BC Refugees Blog

BALTIMORE: THE WIDOW AND THE TANK one-shot (Dark Horse, February 2013) Story by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden. Art by Ben Stenbeck. Colors by Dave Stewart. Letters by Clem Robins.           As good as Mignola’s recent HELLBOY and B.P.R.D. stories have been, he really shines on the BALTIMORE one-shots. The adventures of Lord Henry Baltimore, Thirteenth Baron Baltimore, of Boscastle in County Durham as he stalks across post-WWI Europe in search of the king vampire Haigus are as grim and determined as their protagonist. There are two stories here; and each is a masterful example of combining story and art in a magical way to tell a very engaging story.           In “The Widow” Baltimore searches England for Lieutenant Yeardsley, whose small company of men are thought to have died in battle or roaming deserters, depending on whose version is told. The truth is they have all been transformed...

  MARCH 25: Valiant Entertainment has announced a new story arc beginning in ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #0 (release date May 08) featuring the top secret story of history’s first epic fail. Armstrong will journey into the past in a special standalone tale of dinosaurs, robots, mad kings, and mortal combat that sets the stage for “Far Faraway”, the next four-part arc beginning in June. The epic of Gilgamesh is intertwined with the tale of three immortal brothers (Armstrong, The Eternal Warrior, and Timewalker) on a quest to recover the Boon. MARCH 25: Steve Conley , writer/artist of BLOOP , the space monkey has recently wrapped up drawing all pages for the first BLOOP book and is now coloring and lettering them. This is targeted to be at the printers in early April. You can check out the web adventures of BLOOP right here . Steve will also be appearing this Saturday 3/30 at Cards, Comics & Collectibles in Reistertown, Maryland. He’ll be signing the cover he did for Adventur...

  CROSSED:BADLANDS #25 (Avatar Press – March 13, 2013 release) Garth Ennis: Story. Raulo Caceres: Art. Digikore Studios: Color. James Reed: Letters. (Intended for Adult Readers) Reviewer’s notes: CROSSED: BADLANDS marks my first return to the world of the Crossed since the initial nine-issue story arc a few years back. It didn’t seem possible to me that other writers could duplicate the volatile blend of extreme violence and serious drama that Ennis has such a knack for. After Ennis left the book, and fearing that those who followed in his footsteps would focus on the exploitation elements and disregard the rest, I opted not to continue. However, after returning to these books and also enjoying a twisted but respectful story from a different author ( CROSSED ANNUAL 2013) my curiosity is prompting me to explore further into this strange, cruel apocalyptic world. It’s time to check out the Trade Paperbacks. I’m also wondering now if any of the later stories have explained the origi...

I picked up my copy today. You may expect a review posted here once I finish reading it. . . . . . From the official press release . . . . . CROSSED #25 BLEEDS CASH AS STORES SELL OUT C-Day Parties bring Crossed fans out in force Rantoul, March 13, 2013 Horror comic book readers are celebrating the triumphant return of Garth Ennis to the grim world he created in Crossed: Badlands #25. The issue marks the landmark first year of the bi-weekly series, which gives high profile creators an opportunity to step into what many are calling “the most extreme survival horror story being told.” And the response to this anniversary issue has been incredibly strong with nearly all editions selling out at the distribution level from Diamond Comic Distributors, with only a handful of some covers still available. Avatar Press produced a significant overprint on the regular cover edition [JAN130884] and has ensured that copies are on hand for retailers to obtain via reorder immediately. "We exp...

  GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #0.1 (Marvel, April 2013) Writer: Brian Michael Bendis. Penciler: Steve McNiven.           When I heard the initial announcement that GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY would be the next Marvel property to be adapted to movies, I thought it a very odd choice.  Surely, there were plenty of other (and more popular) Marvel comics titles that could be adapted for movies before this?  I thought Ant-Man could be cool, even a Hawkeye movie or re-boot the Fantastic Four or Daredevil again - but the Guardians ?  (And the Rocket Raccoon version, to boot! Never really felt warm about this character. Hate to think how bad and cartoony a movie version of this critter may be.)  I just could not conceive of a way that this property could be adapted into a film that would hold an audience’s attention the same way that The Avengers movie did and get filmgoers excited enough to produce another box-office succes...

Last week, the first trade paperback edition of BLOODSHOT was released. It’s a great way to get introduced to this fascinating character for just $9.99. I’m now going to try and persuade you to go out and buy it . . . . . . . . . .           I can still recall my fascination with the original Valiant line of comics which began in 1988 with licensed properties. They made a minor impact on the comics market, but really took off with their original creations in 1992. What I appreciated most was the strong sense of story, although they had a pretty good roster of artists as well. The first issue of BLOODSHOT in 1992 made history by selling close to 1 million copies. In spite of its popularity, I wasn’t following the book back then. I was trying to manage my costs and would try to budget my monthly comics expenses. I was heavily into the X-MEN books at Marvel during this time, and after adding Valiant title after title to my reading list, I h...

STAR TREK COUNTDOWN TO DARKNESS #1 (IDW, January 2013) Story: Roberto Orci and Mike Johnson. Artist: David Messina.           The cover notes that this is “The Official Comic Prequel To Star Trek Into Darkness” (movie set to be released May 17, 2013).  STAR TREK COUNTDOWN TO DARKNESS certainly reads like a movie script, and not in a bad way. It has a real cinematic feel to it, in the presentation and the pacing.           Things begin with a disturbing and reoccurring nightmare that keeps Spock uneasy. Simultaneously Captain Kirk is having trouble sleeping but not for the same reason = he’s having a conversation with ship’s computer which allows him to express his loneliness at the top, just part of a captains’ frustrated feeling that as much as he gets along with his crew - -his position and rank still isolate him. There is a warm flow to this book that gets the reader comfortable quickly...

It's a good time to be a fan of horror comics, a sub-genre of our favorite hobby that is getting more of my attention of late. I appreciate the work that the judges of the Ghastly Awards are doing, especially this new recommendation of titles. I'm already reading some of these and may post some reviews later. . . . . . From the official press release . . . . . . Ghastly Awards February 2013 Update Horror comics are becoming more and more frequent in our reading culture, and the Ghastly Awards are here to recognize, through Horror Comic submissions, those that shine the brightest. We encourage all Comic Creators to take the time to head over to www.ghastlyawards.com and submit your work for 2013 Ghastly Award Nomination consideration. Creators please remember that you can submit your Horror Comic work through out the calendar year! For the month of February 2013 the judges are recommending you take a look at: Colder #4 (Dark Horse) - Who knew you could get a contact buzz off...

from the official press release . . . . . . . . .   March 1st, 2013, Mt. Laurel, NJ   -  Dynamite is delighted to announce that the one and only Gail Simone is taking on RED SONJA with a brand-new #1 issue launching this July - in time for San Diego Comic Con.   Gail Simone - one of the premiere writers in the comics industry, is best known for DC's Birds of Prey, Secret Six , and especially Batgirl. Walter Geovani will join her, as the interior artist. Covers will be drawn by some of the top female artists in comics today. Dynamite considers themselves also fortunate to have Nicola Scott, Colleen Doran, Jenny Frison, Stephanie Buscema, and Fiona Staples on covers, with more high profile female cover artists to be announced.           To help kick off the celebration of Gail's take on The She-Devil with a Sword, Dynamite is proud to give away, to all Emerald City fans, limited edition prints featuring art ...