BC Refugees Blog

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog The other major superhero cartoon of the season is "Young Justice", which premiered on Cartoon Network last week as a one-hour feature, with half-hour episodes to follow after the first of the year. As much as I've been enjoying "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" , this is a much better show. From the very first scene (shown above with about 6 minutes of other footage), you know you're watching something great. The writing -- led by "Spectacular Spider-Man" & "Gargoyles" veteran Greg Weisman -- is a nice mix of the familiar and the surprising, with some great voice acting making the characters distinct. Fittingly, the team starts with Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad with a couple of members added during this first hour and more to come. (Zatara is included as a JLA member, so maybe we'll see his young daughter at some point?) WB's animation is exceptional as usual, with some nice character d

  One of the many things I am thankful for is BC Refugees blog site, which provides an outlet for my writing on comics. I liked this email greeting and wanted to share it with you today:   Have a peaceful and relaxing Thanksgiving . . . . . .   pghhead

Beginning a series of articles on the works of David Lapham After attending a recent gathering of The BC Refugees I learned of a mutual admiration for this worldly writer.  That inspired me to write about my explorations into the dark areas of modern society as presented by the one and only original chronicler of the crude, the profiler of the perverted  =  David Lapham. During that conversation which centered around his amazing work on the current run of G.I. JOE: ORIGINS (which I haven’t seen yet), I spoke of the various comics he scripted that I enjoyed.  They seemed to have one common element = after reading them I felt dirty, as if I needed a cleansing shower.  Lapham is a skilled realist  and can make you feel how ugly things can get in modern society.  PUNISHER MAX TINY UGLY WORLD  (One-Shot)  #1   (Marvel Max Comics - EXPLICIT CONTENT)  David Lapham, writer;  Dalibor Talajic, artist; Matt Hollingsworth, colorist; VC’s Cory Petit, letterer For anyone not familiar with Lap

EDGE OF DOOM #1  (IDW PUBLISHING, October 2010)  Steve Niles, writer; Kelley Jones, art; Jay Fotos, colors; Robbie Robbins, letters Wow!  Look at that art!  This is definitely going to make my list of nominations for “Cover Of The Year 2010” if and when there is a first annual BC Refugees Awards. The combination of Steve Niles and Kelley Jones on a horror story is unbeatable.  EDGE OF DOOM is better at evoking the mood of CREEPY and EERIE with just a twisted touch of strange - -  it would have been a perfect tale for the revived CREEPY except for its full-issue length. The art is part Richard Corben, part Steve Ditko in its vivid and horrific imagery.  It made me remember and miss those weird back-issue tales (usually with art by Ditko) that used to end up in the concluding pages of the old Marvel monster comics from the early 1960’s. Richard Stallman is depressed and drunk.  His wife left him, and he’s about to lose his job and possibly his home.  When he strikes a large ston

THE TRAVELER #1  (Boom Studios – November 24, 2010)  Stan Lee, grand poobah; written by Mark Waid; art by Chad Hardin; colors by Blond;  letters by Ed Dukeshire  (covers by Scott Clark, Chad Hardin, and Joe Benitez) The first issue of THE TRAVELER raises more questions than it answers in a furious, fast-paced debut.  That’s in contrast to the first issues of Stan Lee’s other creation, SOLDIER ZERO, which seems more character-driven.  However, with Mark Waid at the scripting helm I expect some fine character development once the setting and plot elements become established.  For now, it seems smart policy to concentrate on introducing some of the players and quickly putting them through their paces. Since Issue #1 seems singularly focused on action, action, action - - the best way for me to tell you about this book is to summarize some of those details: The art by Chad Hardin is outstanding, and perfectly suited for the incredible amount of action/battle that goes on in Issue O

SOLDIER ZERO #1 (Boom Studios)- - October 20, 2010 release SOLIDER ZERO #2 (Boom Studios) - - November 17, 2010 release created by Stan Lee (listed here as "grand poobah") written by Paul Cornell art by Javier Pina I admit to being a little apprehensive after receiving the news that Stan Lee was going to be involved in some new super-hero comics with Boom Studios. I recall the last experiment, the series of "Just Imagine Stan Lee" one-shots for DC where he re-invented several DC characters including Batman, Flash, etc. They were interesting in concept but the stories were a chore to get through, mostly boring. As much as I love Stan Lee, his "Just Imagine . .." stories and dialogue were from 2-3 decades or more ago and needed a serious update. However, after hearing Mark Waid explain at Baltimore Comic-Con in August 2010 that these were collaborations between Stan Lee and various writers I felt a little warmer towards the new books. And, when Waid detaile

I'm still working on entries about the first six issues of the books in the "Avengers" line and assessments of "Brightest Day" and "Generation Lost" now that they're both halfway done, but I just didn't have time to finish them last week. Thanks to Mike for keeping up the pace in the meantime. Also, I wanted to point out the New York Times'  Holiday Gift Guide to Graphic Novels . It's a good list, and it's got a couple of my favorite books of the year on it: "Return of the Dapper Men" (available this week at a fine store near you!) and "The Outfit".

BB WOLF AND THE THREE LPs  (Top Shelf, May 2010 hardcover, black & white, 86 pages,   $12.95)  As told by JD Arnold with illustrations by Richard Koslowski What got my attention immediately was the pairing up of a classic fairy tale with musical motifs.  That’s a combination that pushes two of my “hot buttons” - -  so I made it a must-read.  I was not disappointed.  This is a very entertaining and cleverly designed work that rivals Bill Willingham’s  creativity on the long-running FABLES series from Vertigo. As if taking the classic tale of the Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs and turning it upside down wasn’t enough to interest, BB WOLF AND THE THREE LPS  serves as an allegory for the oppression of  the black population in the deep South (Mississippi) in the 1920’s.  While they may be free (wolves),  the governing bodies (pigs) have the power to deny them their land, homes and possessions and even own the businesses and clubs they patronize as well as the shops they d

BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE #1 (October 2010, Monsterverse Entertainment) Various artists and writers.  Variant cover by John Cassaday This  is a well-done labor of love produced by several admirers of the classic horror comics of the past.  If you are enjoying the recent revival of CREEPY from Dark Horse Comics then you’ll want to investigate this title as well.  In my earlier review of the first issue of CREEPY I was a little critical of the title, and in later reviews warmed up to it as the next issues made great strides in quality of story and art.  I see the same kind of potential here.  I don’t love everything about Issue #1, but I’m just excited to see this book.  I think some great things are in store.  (It did very well in pre-orders, so I’ve heard). Kerry Gammill (of Spider-Man renown) is publisher/editor-in-chief of Monsterverse and seems to be the guiding light (or blazing torch) of this title - - - his name is all over the contents  with writing, art and colo

From The Department Of Redundancy Department:  random raves and rants on various books seemingly chosen at random . . . . . . .. TIME LINCOLN: FISTS OF FUHRER #1  (June 2010 cover date, Antarctic Press)  Story & Art by Fred Perry; Coloring by Robby Bevard & Wes Hartman I’m glad to see that TIME LINCOLN is returning in a series of one-shot books  = because the first issue was  tons of fun;  and this new addition continues the merriment.  In his final hour, in the minutes between lapsing into a coma after Booth’s fatal shot and eventually passing away, Abraham Lincoln surfed the “void” through time.  FISTS OF FURHRER continues the unknown history of Time Lincoln, who lived a lifetime in one hour and prevented numerous unknown catastrophes that never made it to the history books because they never occurred.  (Whew – that’s almost as hard to clarify in one sentence as it is to comprehend.) Without taking away from any of the fun (like the exchange between a flustered John

It had to happen eventually - - - I read a Superman title that holds my interest and makes me want to return for more !  And here it is: SUPERBOY #1  (DC, January 2011 cover date)  Jeff Lemire, writer.  Pier Gallo, artist.  Jamie Grant, colorist.  John J. Hill, letterer. I’ve admired the story telling abilities (also the simplistic subtle  yet effective artwork) of Jeff Lemire for some time.  THE ESSEX COUNTY TRILOGY is a great example of how powerfully effective a  comics/graphic novel can be at communicating emotions and moods.  His story and art on SWEET TOOTH for DC has brought a lot of deserved attention to his work. I’ve often wondered what Lemire might do with a true super-hero title, and  I received my answer with SUPERBOY #1.  In three quick opening pages,  Lemire puts his personal stamp on the title - - - and now he owns it.  I remain impressed.  Page One begins with art panels  of a young boy in home-made mask and red cape wandering through the wheat fields of Sma