First Look: NIRO from Cameron Stewart

I'm sure that I'm not as familiar with Cameron Stewart's work as others, but I love the look and design of this book. Stewart describes it as being inspired by creators like Moebius, Hayao Miyazaki and others. The series will follow Niro a clergy man that picks up a young girl as an unlikely companion. They're in sure of The Nomad, a roaming fortress that may have answers to his past and the girls family. It's sounds interesting as hell and Stewart also says that it will be serialized in DRM-free downloads and eventually in print. This is one to keep an eye on and definitely support! Check out the preview which really won me over. Check out the website for the book as well.

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First Look: Seqapunch Quarterly Giant!

South Florida is looking to make an impact on the indie comic book scene.  And why not?  Many golden age comic book artists and scribes have retired in the sunshine state.  The next generation now rises up ton continue their legacy.

Seqapunch is a new comic that comes out quarterly.  The book stands as an eclectic collection of comic stories and styles.  Additionally, Seqapunch accepts submissions.  Need to break into the industry?  Here’s the best place to start. 

Don’t take it from me; listen to the rundown from the creators:

Seqapunch is an open submission indie comic anthology we publish every 4 months with a theme. We accept any genre or style so long as it 1) fits our theme, 2) is 20 pages or less, and 3) meets our standards. We encourage artists to send drafts and in progress pages for editor feedback to help improve not just their chances of being published but also to improve their skills as a comic artist.

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Review: Unstoppable Tuff-Girl #2

The Unstoppable Tuff-Girl you may recall is a book that I picked up earlier in the year at Wonder Con. It had an all-ages comic throwback feel to it with solid art and writing. Well I stumbled upon the second issue at one of my local shops (House of Secrets) this week and instead of picking up some reboot book I opted to continue the adventure with Tuff-Girl and her dog Wichita the Tuff Mutt.

The main thing I like about Tuff-Girl is that the issues are broken up into smaller stories. You’re given more exposure to Tuff-Girl and her world, rather than be stuck on one plot the entire time. It works very well since it’s a new character and the world is still being defined. This issue starts off with the story on the cover about Amazon Cheerleaders! Tuff-Girl has been invited to judge a cheerleader championship at the Silver Biscuit Casino along with a dude named Doctor Dockter that is supposed to be a cheerleading expert. They watch an amazing act then go back stage to decide the winner, but DD is no help and Tuff-Girl picks Stanton High as the winner on her own. As they’re giving out the trophy Doctor Dockter uses his witchcraft/voodoo/bad-guy-magic to turn the cheerleaders into super powered Amazons to beat up Tuff-Girl.

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Review: Extravagant Traveler #1

Extravagant Traveler is a mind fuck, but I loved every page of it. The “mind bending” genre as it’s more commonly known as, is by far one of my favorites. Any story that on its surface level has several meanings is great in my book. Traveler is about alien abductions when you boil down the story to the simplest terms, but the story is anything but obvious when it comes to experiencing it.

The story opens with a man reading in bed. He looks annoyed as he looks at the clock that reads three o’clock. Suddenly though the clock reads midnight and the man is naked on the same bed. His narration indicates that he’s not sure what’s happening, but that whatever it is… is happening again. From there we flashback to the man’s youth as he stays out of his house while his parents fight. He cuts his finger as he repeats insults to himself that more than likely have been said to him on countless occasions. It’s pretty clear that this kid’s life is pretty messed up. After a while he heads to a pond and finds a woman standing in the center wearing a hood. The woman derobes and stands naked in the pond with her eyes closed. She cuts herself and suddenly a third eye on her forehead opens up and the naked woman begins to float on the water’s surface.

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Review: Synergy #1

If you don’t repeat the title of this book at least three times when you read it then you obviously do not understand how much fun it is to say Synergy. Say it with me “Synergy.” Good, it’s fun right? Synergy! Fun is how I would describe this book. It wasn’t a ground breaking superhero story, but it was entertaining and I liked the take on the genre. If you’re going to do an indie superhero book it’s important to know that most of the time no one wants to read your version of Superman or the X-Men; thankfully that’s not the case here at all!

The issue begins with one of the best story devices of all time, a murder mystery. An older looking man is literally chocked to death, but not before he tells the mysterious armored hand killing him, “that he won’t get away with it.” The next day we open with three high school kids from Vega Valley High (also fun to say) standing in front of a campaign poster from Mayor Grant. They question the legality and moral implications of advertising to children that aren’t of voting age until the inevitable sound of the bell summons them to class.

Chase, our main character is the last to head off dragging his feet all the way. After being in class for a bit he’s summoned to the main office. In typical high school fashion the other students begin to mock and question what he did to get in trouble.

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Review: The October Girl #2

Comic books should be indie. That’s it, period. Don’t get me wrong, I love Batmen and X-Babies as much as the next guy or gal but there’s something about the indie comic circuit that reminds me of a treasure hunt. You dig, search and scour until you come across that special title that makes you smile and for me The October Girl has me grinning from ear to ear.    

Autumn has hit an unexpected bump in her mundane life. Her imaginary child hood friend, Barnaby has returned to pay her a visit. At home the young woman interviews her old friend to try and find out the reason for his return. Unfortunately that secret is just something that her mystical friend can reveal. But what he can do is warn her that she is in danger.  

Overwhelmed by the situation, Autumn excuses herself and takes a moment to gather her thoughts in a place special to her, a place where she can clear her head. That place is a gazebo in the park.

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Review: Satanic Hell #1 (of 7)

Metal music sure is fun, I love me some hardcore death metal myself; the more guttural growls and pig squeals, the better. So when comic book uses music as an additional story dynamic it can add an extra element and layer or it could alienate the reader with preconceived notions about your story. Let’s see what Satanic Hell does.

As a modified hearse flies down the highway, three members of the industrial metal band Satanic Hell sit and chat about music that inspires them. The three friends by the name of Death Priest, Exodus and Dante also bring up the fact that they as a band need a timeless song, something that will make their mark in music history--a classic anthem for the ages.

The excitement grows as they reach the state lines of Texas, the location of their next gig. With the hopes and need for a successful show the guys put the pedal to the metal. In the middle of Dallas Texas, a young girl by the name of Meli sits at her computer listening to a Satanic Hell playlist. Before her mother can enter her room she changes the music to a Christian hymn.

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Review: The Great Unknown #1

The Great Unknown is an anthology style of comic from Small Batch Comics spotlighting some of the creators they’ll be working with in the future. It’s a very smart way for a new comic company to establish themselves and showcase their talent pool. The fact that each story is self-contained and has an ending also plays to its strengths and sets it apart from something like Dark Horse Presents. The book has seven short stories in total so let’s dig in and cover as many as possible.

The first story is entitled “A twelve minute revolution in just reading” and is about a Nazi scientist that’s just been shot for his invention. As he bleeds out he forces himself to find a gun and protect his invention before dying. It’s a very well written short story with a great twist ending. The art is very stylized, but captures the tone of the story at the same time.

The next tale “Soupe aux Champignons” is quite funny. An Alien enforcer has come to Earth and landed in Egypt during the times of Pharaoh’s. He’s been sent to squash a socialist rebellion, but something happened when he was downloading his skill sets in order to deal with the situation; now he must stop the rebellion with cooking skills. This story was quite funny. The story could have benefitted from less character dialog since it becomes obvious where the story is going, but it was still a fun tale.

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Review: Scam #1 (of 5)

Con artists, heists, Vegas and super powers… if you’re not sold on this book yet I will continue. Scam at its core is an Ocean’s 11 style of story with super powers thrown into the mix. Con man books are a growing genre in the world of comics, but whenever that happens sorting the good from the bad becomes harder and harder. Scam is not without its flaws, but it’s very entertaining and has several story elements at play while keeping an ace in the hole.

The story begins two years in the past as a crew of con men are about to dive into a job. It’s a fast job that their newest member has brought to them giving some of the crew cause to worry. The leader of the crew Tru has given the okay on the job due to the size of the payday waiting for them. Unfortunately, they’ve been set up and the new guy has pulled the classic double cross and set the team up to take the fall for the heist he pulled the day before. What he doesn’t know and what’s only subtly revealed to the reader is that this crew possesses some extraordinary powers that help all of them get out of the jam. Flash forward and the team is reconnecting for a revenge job on the bastard that screwed them, but now there are other players in the mix.

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Review: October Girl #1

You know what I love about indie comics? That off chance when you find a book or story that catches your eye and ends up being something special. It could be interesting art or a captivating story, basically a title that you can’t wait to share and tell your friends about. Well friends there’s a book called October Girl and I’d love to tell you about it.

Autumn Ackerman is a teen age girl that that used to believe in a lot of things when she was little. As she lays in her bed on a lazy Saturday morning she reflects on those thoughts that encompassed her childhood. Ideas like Santa Clause, who not only gave presents but also created the universe. Along with friends that threw tea parties with her. A friend like Barnaby, even though he was imaginary Autumn finds herself missing from time to time.  

Then like everyone else, Autumn grew up and with the help of her mother and reality she moved on. Still laying in bed daydreaming Autumn’s mother reminds her that she’ll be late for school if she doesn’t get a move on. Autumn reminds her that it’s Saturday and the only thing she will be late for is work at the coffee shop.

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