BC Refugees Blog

Baltimore Comic-Con Welcomes Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire! BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - June 30, 2011 - The Baltimore Comic-Con is pleased to announce the addition of Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire to the line-up of creators attending this year's show, taking place the weekend of August 20-21, 2011. Keith Giffen, who will be making his only convention appearance this year at the Baltimore Comic-Con, is a writer/artist who has worked on such title as Legion of Super-Heroes, Nick Fury's Howling Commandos, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents , and his creator-owned series, Hero Squared . Most recently, Giffen was named artist on the DC title O.M.A.C. , launching in September. Writer J.M. DeMatteis began his career in the late-'70s working on DC Comics' horror line of books. In 1980, he moved over to Marvel, where he worked on The Defenders and Captain America . Over the next 30 years, DeMatteis would write nearly every major character in both the DC and Marvel Universes...

DISCORD  (AAM / MARKOSIA, Original Graphic Novel, August 2011 release)  Paul J. Salamoff, writer.  Giuseppe D’Elia, artist.    With DISCORD, writer Paul J. Salamoff makes use of  two genres familiar to comics (super-hero teams and space adventures) and puts a unique and creative spin on them.    DISCORD deals with alterations, modifications,and enhancements  to the human body in a manner that goes beyond all those science fiction stories we may have read about clones, cyborgs, androids, bio-science and genetic engineering.  At its’ core, DISCORD shines a spotlight on concepts of self, identity, purpose in life and the struggle to achieve harmony.   I’ve seen a two-chapter preview of this upcoming graphic novel and plan to add DISCORD to my order list for August 2011. Wander outside your familiar surroundings for a moment and imagine these events:  You are off the beaten path and traveling with a group in a ve...

Baltimore Comic-Con Welcomes Batman #1 Artist, Greg Capullo BALTIMORE, MARYLAND  - The Baltimore Comic-Con is happy to announce the addition of super-star artist, Greg Capullo, to the line-up of creators attending this year's show. The show, taking place on August 20-21, 2011, will be held at the Baltimore Convention Center in downtown Baltimore. Greg Capullo began his mainstream comic career in the early '90s, working on the Marvel titles Quasar , X-Force , and What If? In 1993, he left Marvel for the Image Comics series' Spawn , where he took over regular art duties with issue #26. Over the course of his career, Capullo has provided covers and interior art for such Image titles as Spawn, Angela, The Creech and Haunt . In addition, his art as graced album covers for Korn and Disturbed. In 2007, his artwork was collected in the hard cover book, The Art of Greg Capullo , published by Image Comics. "We're thrilled to have such a talented and prolific artist joi...

  THE VAULT #1  (Image Comics) Three issue mini-series, debuts July 27, 2011.  Written by Sam Sarkar.  Art by Garrie Gastonny.  (Pre-order available in the current June PREVIEWS) THE VAULT would read like a straight-up adventure tale of undersea exploration were it not for the two-page prelude that hints at much more dangers to come, and on an epic scale.  I am more than content with learning the details of the exploratory mission in Issue #1 and getting the background on the characters and settings.  The writing is engaging and the beginning of this quest has its share of suspenseful moments, especially when the reader knows that unknown danger and threats lie ahead (thanks to the prelude).  I can’t wait for this series to explode once the dark and supernatural elements come to the foreground. To further whet the appetite, this promises to be a threat of mythological and Biblical proportions. The two-page opening prelude depicts an epic batt...

If you read this blog on a regular basis, then you already know that I am an advocate for encouraging young people to cultivate an interest in literature by starting with comics.  I support any quality book or creator or project that works towards meeting those ends.  I recently became aware of the Comic Shop Diner project to offer a graphic novel library for young people with three fine books from these creators.  I ordered a set at the $50 level and plan to gift it to a young nephew or niece for an upcoming birthday or Christmas present.  If you like what you read here, please consider making a contribution.  And, since John Gallagher can tell you about this project much better than I, we now interrupt our regularly scheduled blogcast to bring this public service announcement . . . . . . . Posted by John Gallagher Okay folks we are down to the wire-- we have begged, pleaded, marketed, e-mailed, called friends,. family-- but I guess I goofed up. Jamar, Ri...

Continuing the exploration of smaller comics publishers and their works I’ve affectionately referred to Bluewater Productions in the past as “the little company that could”.   Since it’s beginnings Bluewater has played around the edges of the standard super-hero fare offered up by the bigger companies, publishing titles in other genres including science fiction and supernatural fare.  They seem to have struck pay dirt with their series of  biographical comics and have explored and taken this little –utilized sub-genre to new heights never before achieved.  When it comes to biography comics,  Bluewater is the trailblazer.  In addition to providing a variety of educational and informative titles, they’ve found a way to make them entertaining as well.  These books should be a part of every school library, especially the trade paperback collections.  More than just a method to encourage youth to pursue reading, they also have the potential to mo...

  SAMURAI’S BLOOD  #1 (of 6)  $1.00 introductory price  (Image Comics/Benaroya Publishing, June 08, 2011 release date)  Story:  Owen Wiseman.  Art: Nam Kim, Matthew Dalton & Jessica Kholinne.  Cover: Jo Chen. SAMURAI’S BLOOD flows across the pages like the ripples created by tiny flat stones being skimmed across the surface water of a quiet lagoon.  If you immerse yourself and allow it to happen, it will plant  your Western mind like a seedling in a newly furrowed field of Eastern soil.  Your subconscious will readily accept the grains of Samurai philosophy and wisdom in text boxes scattered across the illustrations. For 32 pages you will experience civilization in 17th Century feudal Japan as if you are there. I have not been so quickly integrated into the world of this type of story since enjoying the issues of THE PATH (Crossgen) as written by Ron Marz and illustrated by Bart Sears and others.  Writer Owen Wiseman...

So. Much. News! DC's plan to relaunch their entire line has led to a lot of chatter, positive and negative. Love it or hate it, though, all eyes are on them--and they're taking advantage of that, rolling out new press releases on a daily basis. It's always a treat to wake up and learn what new titles we'll be getting. I'm not sure of the current count, but we're probably halfway there, no? Some more big news came yesterday with announcement of DC's new Bat-books. Tony Daniel writes and draws Detective Comics , DC's namesake title, dealing with a new threat known as the Gotham Ripper. I'm a total sucker for riffs on Jack the Ripper, and Tony Daniel has actually really impressed me with his recent arcs, including his handlings of the Gotham criminal families, as well as the return of Hilda Dent. I'm very interested in seeing where he goes with this. That's all secondary to Scott Snyder taking over Batman (I'm kind of curious, thou...

I’ve been reading a lot lately and putting aside books that I feel deserve a later write-up. The pile is growing faster than I can keep up with. Rather than wait far too long to give them some attention, I’m going to feature them in the “Lightening Round”.  Every book mentioned here is worthy of a longer review.  I’m forced to compromise with a shorter summary - - but I hope you’ll check some of these books out. KIRBY: GENESIS #0  (Dynamite Comics, 6/01/2011 release date) What a fantastic blend! =  some of the lesser-known creations of legendary Jack Kirby as faithfully interpreted and illustrated by the art team of Alex Ross and Jack Herbert.  You will drool over this book - -  please move the pages a respectful distance from yourself in order to preserve your copy for multiple viewings.  Once this series was announced, I anticipated some great visuals.  But, I never imagined that a decent story could wrap itself around so many characters.  ...

And the news just continues to hit us. Some of the rumors have been confirmed; some have been contradicted. And there's still plenty more information coming. Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang take on Wonder Woman , which isn't a creative team I expected but one I can support wholeheartedly. Forget Straczynski--this is the all-star team I've been waiting for. Azzarello is mostly associated with crime and noir titles, but he's proven his worth on the more fantastic books, too. I can't wait to see him tackle Diana. And Cliff Chiang is one of my favorite artists in the industry. Everything he draws is simply stunning. Most importantly, though? This pair was responsible for the brilliant Doctor Thirteen: Architecture and Morality run, and I've been waiting to see them reunite ever since. A new The Flash is confirmed. Prior to the announcement that Johns was leaving the franchise, he was the half of the previous creative team I expected to stick around--but ...