BC Refugees Blog

Big Viking Games and Valiant Entertainment Form First Major Content Partnership for Next Generation HTML5 Messenger Gaming Platforms   TORONTO and LONDON, ON – (December 2016)  –  Big Viking Games , a leader in HTML5 mobile instant games, and  Valiant Entertainment , the award-winning comic book publisher with a library of more than 2,000 characters, including X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Harbinger, Shadowman, Archer & Armstrong and more, today announced a five-year mobile content partnership that will convert Valiant’s massive library of characters and stories into mobile instant gaming experiences focused on new gaming platforms such as the recently launched Facebook Messenger. Starting today, Valiant and Big Viking will combine Valiant’s best-selling collection of superheroes and their associated storylines with Big Viking’s industry leading HTML5 development and publishing ability to deliver the Valiant Universe to fans and new players alike through a completely new medium. The com...

VP of Marketing Dirk Wood To Spearhead Operations, Start New Imprint   San Diego, CA (December 2016) – IDW Publishing is headed to Portland, Oregon! While the company’s main base of operations will remain in San Diego, IDW is officially branching out to the burgeoning comic book scene in Portland, establishing a beachhead for its new phase of development, headed up by VP of Marketing, Dirk Wood .   Wood will serve as Creative Director for Woodworks, a brand new imprint of IDW to be run out of the Portland office. Woodworks will consist primarily of a new line of books, anchored by a high-end, curated magazine, featuring contributions by, and conversations with, the most talented and diverse creators in the industry. While the primary focus  will be comics, it will also have a dash of general entertainment and culture features; film, TV, art, music, history, and more. Further details will be unveiled in the coming weeks as this budding line continues to develop.   “This was born ...

EDITOR ’ S NOTE:  We visited Captain  Blue  Hen Comics in Newark, DE during this event last year.  There were numerous in-store promotions to go along with the Con Events, which centered around live interviews with publishers, writers and artists coming to the store via satellite feed and displayed on a video screen.  We weren ’ t prepared to stay for all the  presentations , which  go  on all day.  Mark your calendar now and make plans.  In-Store Convention Kick-Off Renamed COAST TO COAST COMIC CON; to be Filmed LIVE from Emerald City Comicon   ORLANDO, FLORIDA – This past year’s pop-culture convention season kicked off in style at comic shops with an innovative event in March that featured a full day of live streaming interviews, announcements and Q&A panels from your favorite comic book creators and publishers.     Now the event returns bigger and better for 2017—and with a new name— COAST TO COAST COMIC CON, scheduled for participating comic book shops across the country...

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Don’t forget to pick up your copy of the JANUARY 2017 PREVIEWS today at your local comic shop. You’ll need it to follow along with our Pre-Order Picks as well as help out your local shop by letting them know what you want to purchase in March of 2017.  As if you needed any additional incentive, there is a fabulous insert with a sneak peek at the X-O MANOWAR #1 coming from Valiant. Valiant’s most important first issue of all time is slamming into shelves early with a one-of-a-kind sneak peek in Diamond Comics Distributors’ JANUARY 2017 PREVIEWS catalog – available in comic shops everywhere today, December 28, 2016 Before the all-new  X-O MANOWAR #1  arrives in stores on  March 22nd , experience the brutal journey that awaits Valiant’s most enduring icon in the   PREVIEWS   catalog  – featuring a stunning, six-page, 24″ x 11.5” gatefold insert, bound directly into Valiant Entertainment’s catalog listings! Find out everything you need to know about the  FIRST ISSUE  of  T...

Pro Se is getting busy releasing many new titles, which should be of interest to our readers. Check out the latest here .  . . . . . . . FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE for more information or ordering, go to  http://prose-press.com   A high stakes game of cat-and-mouse plays out in dramatic fashion in a highly relevant thriller from Pro Se Productions, Owen Price’s BATTLEGROUND is now available in print and digital formats.   In order to achieve his goal of a sovereign Dixie Nation, fanatical Neo-Confederate dissident Thomas Marshall-megalomaniacal leader of the Southern Liberation Front- has forged an unholy alliance with Islamic radicals as well as various militant secessionist groups from around the globe. This clandestine conglomerate has spent years planning an international campaign of terror that will bring the world to the brink of World War III, thereby destabilizing global politics to the point that myriad governments become vulnerable to a c...

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Our friends at PREVIEWSworld / Diamond Distribution send their Christmas wishes along with a link to read the amusing comic strip COMIC SHOP TALES  (see below) . . . . . . . .      SUBSCRIBE         Happy Holidays From PREVIEWSworld!   All of us at PREVIEWSworld would like to wish you a Happy Holiday and a Joyful New Year! Have a laugh by checking out a year's worth of our comic strip, "Comic Shop Tales."      READ COMIC SHOP TALES     see link below to access . . . . .        CLICK HERE:      https://www.previewsworld.com/comicshoptales

RED SONJA, VOLUME 4 #0 (Dynamite Entertainment, December 2016 release date)  25 Cents Introductory Priced Issue. Written by Amy Chu.  Illustrated by Carlos Gomez.  Colored by Mohan. Lettered by Simon Bowland. Main Cover Art by Nick Bradshaw with colors by Pete Pantazis.  Rated TEEN +.          There must be more of Red Sonya’s adventures that have been released through Dynamite Entertainment than any other publisher to date. Unless I viewed the information on the double-page spread incorrectly, there have been 48 trade paperbacks so far completed by various creative teams. That’s an impressive record.      So what to do for Volume 4 to change it up and make it different.  This discount-priced 16-page (plus extras) introductory story sets the stage for where writer Amy Chu will be taking the series  — to present day New York City. This should be interesting.      BC RATING SYSTEM       STORY: Amy Chu gets things where she needs to, and whets your appetite for more. Sonya behave...

MOTRO #1 (Oni Press, November 2016 release date) Written by Ulises Farinas with Erick Freitas.  Illus trated and Lettered by Ulises Farinas.  Colored by Ryan Hill.         MOTRO is a new original heroic epic from the creative imagination of writer/artist Ulises Farinas.  It’s difficult to be certain where this story is headed.  Issue #1 serves as an introductory point, but doesn’t dwell on background detail. In fact, none of the characters in Issue #1 are identified by names. They just appear, and act. Readers will witness a young boy, apparently the main character, who gets embroiled in conflict almost immediately.        In his dreams, his dying father repeats the same message: “save them.”  He awakes in a cave where he’s been sheltered from the snowstorm along with Wheeliebeast, his miniature sentient motorcycle who communicates by images. Apparently, Wheeliebeast is always hungry and wants to eat what the young man eats.  A strange potato-like food called pepper root is introdu...

Presenting the X-O MANOWAR #1 Brushed Metal Variant – A Groundbreaking New Cover Spotlighting Valiant’s Most Important Issue Of All Time      Valiant is proud to announce the  X-O MANOWAR #1 Brushed Metal Variant  – an innovative, all-metal cover adorning the  FIRST ISSUE  of the  EPIC NEW ONGOING SERIES  from visionary creators  Matt Kindt  (Divinity, Ninjak, 4001 A.D.) and  Tomas Giorello  (Bloodshot Reborn)! Available to retailers who place qualifying orders on  X-O MANOWAR #1 , this ultra-limited edition of Valiant’s most important first issue of all time comes printed via a special process on an actual brushed aluminum metal sheet and features artwork by rising star  Monika Palosz  (Divinity III: Stalinverse)! “This just might be our craziest idea yet,” said Valiant CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani. “As a publisher, Valiant is always looking for new ways to engage fans and retailers. The new X-O MANOWAR #1 is a milestone moment for Valiant and our biggest charac...

FROM THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE . . . . . NEW PULP’S GREATEST HEROINE RETURNS, GUNS BLAZING- ‘THE PULPTRESS VOLUME TWO’ DEBUTS   Raised by Legends… Trained by the Best… Destined to be the World’s Greatest, Truest Hero…The Pulptress returns from Pro Se Productions in a three story collection-THE PULPTRESS VOLUME TWO!   “The Pulptress,” says Tommy Hancock, Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions and creator of The Pulptress, “is near and dear to Pro Se, and to me.  Designed originally as a sort of New Pulp/Pro Se mascot, The Pulptress quickly let everyone know she wouldn’t be denied her time in the bloody action packed spotlight. The three stories in this volume clearly show the diamond like multifaceted aspects of the character and definitely add to the legend the lady in the stripes and domino mask has already built.”   The ultimate Pulp heroine comes out throwing fists, both guns blazing in her second volume of collected stories. Authors Richard...

EDITOR’S   NOTE:  ’Tis the season, and we share our Christmas cards with readers.  Aftershock has a lot to be joyous and thankful for, just completing  their first year of publication.     Happy Holidays from AfterShock Comics! With 2016 coming to an end, we here at AfterShock Comics wanted to take a quick moment to thank all our fans for making our inaugural year an amazing one, and because of your support, we’ve been given several Awards and Nominations this year. ComicsAlliance Best of 2016 - Best Romance or Erotica Comic - Critics’ Pick  InSEXts BookRiot.com Best Comics of 2016 Animosity ComicsAlliance Best of 2016 - Best Sci-fi Comic - Critics’ Pick Animosity And  Broken Frontier Awards 2016: Nomination for Best Limited Series Seond Sight Thank you again, and we hope you will continue to support and join us as we head into our second year, with several big announcements coming soon. Launched in April 2015, Afte...

From the official Valiant press release . . . . . . This March, prepare to serve time with the Stalinverse’s newest enemies of the state: Archer & Armstrong!      Valiant is proud to announce  DIVINITY III: ESCAPE FROM GULAG 396 #1  – the next can’t-miss one-shot special torn from the pages of the winter’s visionary comics event! On  March 15th , join rising star  Eliot Rahal  ( The Paybacks, The Doorman ) and acclaimed artist  Francis Portela  ( Faith ) as they sentence religious zealot Obadiah Archer and the unkillable libertine called Armstrong to a fate worse than death: A lifetime sentence in Gulag 396, the deadliest prison known to man. But in letting these two subversive criminal offenders into its walls, has this oppressive Gulag condemned Archer and Armstrong...or itself? In the Soviet-controlled world of the Stalinverse, there is a place where liberty is sentenced to die...and it’s Gulag 396. A maximum-security prison where the only escape is through death, the gulag is ...

  Walter Simonson’s Ragnarök will be the first property to get the figure treatment under this new deal San Diego, CA (December 21, 2016) – IDW is excited to announce that Figurama Collectors Limited has been added to the roster of IDW licensees. Figurama will be producing collectible 1/6 scale  Ragnarök  figures based on the award-winning comics from  Walter Simonson ,  Laura Martin , and  John Workman .   The collectible figures will be distributed worldwide and be made available via specialty and independent stores as well as collectible/novelty E-commerce sites. Concept art of the first figure  Ragnarök  Thor figure showcases Thor  vanquishing his enemies, capturing a breathtaking moment inspired by the comic book.   I couldn’t be more excited to see a Ragnarök Thor in person!” said  Walter Simonson . “It’s going to make drawing that guy a whole lot easier!! Two thumbs up!”   “In this concept, we covered all the great elements from across Walter's comic and combined them to g...