BC Refugees Blog

from the official press release . . . . . BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - July 22, 2013 - That's right! Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes will both be appearing at this year's show to promote their new animated feature, Jay and Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie! Best known for their roles as Jay and Silent Bob in the View Askewniverse films, which includes Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Clerks 2, Smith and Mewes are fan-favorites among comic and movie enthusiasts alike. Their careers span appearances in film, television, and video games, as well as hosting a series of podcasts on their online network, SModcast.  In addition to his acting career, Smith is a well-known comic writer, having worked on such titles as Batman: Cacophony, Batman: The Widening Gyre, The Bionic Man, Daredevil, Green Arrow, Green Hornet, and Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do . In 1998, he received a Harvey Award for Best New Talent. View Askew and The B...

  from the official press release . . . . . BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - July 23, 2013 - The Baltimore Comic-Con is excited to announce that superstar artist, Ed McGuinness will be attending  this year's show, taking place September 7-8, 2013 at the Baltimore Convention Center. A fan-favorite artist, McGuinness will be making his first appearance at the Baltimore Comic-Con this year! Ed McGuinness broke into the comic industry in 1995, working on three issues of Harris Comics' V engeance of Vampirella . After working on a few titles for Awesome Entertainment, including Fighting American and Youngblood , he took over art duties on Marvel Comics' Deadpool in 1998. Since then, he as worked on such titles as Captain America & Bucky, Captain Marvel, Mr. Majestic, ThunderCats, Ultimate Enemy, and World War Hulk: X-Men, as well as original covers for Wizard magazine. Best known for his work on DC Comics' Superman , Superman/Batman and Marvel's Hulk working with long-tim...

   DEADPOOL MAX #1-12 (Marvel, December 2010 – November 2011) David Lapham, writer. Kyle Baker, art. VC’s Clayton Cowles, letterer. Explicit Content.                                                                         Deadpo ol remains enormously popular, as evidenced by the plethora of Marvel titles in which he appears.  Some of the more discerning readers have had our fill of the wacky mercenary with ninja skills and powers that make him incredibly difficult to kill, while other readers just can’t get enough.  Many of us recall fondly the early days of the title and some classic tales from Kelly, Priest, and Pal...

Crystal Productions debuted in May 2013 with SILENCE AND COMPANY, an intense crime thriller centered around a disgruntled hitman who discovers and then exposes an international crime syndicate with deep roots. We received a preview copy courtesy of Captain Blue Hen Comics in Newark, Delaware and wrote a review which posted on their website. You can read the full review at this link . . . . . http://www.captainbluehen.com/2013/07/16/silence-and-co-a-hitman-uncovers-a-global-laundering-network/

While I'd much prefer to be posting this live from the convention, thanks to the magic of a live blog invite I can share some of the news. Marvel used their first House Of Ideas Panel today at SDCC to promote Infinite Comics, Marvel Unlimited, Marvel AR, and Marvel original video programming on the Marvel.com website. Hosted by Arune Singh, the House Of Ideas panel included Ryan Penagos, Brian Michael Bendis, Axel Alonso, Ty Jefferson, Ron Perazza, and C.B. Cebulski. Brian Michael Bendis talked about his Guardians Of The Galaxy Infinite Comic after a brief video for Infinite Comics was played. This digital-only comics provide single panels that reveal more detail and expand as the reader clicks on the images. He explained "we work Marvel style on the scripts, which is kind of like doing a book report on a book that doesn't exist and then letting the artist work with it." Axel Alonso has high expectations for the format as he explained "with Infinite Comics we...

  A-1 #2 (Titan Comics, August 2013 http://titan-comics.com/ ) It’s nearly impossible to try and figure out what direction these tales are headed in.  The unpredictable  nature of A-1   is a big part of the charm and is responsible for its’ allure and quirky goodness.            The second issue of this science-fiction/fantasy themed anthology returns with the next chapter in the three serialized stories from the debut issue last month.  The high quality art and colors throughout all stories really draw attention to this title and dazzle with a vivid wash of colors on high quality paper.                     The overlapping of classic characters from literature continues in The Weirding Willows by editor Dave Elliott and illustrated by Barnaby Bagenda in a style that resembles painting on canvas.  Just as Mogwai made ...

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL VOLUME 1: THE SIGNAL MASTERS (DC, reprints #1-6 from 2011-2012) Dan Jurgens, writer. Aaron Lopresti + Marco Castiello, pencilers. Much lighter in tone and presentation than JUSTICE LEAGUE (its’ brother/sister title), JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL was one of the early casualties of the DC New 52 and lasted just twelve issues. This trade paperback collection reprints the first six issues (story arc plus epilogue) and will provide a very entertaining read for anyone who missed this during the initial invasion of new titles. I suspect that may be exactly what happened to this book. It could be it just got lost in the glut of new team books that DC introduced in the same month. Based on the story here, that’s too bad. Dan Jurgens (an accomplished scripter who created the Booster Gold character who leads this new team) managed to squeeze in a large amount of character development while the story unfolded, and could have fleshed this out into a monthly wort...

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - July 6, 2013 - It's official! With the announcement last week that Stan Lee will be with us at the show, expanded ticket options are now available for the Baltimore Comic-Con. Online ticket sales are now open for the All-Star Baltimore Comic-Con Reception and Panel, the Stan Lee Excelsior Package, and Baltimore Comic-Con VIP tickets. In addition, weekend and daily general admission tickets are now on sale for the 14th Annual Baltimore Comic-Con, taking place September 7-8, 2013. The Stan Lee Excelsior Package will include: a Stan Lee Autograph, a Professional photo-op including 8x10 photo with Stan, a Stan Lee "Fast Pass" for additional autographs and photos, and an Exclusive commemorative item which will be announced closer to the show. Excelsior Packages are priced at $160.00 and do not include admission to the show, which is available separately (see details below). In addition, the Baltimore Comic-Con will be hosting an All-Star Reception S...

  THE MARVELS PROJECT #1 – 8  (Marvel, 2009-2010)  Ed Brubaker, story.  Steve Epting, art.  Dave Stewart, color art.  VC’s Chris Eliopoulos, letters. I’d forgotten what an absolute gem this series is until I pulled out my copies and read this again all in one sitting.  Brubaker is the perfect choice to write this re-imagining of the beginnings of so many of Marvel/Timely’s pre-WWWII heroes. Back in August 2009, I wrote a review of Issue #1 and had this to say about THE MARVELS PROJECT :  “What better way to top off a year-long celebration of 70 years of Marvel Comics than with a limited series that details the beginning of it all?  What better writer to handle with care the heady task of plotting this event and treating these long=term characters properly than Ed Brubaker? What better artist to trust with maintaining accurate historical detail while creating some exciting visuals that Steve Epting?” Boy, do Brubaker and Epting ever del...

According to The Comic Book Data Base website, Erica J. Heflin has bounced between the fields of animal care and comics all her life.  She has worked as a screenwriter and producer for independent films, and in 2011 joined Grayhaven Comics as a writer and editor for their comic series THE GATHERING (with Amanda Rachels on art).  She is also the writer, editor and publisher at Felinx Publications ( www.readwebcomics.com ).  She most recently completed THE ENVY for Aazurn Publishing , to be released in August (available through the June Previews catalog).  A review of THE ENVY was posted on the BC Refugees website (see archives for June 14, 2013).  We had a short conversation with Erica recently regarding THE ENVY and her works . . . . . . . . ABOVE PHOTO: THE GATHERING creative team.                             ...

JOHN CARPENTER’S ASYLUM (Storm King, June 2013) www.stormkingproductions.com Created by John Carpenter, Thomas Ian Griffith and Sandy King. Written by Bruce Jones. Art and cover by Leonardo Manco. A new book showcasing the fantastic art of Leonardo Manco would be reason enough to pick up this book.  There’s also a great story behind the gorgeous art, which continues the photo-realistic style employed by Manco most recently on Radical Comics DRIVER FOR THE DEAD .  The title of this series would seem to indicate that the story takes place within a mental institution.  Instead, this is a very good tale of satanic forces and exorcism.  John Carpenter’s text piece near the back of the book best describes it: “There is no greater villain than Lucifer and no greater challenge than the darkness of man’s soul to explore.” If DC/Vertigo’s Hellblazer/John Constantine ever spent time as a Catholic priest, he would be Father Daniel Beckett - - who will remind you of the Hell...

  THE DEEP SEA one-shot (Dark Horse, May 2013) Jimmy Palmiotti + Justin Gray, story. Tony Akins, art. Paul Mounts, colors. Bill Tortolini, letters. The year was 1958, during an unofficial descent by bathysphere into the Mariana Trench.  An accident occurs, and the bathysphere and its occupants are lost in the depths of the trench until a recovery mission succeeds in current time.  The occupants are miraculously alive and have spent fifty-five years without aging.  Sea monsters appear. There is a large amount of exposition here in order to set the scene and tell the story properly. The art is still captivating in spite of there being many panels where characters are just talking.  And the colors and lettering really highlight this book very well.  I’m reminded of some of the good early 1950’s – 1960’s science fiction movies as well as the better issues of DC’s SEA DEVILS title. This story was serialized in the pages of DARK HORSE PRESENTS and is present...

THE ENVY (Aazurn Publishing, August 2013 - - available only through pre-order in the June PREVIEWS catalog, black and white horror/dark fantasy $2.49)   Written and Lettered by Erica J Heflin.  Illustrated by Rom Friere.  Edited by James O’Callaghan.  Cover Colors by Diana Martinez What happens when envy gets taken to the next level?  Can initial and casual envy lead to greater jealousy?  What are the consequences if envy and jealousy are allowed to fester and grow, building up to a boiling point?  These are the issues that THE ENVY explores as family relationships and friendships alter and change in different and darker fashion. The little independent company that could - - Aazurn Publishing - - takes another step forward with THE ENVY, the first time that Aazurn has published a book-length work from a single creative team. Up to this point (aside from TALES OF FEAR , founder Gary Scott Beatty’s solo anthology) everything from INDIE COMICS ...

  BATMAN AND RED HOOD a.k.a. BATMAN AND ROBIN #20 (DC, July 2013)                 BATMAN AND RED ROBIN a.k.a. BATMAN AND ROBIN #19 (DC, June 2013) After the heart and soul was cut out from this book, you might think that the creative team would just meander around after its’ central theme was so abruptly removed. Surface appearances (the cover logos with changing titles monthly) would certainly indicate that BATMAN AND ROBIN has been reduced to a simple team-up book with a new guest and new quest each month. That is not the case with the creative team of Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason (assisted in Issue #20 by Cliff Richards). They have ramped up their game, and certainly appear to be up to the challenge to keep this an engaging and meaningful book in the Bat-family. I fear too many readers have dropped this from their pull list after the death of Damian. They are missing out on what remai...

      A-1 #1 (Titan Comics, July 2013 www.titan-comics.com ) The London comics company invades U.S. shores with a fresh new science-fiction/fantasy themed anthology of serialized stories edited by the wondrous Dave Elliott.  Great stuff here!  The Weirding Willows by Elliott with luscious art by Barnaby Bagenda is a fantasy land inhabited by characters and creatures of classic literature.  Dr. Jekyll visits Dr. Moreau regarding a contract for flying monkeys. Moreau’s daughter, Alice, talks to rabbits and they talk back.  We learn what a “gammy kanurd” is.  And is that Mogwai showing up in the last panel?  A good beginning.  An unlikely assemblage of seven heroes/agents make up Carpe Diem as they gobble up the scenery in the satanic kitchens of Aaron The Iron Chef.  A potluck supper of superhero/secret agent/covert team a la G.I. Joe, Carpe Diem is funny and quirky.  The agents are named for days of the week.  Their v...