BC Refugees Blog

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - July 31, 2015 - Five members from Brooklyn's legendary Hang Dai Studios will be attending Baltimore Comic-Con, being held the weekend of September 25-27, 2015 at the Baltimore Convention Center. Featuring artists and writers Dean "The Fox" Haspiel, Gregory "B+F" Benton, Christa "Ghetto Klown" Cassano, Jonathan "Plunder" Lang, and Vito "Stray" Delsante, they will be playing the dozens and selling their latest comix, prints, graphic novels, and be available for commissions. Hang Dai Editions (in conjunction with Alternative Comics), will be debuting their three new graphic novels: Smoke by Gregory Benton, Beef With Tomato by Dean Haspiel, and Schmuck by the late Seth Kushner. Emmy award winner and Eisner Award nominee Dean Haspiel created Billy Dogma, illustrated for HBO's "Bored To Death," was a Master Artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, is a Yaddo fellow and a playwright, helped pioneer pe

EDITOR'S NOTES: I've been a big fan of writer John Ostrander since the Suicide Squad and Grimjack days. When he paired up with artist Tom Mandrake for a long run on The Spectre they took that book to the next level of greatness. Pledging to this Kickstarter campaign was a no-brained for me. They are super-close to their fundraising goal with a short time remaining. Please check it out. you won't be sorry! Comic Book Legends Mandrake & Ostrander Launch Kros: Hallowed Ground From the official press release . . . . . Vampire horror at Gettysburg in this dark and haunting Civil War era tale from John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake. Against this army of hungry undead rides one man, a vampire slayer known only as Kros. Alone against a vampire army, Kros, a dampyr with an inborn hatred of vampires, knows that if he fails he could become one of the creatures he loathes. Inspired by films in the genre of John Carpenter's The Thing and stories like Ambrose Bierce's Occurre

From the official IDW press release . . . . . SEVEN24 Films and IDW Entertainment announced today that Syfy has acquired the U.S. rights to Wynonna Earp, a live action television series based on the IDW Publishing comic created by Beau Smith. Emily Andras (Lost Girl, Killjoys) developed the series for television and will serve as Executive Producer and Showrunner. With an initial order of 13 one-hour episodes, Wynonna Earp is a fast-paced, contemporary thriller that follows Wyatt Earp’s great granddaughter as she battles demons and other supernatural beings. Wynonna is a witty and wild modern day gunslinger, using her unique abilities and a dysfunctional posse of allies to bring the paranormal to justice. The series is scheduled to premiere in April 2016. “Wynonna Earp is a unique contemporary western that will bring high octane, full-throttle, supernatural action to Syfy,” said Chris Regina, SVP, Programming, Syfy. “It is wildly imaginative and we are excited to work with Seven24 Film

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - July 27, 2015 - The Baltimore Comic-Con announces the addition of industry veteran Jules Feiffer as a special guest. The Baltimore Comic-Con returns to the Baltimore Convention Center the weekend of September 25-27, 2015. . Feiffer began his storied career in comics back in the 1940s working under comics giant Will Eisner at Eisner's studio. Initially working on art clean-up chores, Feiffer soon found himself with writing responsibilities, finishing Eisner's plots on The Spirit. He eventually launched his own comic, Clifford, which ran within the pages of The Spirit between 1949 and 1951. Generally thought of as the godfather of alt-weekly newspaper comix, Feiffer launched his own strip, Sick Sick Sick, in the pages of The Village Voice in 1956. It was later renamed Feiffer's Fables, and finally just the eponomous Feiffer, which ran in the paper for over 40 years. Feiffer was nationally syndicated, and has been collected in books from McGraw-Hill a

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Podcasts come and podcasts go.  I listen to several, especially comics-related podcasts.  However, there aren’t many that manage to hold my attention and keep me coming back week after week. I usually end up getting bored with the commentary or tired of certain individuals whose peculiarities begin to annoy me.  I’ve been a regular listener of both predecessor From The Booth and now Comics Podcast of the Damned.  Some may read this article and protest “favortism” or “cronyism” because Ken is also a contributor/reviewer to this site. We will often feature an article on a specific podcast on this site. If you think we are unfairly “playing favorites” then you can chose to not check out the podcast. You will be missing entertaining and informative episodes.  Try one out before you decide to grumble and turn the page. by KEN of Comics Podcast of the Damned A New podcast for a new generation. I love podcasts. During my college days  I had to take a five hour bus ride to

Editor’s Note:  We are always looking for the appropriate comics to recommend as starting points for young readers.  While we haven’t previewed Monsterjunkies, the subject matter and setting seem like they would be interesting to middle school and perhaps younger readers. It bears checking out. Small Press novel’s Graphic Novel adaption is listed in the June Diamond Catalog. from the official press release . . . . . July 9, 2015 - Eagle Award nominee publisher Red Anvil Comics is proud to announce Erik Shein’s “THE MONSTERJUNKIES” Volume One, an Original Graphic Novel that explores the important themes of bullying, conservation and animal preservation in today's ever changing world through a most entertaining and innovative series of books. Follow us to 1313 Road to Nowhere, to a small New England town called Foggy Point, where behind massive stone walls lies a secluded Gothic mansion. Home to a most usually family and their menagerie of protected, exotic and non-existing leg

SHEENA MOVES TO DYNAMITE: Dynamite Entertainment has completed an agreement with the current rights holders to publish original comic book and graphic novels for SHEENA, QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE.  The agreement also includes reprints of Sheena’s classic jungle fantasy material.  Her first new adventure at Dynamite will tea m her with Edgar Rice Burrough’s TARZAN.  Dynamite also obtained rights to statues, trading cards, action figures, lithographs/fine art and t-shirts featuing Sheena. SHEENA, QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE is the 1937 creation of Will Eisner and S. M. Iger. She was the first female comic book character to carry a dedicated series, preceding WONDER WOMAN #1 by four years. The original series spanned 167 issues and twenty years.   LACKLUSTER WORLD UPDATE:   We previously reported on the Kickstarter campaign to fund creator/writer/artist Eric Adams’ anthology.  The campaign has concluded, reaching the goal and earning $10,657 to fund the publication. Things are behind schedule for

Editor’s Note:  Why are we still reviewing Free Comic Book Day titles when that event is now two months in the past?  1) Because these books have a shelf life far beyond the event.  2) Collectors seek them out, and want complete sets of certain titles.  3) It’s an inexpensive way to check out some titles you might not want to risk spending your comics dollars on 4) The 2015 books have been exceptional, a banner year.  Just look at all the titles we gave high rankings too.  5) We are completists, and the job isn’t done yet! TALES OF HONOR VOLUME TWO, ISSUE ZERO  (Image /Top Cow May 2015)  Matt Hawkins, writer.  Linda Sejic, artist.  Troy Peteri, letterer.  Set in the Honorverse created by David Weber. www.tales-of-honor.com COVER APPEAL : Simplistic yet appealing. A woman (the main character, Honor Harrington)  in a space-faring military outfit holds a big-ass gun with a spaceship exploding in the background.  Makes you curious to look inside. 2.5 Points . STORY: Based on the mili

from the official press release In April 2013, Pro Se Productions released ‘ Black Pulp’ , a collection of stories written in classic pulp genres featuring lead characters of African descent.  Not only were readers captivated by the cast of characters featured in the book, they also saw the potential of future volumes, both of ‘ Black Pulp’ , and collections featuring other ethnicities in much the same way. Pro Se Productions proudly announces the release of ‘ Asian Pulp’ , featuring seventeen of today’s best authors, in both print and digital format. Leonard Chang, novelist and writer and co-producer of the TV crime drama ‘Justified’ , states in his introduction to ‘Asian Pulp’ , “The world of pulp fiction was a world that I understood—it was a reaction to trauma, both as art and as catharsis. Personal trauma. Emotional trauma. Physical trauma. National trauma. This is why I responded to it, why I immersed myself in it. And why, whenever I was in a personal and artistic crisis, it

from the official press release . . . . . Comics and Graphic Novel Sales Hit New 20-Year High According to New Estimate by ICv2 and Comichron The comics and graphic novel market hit another new high for the century in 2014, and a new high since the mid-90s, according to a new joint estimate by Comichron ' s John Jackson Miller and ICv2 ' s Milton Griepp.  Total comics and graphic novel sales to consumers in the U.S. and Canada reached $935 million in 2014, a 7% increase over sales in 2013. " It ' s a very exciting time in the comics business, " Griepp said.  " The broad range of titles being published, the wide variety of places they're sold, and the great exposure comics are getting from other media are all very positive for the industry. " " The market ' s in great shape, " Miller said.  " According to our tracking at Comichron, 2014 was the biggest year for print since 1995, adjusting for inflation; without adjusting for inf

BLOODSHOT REBORN #4  Written by JEFF LEMIRE.  Art by MICO SUAYAN with JEFF LEMIRE New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire (THE VALIANT, Descender ) and rising superstar Mico Suayan ( Moon Knight ) bring the synapse-shattering first act of Bloodshot’s return to a knockout conclusion!    With each nanite-infected killer Bloodshot confronts, he loses more of his humanity, but with killers wreaking havoc across Colorado, does he have a choice? Meanwhile, the mysterious figure called Magic makes a move to restore Ray Garrison’s soul – but can he let go of the demons of his past? Does he even want to?   $3.99 | 32 pages | T+ | On sale JULY 8 UNITY #20 Written by MATT KINDT.  Art by JOSÉ LUIS.   Out of the darkest recesses of the 20th century…the War-Monger returns to rage against the combined might of Valiant’s most elite superteam!    For thousands of years, the Eternal Warrior has waged battle; and for thousands of years, one spirit has vexed him…the spirit of warfare itself. n

compiled from news articles, websites, and press releases . . . . SAN DIEGO COMIC CONVENTION 2015 will take place from July 9th through July 13th at the San Diego Convention Center.   BOOM! Studios can be found at Booth #229.  Their schedule can be found here . . . http://blog.boom-studios.com/2015/06/boom-studios-celebrates-10-years-of-publishing-at-san-diego-comic-con/?utm_source=BOOM%21+Studios+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e3c4179133-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_695cb333f6-e3c4179133-26033118&mc_cid=e3c4179133&mc_eid=1755b821bd If you want to get a sketch the details can be found on the above link. If you want the sketch done on one of the special blank (title logo only) boards, you need to place that order by Monday, July 6. The annual mega-convention, now in its 46th year, will remain in San Diego at least until 2018.  Website Deadline reports that the City Mayor secured a two-year extension by announcing an expansion plan that includes special hotel rates.