BC Refugees Blog

X-O MANOWAR: COMMANDER TRILL #0  (Valiant Entertainment, December 2015)  “Destiny”  Writer: Robert Venditti.  Pencils: Francis Portela.  Inks:  Bit.  Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse.  Letterer:  Dave Sharpe.  Commander Trill created by Robert Venditti and Cary Nord                      This is an important one-shot special issue that sheds some light on the background of a villainous character, one who’s been part of the X-O Manowar history since Issue #1 of the re-booted 2012 version of Aric of Dacia/X-O Manowar. As the X-O Manowar series prepares to head into a new story arc, it provides information that will help readers understand the motivations and values of one of the best new adversaries in the X-O legacy as detailed by gifted scripter Robert Venditti.        Early on in the series, Venditti introduced an alien race, six-eyed members of the Vine, and fleshed out the characters with insight into their history, politics, religion and value system.   As he so ably detailed, ...

EDITOR’S NOTE:  During the BALTIMORE COMIC-CON in late September, BC Refugee co rrespondents attended many panel presentations and gathered reams of information.  Unfortunately, production issues prevented us from presenting much of that here in a timely fashion.  However, we plan to sort through our data and post what is still relevant and worth sharing.  We have tagged ACTION LAB as a publisher to watch in 2016.  Since we have never posted any information about this company previously, we aim to make up for that here by sharing  the news from their panel at Baltimore Comic-Con on September 26, 2015 . . . . .     According to the Saturday Programming notes in the official souvenir program book from Baltimore Comic Con: “ On the eve of their fifth anniversary, ACTION LAB shows no signs of stopping!”         In a lively and audience-interactive presentation, Action Lab Marketing Director Jamal Igle (Molly Danger) and writer Vito Delsante (Stray) revealed all the upcoming 2016 projec...

NOVEMBER 25, 2015 NEWARK, DELAWARE . . .   A regular customer of Captain Blue Hen Comics was given some recognition today for his championing of various Valiant Entertainment books when he was given permission to wield (symbolically, of course) the battle ax of Gliad Anni-Padda, The Eternal Warrior whose new series, WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR , debuted this week.    That person was none other than Pghhead, a frequent contributor to this blog site.  As recognition for their support of Valiant comics, Captain Blue Hen Comics was one of several select bookstores to be presented an actual battle axe (with the Wrath of the Eternal Warrior logo cut into the blade).  When owner Joe Murray asked Pghhead if he would like to handle the battle axe , it was a hard request to turn down.    Pghhead wanted to embed the axe in the head of Slather, an irritating character from Issue #1.  (No less a dignitary than Gilad Anni-Padda did the exact same thing on Page One).  However, Slather was not part...

BACK TO THE FUTURE #1  (IDW Publishing, November 2015)  “When Marty Met Emmett” story by Bob Gale. Script by Bob Gale & John Barber.  Art by Brent Schooner.  Inks by David Witt.  Colors by Kelly Fitzpatrick  “Looking For A Few Good Scientists: story by Bob Gale  Script by Erik Turnham.  Art by Dan Schoening  Colors by Luis Antonio Delgado.  Letters by Shawn Lee.        Never underestimate the staying power of a popular movie.  Thirty years later, the BACK TO THE FUTURE film trilogy is still being enjoyed by old and new audiences. October 21, 2015 was a big day for the film and its fans as many print and video news outlets devoted headlines and air time to covering the various celebrations of the films occurring in towns across the United States and elsewhere.  In our neighboring area, the town of Newark, Delaware did it up right. ( See earlier coverage in our Archives section for October ). October 21, 2015 was significant to the 1975 movie, as it was the date that the time-tra...

EDITOR’S NOTE / SPOILER ALERT = If you are a Batman fan and already plan to purchase all four issues of this series to read at one sitting, then stop here.  If you read this review, it will spoil many of the details for you.  Just buy it.  To all others considering a purchase of this title = go ahead and read the review. While it does spoil some of the story, it won’t ruin it for you.  It may just help you make the decision to pick this up.  We believe that you should, for several reasons. Keep reading. . . . . .   BATMAN EUROPA #1 of 4  (DC Comics, January 2016)  1. Berlin =  Story by Matteo Casali and Brian Azzarello.  Layouts by Giuseppe Camuncoli.  Pencils and Finishes by Jim Lee.  Colors by Alex Sinclair.  Letters by Pat Brosseau.        The first three pages of this story open in very dramatic fashion and lead the reader to believe that everything has come down to the final battle between Batman and The Joker.  Both are dying and Batman indicates (in the captioned narrative)...

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Between November and December there are a large number of new series and debut issues being published. We will do our best to provide some previews of the better quality works, and help you decide where to spend your hard earned dollars.  Please don’t fall into the rut of only buying titles from one or two comic companies. There are too many deserving publishers out there and we need to spread the wealth around so they all can survive .   THE GODDAMNED #1 Before The Flood Part One “The Mark of Cain” (Image Comics, November 2015) Written by Jason Aaron.  Art by r. m. Guera.  Colors by Giulia Brusco.  Letters& Design by Jared K. Fletcher.  The Goddamned created by Aaron and  Guera. Rated M mature.  imagecomics.com        Jason Aaron is an extremely talented writer with a creative imagination.  I hope that he never signs an exclusive contract with Marvel or DC to write their licensed properties.  His work with established characters (Wolverine, Thor, etc) is usual...

WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR #1 (Valiant Entertainment, November 2015)  Writer: Robert Venditti.  Artists: Raul Allen & Patricia Martin.  Art Assistant: David Astruga.  Additional Colors: Borja Pindado.  Letterer:  Patricia Martin.        The statement has been made here and elsewhere that the best feature of the “house style” or editorial direction of the post-2012 relaunch of the Valiant titles is their ease of acclimation for first time readers. In others words, you can pick up a Valiant title anytime, at any place in a series run (whether it is Issue #1 or Issue #21) and not be lost.  You can always follow the story and get a single-issue appreciation for the title.         That also speaks well of the artist and writer teams chosen to tell the story.  The well-traveled Robert Venditti is such a writer.  He can make you feel at home with his characters (although that applies more to his work for Valiant ) and gets right to the core of his protagonist.   The art team on ...

THE HANGMAN #1  (Dark Circle Comics / Archie Comics, December 2015)  Frank Tieri, writer.  Felix Ruiz, artist.  Rachel Deering, letterer.  Kelly Fitzpatrick colorist. Rated Teen + violence and mature content.       The back cover blurb tells you everything you need to know about the new HANGMAN series:  “They say he’s just an urban legend  A spook story told to scare criminals, but for those poor souls who encounter him - - like hitman ‘Mad Dog’ Mike Minetta — they know the frightening truth, that when The Hangman comes for you   . you’re already dead.”          The story inside the covers lives up to every word of that proud statement, and doesn’t disappoint.  This is gritty, mysterious, and dark - - and profoundly profane.  Vulgar language is employed on nearly every page.  I went back and counted a dozen different curse words among the twenty-page story.  However, these words are employed for effect, and rightly so.  At first I was shocked and then pleasantly pleased.  This i...

JAMES BOND #1  (Dynamite Entertainment, November 2015):  “Vagrgr”  Warren Ellis, Writer.  Jason Masters, Artist. Guy Major, Colors. Simon Bowland, Letters.  James Bond created by Ian Fleming        After a 20 year absence, James Bond Agent 007 returns to comics with this new series written by experienced crime/suspense  (Gun Machine) and comics (various projects) writer Warren Ellis and artist Jason Masters .  Here’s hoping the franchise lasts a bit longer than the last time.      In 1995, a very good original story three issue mini-series was published by Dark Horse Comics (J ames Bond 007: The Quasimodo Gambit by writer Don McGregor and artist Gary Caldwell) but met with little interest among comics readers.  That same year, Topps Comics published Issue #1 of a planned three-issue adaptation of the Goldeneye film  (by a distinguished creative team of Don McGregor, Claude St. Aubin, Rick Magyar and Brian Stelfreeze) and never finished it.    Issue #1 of the new series is imp...

  from the official press release . . . . EDITOR’S NOTE: Kudos to IDW for establishing a museum dedicated to comic art and setting up a special gallery near their publishing offices.  I wish I was in San Diego.  Hopefully, some of our readers will make the pilgrimage.  If you go, please be sure to take some photos and get them to us. We’d love to post them on BC Refugees website. San Diego, CA (November 16, 2015) – The San Diego Comic Art Gallery (SDCAG) is proud to announce the  Comic Book Art of  Star Wars  exhibition, which will run from November 21st through January 31st, 2016.  The exhibit will feature 30 pieces of rare  Star Wars  original art from the very first comic book series that was released by Marvel Comics in 1977.   The majority of these originals are from the first six issues, which adapted the blockbuster  George Lucas  film. Included in this landmark display are many key and historically significant pages.   Most art featured in this stunning exhibition are by ren...