Latest Andru Edwards Videos
Kickstarter: Combat Jacks by Mark McKenna
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Independent,
My old funnybook pal Mark McKenna has a great-looking project that you should take a look at on Kickstarter: Combat Jacks.
Created and written by Mark (who also inks) and pencilled by Jason Baroody, this looks like a really fun deal.
Mark says in his video that it’s a throwback to the old EC comics of the ‘50s - like Weird Science Fantasy meets Vault of Horror - but with a modern twist.
What’s it about? Space Marines Vs. Monster Jack O’Lanterns on a distant planet.
Click to continue reading Kickstarter: Combat Jacks by Mark McKenna
Read More 
| Kickstarter
Advertisement
Russ Cochran’s Inventory Clearance Sale!
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Independent,
2011 is still going to be a rough year for publishers, and longtime beloved publisher Russ Cochran is one of those having a troubled time.
I first learned about Russ's problems at Comics Beat. Now Alan David Doane at Trouble With Comics is reporting that Russ is holding a benefit sale to benefit himself… and he could use it.
To keep his books from falling into the wrong hands ("I would rather sell them to you, my faithful customers, at a lower price than to wholesale them to dealers and booksellers"), Russ is cutting deals by slashing prices to move out his inventory.
Some of the price cuts are outrageous. There's a list and a link at the Trouble With Comics post.
Russ has done some brilliant work over the years, creating beautiful hardcover volumes that preserve the work of classic EC Comics and MAD Magazine. I have a complete set of the MAD reprints in a nice slipcase and they are sweet, and yes, I take them out and read them pretty much every year.
If you've ever wanted to pick up some of these books, but have put it off for whatever reason, now's the time.
[Artwork: Tales From The Crypt, snagged from The Daily Crosshatch which also has a nice review of the book]
Weekend Reading: NYCC, Donald Duck and The Incredible Hulk
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Reviews, Television,
I’ve been thinking over the last couple of years that with blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, podcasts, video and live internet feeds that you can probably have a decent out-of-town convention “experience” without leaving your house.
For example, the New York Comic Con is over and Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has the best con report: news reports, links, observations and opinions. He didn’t attend, but it’s hard to argue with his analysis.
Incredible: In case you haven’t heard, Marvel is developing a new TV series based on The Incredible Hulk. No doubt a “Get Lou Ferrigno A Role On The Show” Facebook page will be up by the end of the day.
Duck: Jaime Weinman poses a few questions in a post he calls “Disney And The Copyright Police.”
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: NYCC, Donald Duck and The Incredible Hulk
Weekend Reading: Axa, Star Trek, Alan Moore and Joe Kubert
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,
Happy happy joy joy, another weekend has arrived and the internet is packed with stuff to keep us all occupied and indoors, at least until game time on Sunday. So whether you like the good girl stylings of Enrique Romero, spoilers from the new Star Trek movie (now out on DVD), or need to see a picture of Joe Kubert’s enormous drawing table, it’s like a pirate’s treasure: all down below. Let’s begin…
Enrique Romero: Pete Doree over at The Bronze Age of Blogs has a great post up about Enrique Romero, artist on two classic British newspaper strips: Axa and Modesty Blaise. No offense to Pete’s solid writing cred, but this one’s all about the art. Images might be a little NSFW, depending on where you work.
J.J. Abrams: Lance Mannion has a few spoiler-laden comments on the Star Trek movie now that it’s out on DVD. “Now, obviously I have more invested in Star Trek than is healthy for a reasonable adult. But geek that I am, I am not religious about it.” He doth protest a smidgeth to mucheth, but he writes so well on the subject, you’ll get sucked right in. Bonus: dialogue excerpts from OST.
Adrian Raeside: You don’t think of cartoonists as explorers, but Canadian editorial cartoonist for the Times Colonist in Victoria, BC, is the grandson of Charles “Silas” Wright, a member of Robert Scott’s famous expedition to the South Pole. Adrian retraced his old relatives footsteps and wrote a book about it: Return to Antarctica. His paper runs an excerpt.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Axa, Star Trek, Alan Moore and Joe Kubert
McCaffery: Charles Gorham & Comic Books
How did you spend last weekend? Well, I didn’t make it to APE (wrong coast) so I spent some time in my local charity-based thrift shop looking for a Halloween costume. No wait, just kidding. I was there because they happen to have a really great used book section and since most used book stores are gone like yesterday’s VHS, a thrift shop remains a shining beacon of musty old paperbacks that smell of basements and cigarettes. That’s where I picked this up: McCaffery by Charles Gorham (Crest Books, 1962).
It’s one of those heavy-handed books that’s packed with stereotypes and talks about sex with the oddball euphemisms of the day, but also with shocking (for the time) language. And the reason I picked it up was because of the back cover copy, which I’ll get to in a little while.
On the pages inside, you get to find great paragraphs like this, as McCaffery enjoys the company of a woman: “I kissed her on the mouth and held it there. I was in charge. I was a man. I could feel it in my blood, the sense of my manhood. I was a man and there was no one in the whole world except me…” Issues much, Mr. Gorham?
Click to continue reading McCaffery: Charles Gorham & Comic Books
Weekend Reading: Walter Hill, Carrie Fisher, Paul Levitz and Scarlett Johansson
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,
If you were surfing the internets this week, you might have discovered that movie director Walter Hill was a big fan of EC Comics, Paul Levitz wrote a comic book with a bondage scene, Bob Oksner drew pretty girls (which shouldn’t be news to anyone, really), and Carrie Fisher doesn’t like to be insulted (but then again, who does). If you missed these and other fascinating tidbits of digital wonder, keep reading:
Walter Hill: The most excellent writer and director, Walter Hill has had a hand in some of my favorite movies—48 Hours, Alien, The Long Riders, and The Warriors, to name just four. Over at The Hollywood Interview, they’ve got a career-spanning interview with him. And who knew he was a comic book fan? Says Hill, “I read a lot of the EC Comics back in the fifties. I never particularly liked superheroes…I particularly liked the EC comics because they were darker.” More at the link.
Paul Levitz’s Bondage Comics: Now that Paul has left DC and plans to return to writing regular comics, it might be fun to look at some of his past, pre-President of DC, work. Over at Steve Ditko’s Comics Weblog, Bob H regularly posts lots of great Ditko art. One of the pieces up this week is a look at Stalker #2. Stalker was a short-lived 1970s series written by Paul Levitz, and illustrated by Ditko and Wally Wood, and in issue #2, they all got together to strap a woman down to play a Code-approved game that looks a little like the end of Braveheart (except for the last-minute heroic rescue part).