is heading to Tombstone—a young man named Theodore Roosevelt. The various tribes know that Geronimo is willing to end the spell that has kept the United States from expanding west of the Mississippi. In response, they have created a huge, monstrous, medicine man named War Bonnet, whose function is to kill Roosevelt and Geronimo and keep the United States east of the river forever. And War Bonnet has
enlisted the master shootist John Wesley Hardin.
So the battle lines are drawn: Roosevelt and Geronimo against the most powerful of the medicine men, a supernatural creature that seemingly nothing can harm; and Holliday against the man with more credited kills than any gunfighter in history. It does not promise to be a tranquil summer.
Several of the Fantastic Fest films that I reviewed made their way onto Netflix streaming. Being the helpful sort, here’s my handy guide to the what to see and what to skip.
My review from the 2007 Festival:
A well-crafted, ingeniously plotted time travel thriller, Timecrimes made its WORLD premiere at the Festival last night. Not only that, director Nacho Vigalondo had literally just finished the final cut one week before. Previously nominated for an Oscar for the 2003 short film “7:35 de la mañana”, Vigalondo beautifully shot his first feature on a tiny budget. Like all great time travel stories, Timecrimes lures you with red herrings and misdirection. The film lags a bit in the second act as it falls into stereotypical plotting, but is redeemed with a fantastic third act and superior acting throughout.
The conversation with Vigalondo after the film– he was in attendance- was entertaining. Vigalondo, whose English is self-admittingly not that good, provided several purposefully humorous and insightful moments.
Someone in the audience asked a complex time travel question which Vigalondo could not understand in English. Another patron translated it into Spanish. The director shook his head. “I don’t even understand the question in my native tongue. Next.”
When discussing the overall morality theme of the movie: “[When a cheating man is caught with his mistress by his wife], the only way to save the marriage is to kill the girlfriend.”
On how he raised the funds for his first feature: “I’m the only one in the world to use an Oscar [nomination] to make a time travel movie.”
Starring renowned Hong Kong actor and director Donnie Yen as a no nonsense Dirty Harry-type cop in pre-Chinese takeover Hong Kong, Flash Point offers the perfect combination of cop drama and martial art combat. As the film begins, Inspector Jun Ma (Yen), known for his violent treatment of suspects, is demoted to being charge of the police music division. When Ma’s undercover partner encounters problems with the Viet mob, Ma doesn’t let a little thing like a demotion stand in his way. At a slim 88 minutes, Flash Point thrives on character development and well placed action scenes. The climatic battle between Yen and the collection of bad guys is mind boggling.
Let The Bullets Fly quickly establishes the picture’s exquisite tone from the opening sequence. A lone train car–steam spewing from it spout—being pulled by a team of horses along railroad tracks. After gunshots are exchanges, events quickly lead to an exaggerated comedic train derailment in the finest Chinese movie slapstick fashion. With 1920s China as the backdrop, screen legends Chow Yun Fat and Jiang Wen (who also directs and wrote the screenplay) deliver virtuoso performances as the power hungry, greedy gangster and the Robin Hood style bandit, respectively. The thinly veiled pro-Chinese Revolution story abounds with fun fight scenes, intriguing interactions, and as the title promises, abundant gunplay, all wrapped within the epic feel of a Sergio Leone western.
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My comments from the 2011 Festival:
The balls-to-walls Korean crime drama The Yellow Sea electrifies with creative bloody combat using a machete, kitchen knives, and even a dog leg, intense chase sequences, and a riveting story. Cab driver Gu-nam, living in Yanji City, a Chinese region between North Korea and Russia dominated mostly by Joseonjok (Chinese citizens of Korean ancestry), goes deeply into debt to send his wife to Korea for work. After not hearing from her in six month, he fears she has left him. When largely due to his gambling problem, Gu-nam begins missing repayments to local thugs, he accepts an opportunity from powerful crime boss Myung-ga to wipe the slate clean. He must journey to South Korea and kill a man! While there, Gu-nam searches for his wife. Things goes horribly wrong and Gu-nam must escape the police and gangsters. The Yellow Sea is sure to thrill even the most jaded crime film fan.
In which I speak poorly of this movie:
Despite an interesting premise, The Corridor delivered a mediocre horror experience with a scant few shocks. After spending several years in a mental institution following the death of his unbalanced mother, Tyler invites four childhood friends to the family cabin in the Canadian wilderness for a wake. After scattering his mother’s ashes, Tyler begins to have visions of a room in the forest surrounded by shimmering walls. In an attempt to prove he’s not insane, Tyler shares his experience with his friends. This time the it appears as a long corridor. Soon after the men start acting strangely then eventually psychotic even homicidal. The performances ranged from average to of the film, nothing memorable. While not a terrible script, it exhibits nothing particularly original or exemplary. The boring film feels very much like a first movie, full of potential that ultimately fails in its boredom.
And on the same day I destroyed The Corridor, I lavished praise:
Based on Jo Nesbø’s bestselling book, the taut, intelligent Headhunters reveals the secret art thief identity of successful corporate headhunter Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie). Initially just a well crafted caper film, unexpected plot twists morph the story into something completely different yet equally fascinating, culminating in a creative, surprising, and satisfying conclusion. Hennie delivers a pitch perfect performance, perhaps the best of the festival, as the unlikable lead, replete with inferiority complexes and disgusting displays of arrogance. Director Morten Tyldum superior handling of scene and action produces a top flight, edge-of-your-seat thriller. Ripe for a remake, see Headhunters before the inferior American remake hits theaters.
One of the funniest movies I’ve seen at Fantastic Fest:
An extrapolation of the hit Danish TV series of the same name, the riotous comedy Klown follows two longtime friends (Frank Hvam and Casper Christensen reprising their roles as exaggerated versions of themselves from the show) on a canoe trip to an exclusive one-night-a-year brothel for a “Tour De Pussy.” Before the debauchery begins, Frank accidentally learns his longtime girlfriend is pregnant. Fearing he is not father material, she contemplates getting an abortion. In a misguided attempt to prove her wrong, Frank kidnaps her 11 year old nephew, forcing him along on the journey. Chaos ensues. A raunchy film along the lines of The Hangover, Klown offered many laugh-out-loud scenes expertly combined with bittersweet, incisive moments.
It’s a bit early for this years films to show up streaming, but if history is any guide, some of best will eventually be there.
*As always with streaming movies, things may change at a moment's notice. YMMV*
Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.
by James Vance and Dan E. Burr
Promo copy:
In this long-awaited sequel to the legendary graphic novel Kings in Disguise, a young circus hand gets involved in dangerous underground activity.
Kings in Disguise was praised by the likes of Art Spiegelman, Neil Gaiman, and Alan Moore. It won two Eisner Awards and has been hailed as one of the ten best graphic novels of all time (Guardian). This highly anticipated sequel tells the story of a young man’s coming of age in a world where the capacity to dream may be a fatal flaw. Set in 1937, On the Ropes continues the story of Fred Bloch, now apprenticed to escape artist Gordon Corey, a star attraction in a traveling WPA circus. Though damaged by the Depression and haunted by past mistakes, each man holds the key to the other’s salvation—but each also harbors a secret that could lead to their mutual destruction. Enacted against a backdrop of violent labor unrest and a nation’s faltering recovery, On the Ropes is a breathtaking visual achievement that delivers a powerful, timeless story.
by James Vance and Dan Burr
Introduction by Alan Moore
Promo copy:
“One of the most moving and compelling human stories to emerge out of the graphic story medium.”—Alan Moore
This award-winning tale, set in the height of the Great Depression, received rave reviews long before graphic novels became the phenomenon they are today. Hailed as one of the top 100 comics of all time by The Comics Journal, Kings in Disguise now reemerges as a classic. It is January 1932, and movie-loving Freddie Bloch is trading his father’s liquor bottles for the cost a matinee: “Dreams were only a dime, but empty bottles [only] brought a penny apiece.” When his father disappears and his brother gets arrested, Freddie finds himself homeless and adrift, trying to survive during the Detroit labor riots and amid the furor of violent, anti-communist mobs. Winner of the Eisner Award and the Harvey Award for Best New Series and an additional Eisner Award for Best Single Issue.
When this duo of books arrived at the Compound, I was dumbfounded. Kings In Disguise ranks among my favorite graphic novels of all time. I had no idea that Vance and Burr were even working on a sequel. This is a must read. You’ll definitely be hearing more about this next year (On the Ropes isn’t due until March).
by Joe Daly
Promo copy:
A double serving of the stoner D&D epic.
In 2011’s Dungeon Quest Book Two, we left our heroes, Millennium Boy, Steve, Lash and Nerdgirl, in the Temple of Bromedes as they began their initiation into the mysteries of Atlantis under the tutelage of the androgynous forest mystic, Bromedes. In this third book, our heroes complete their learning with Bromedes and are guided towards further quests in Rufford Park and beyond, to the Zuur Plateau. However, they are not yet clear of the hazards of Fireburg Forest. Resurfacing to the forest floor (after hitting the strongest weed in the universe, “Orangutan Daydream”), they must survive a perilous cliff path, discover moon shrines, battle wild Womraxes, endure knock-out gas, hypnagogic visions, nakedness and deprivation and, finally, embark on a desperate and courageous mission to rescue Nerdgirl from cruel Forest Bandits and retrieve their stolen equipment.
In this third book, by far the longest installment of the series so far (240 pages!), the reader is also introduced to the history and mysticism of The Romish Book of the Dead, a sexually avant-garde “little forest man” (who becomes the fifth member of the crew), Steve’s newly discovered “battle warping’” abilities (which Millennium Boy dismisses as being amere “kundalini spasm”), weapons and armor upgrades and a whole new level of bizarre comedy, rousing adventure and ass-kicking action — all staged in front of fantastic backdrops replete with strange vegetation, ancient ruins and steampunk imagery.
Another pleasant arrival, I previously praised Volumes 1 and 2.
Millennium Boy, Steve, Lash Penis, and Nerdgirl grab their weapons and journey on a mystical quest to recover the missing parts of the Altlantean Resonator Guitar and to return the borrowed penis sheath to prophet and poet Bromedes. Using role playing game tropes as a template, Daly, creator of the acclaimed Red Monkey Double Happiness Book, illustrates the often twisted reality of the contemporary slacker with little subtlety but from a fresh perspective. Littered with violence, inappropriate sexual innuendos, misguided bravado and infused with hilarity, Dungeon Quest (of which two 136 page volumes are available) promises a uniquely entertaining graphic novel experience.