(IDW-2017)
Writer: Matt Chapman
Art: Andy Suriano
Letters: Andy Suriano with Comicraft
“I dropped acid at the Sagrada Familia, which was a trip to say the least.” – Victor Johnson, The Rules of Attraction
Cosmic Scoundrels #1 is a wheels-off space adventure that has no real endgame except to infiltrate the serious comic readers mind, and force feed them a tab of comic relief calamity. Thank Mongo Prime for levity in comics. Continue reading
Young Magazine (2007-Present)
Written and Illustrated by Takeshi Okazaki
Summary: Yamada wakes up on an uninhabited island after falling off the cruise ship his class was on in the middle of the ocean during a thick fog. Alone, he begins building a raft and finding ways to survive until he discovers a female classmate has washed ashore as well. The two learn to survive together until one of their teachers washes ashore and generates animosity between the three of them. After nearly two weeks of living on this island Yamada is swept up by a fog only to regain consciousness while being rescued in the middle of the ocean 15 minutes after he had originally fallen overboard. What is this new reality Yamada finds himself in? No one believes him about the island he stayed upon with his classmate Imaise Chika and their teacher Shibata. But when Shibata shows up unscathed and with no memories of what happened it’s now up to Yamada to discover the truth for himself and find the missing Imaise. Continue reading
(Kodansha 2009)
Story & Art by Hajime Isayama
Storyline Ongoing
Summary: In an alternate telling of the history of the world, mankind has been pushed back behind walls where for the last 100 years they’ve been protected from monsters known as Titans. One day these Titans appeared again and brought one of those walls crashing down – the result almost sent humanity into extinction. This is the story of the last remnants of mankind. Continue reading
(IDW – 2017)
Writer: Joe Harris
Art: Greg Scott
Colors: Wes Dzioba
Letters: Chris Mowry
Cover: Menton 3
Special FBI Agent Fox Mulder unearths more clues in The X-Files #11 about the Cigarette Smoking Man’s and the now defunct Syndicate’s clandestine role during the Iran-Contra scandal. Mulder has been contacted by a man with links to his father’s past, someone who miraculously survived an execution ordered by the Smoking Man, but it wasn’t just an illegal arms deal that brought the CSM and Bill Mulder to Nicaragua in 1987. Continue reading
(IDW Publishing – 2017)
Writer: James Roberts
Art: Jack Lawrence
Colors: Joana Lafuente
Letters: Tom B Long
Regular Cover: Jack Lawrence & Joana Lafuente
Rodimus, Megatron and their fellow Transformers face a new peril in Transformers Lost Light #2, one even greater than they faced on Necroworld against the Decepticon Justice Division after being stranded there when Getaway led a mutiny and stole the Lost Light. Fortunately, Brainstorm’s plan to build a makeshift teleporter to enable them return to Cybertron seemed like the ideal solution to their predicament, and it got them back to Cybertron, just not the right one! Continue reading
Serialized in Harta (2008-Present)
Published in the U.S. by YEN Press (2011-Present)
Story & Art by Kaoru Mori
Summary: A Bride’s Story tells the tale of a beautiful young bride in nineteenth-century Asia. At the age of twenty, Amir is sent to a neighboring town to be wed. But her surprise at learning her new husband, Karluk, is eight years younger than her is quickly replaced by a deep affection for the boy and his family. Though she hails from just beyond the mountains, Amir’s clan had very different customs, foods, and clothes from what Karluk is used to. As the two of them learn more about each other through their day-to-day lives, the bond of respect and love grows stronger. [YEN Press] Continue reading
(DimThroat Comics-2017)
Creator: Brad Gischia
Colors: Lesley Atlansky
Letters: Zakk Saam
Sometimes life sucks. Sometimes we don’t get exactly what we want. Sometimes a crazy robed figure looking for an occult specialty item invades your town, and you are thrown into things without an invitation or nary a warning. Continue reading
(Dynamite Entertainment – 2017)
Writer / Artist / Letterer Francesco Francavilla
Fans of hard-boiled pulp and crime-comics are in for a real treat with The Spirit: The Corpse-Makers #1 as renowned comic book writer-artist Francesco Francavilla brings us his distinct take on Will Eisner’s legendary masked crime-fighter The Spirit! The Spirit: The Corpse-Makers #1 kicks off the first part of this brand new five part mini-series from Dynamite Entertainment were Central City has been struck by a series of unexplained deaths, the Police can find nothing to connect the victims, but there is something far more sinister going on than anyone truly realizes, and its not long before The Spirit and his trusty sidekick Ebony White are on the case! Continue reading
Serialized in Harta (2008-Present)
Published in the U.S. by YEN Press (2011-Present)
Story & Art by Kaoru Mori
Summary: A Bride’s Story tells the tale of a beautiful young bride in nineteenth-century Asia. At the age of twenty, Amir is sent to a neighboring town to be wed. But her surprise at learning her new husband, Karluk, is eight years younger than her is quickly replaced by a deep affection for the boy and his family. Though she hails from just beyond the mountains, Amir’s clan had very different customs, foods, and clothes from what Karluk is used to. As the two of them learn more about each other through their day-to-day lives, the bond of respect and love grows stronger. [YEN Press] Continue reading
(Dynamite – 2017)
Writer: Amy Chu
Illustrator: Carlos Gomez
Colorer: Mohan
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Hey everyone. I’m coming back at you with Red Sonja # 1. So let’s jump in.
Not being too familiar with the comic series, I got to read this comic as a blank slate. And that was kind of fun. As a new reader, I was able to leave this issue excited to see what comes next, and can’t wait for issue number two. But getting there was a little bit of a rollercoaster ride. Continue reading
Writer – Ryan Little
Pencils and Inks – Eder Messias
Colors – Fahriza Kamaputra
Letters – Jamie Me
Addl. Letters – Nick Warner
Tom Auld is lonely in a way that only a young person can be lonely. He feels cut off from his family and his peers, and the old people ,teachers, just don’t connect. It’s exactly the kind of person that the Lonesomes appear to. Continue reading
Serialization in Tsubomi (2011)
Story and Art by Keito Koume
Summary: A girl stumbles upon and accidentally awakens a robot that has been asleep for 15 years. [MyAnimeList.net]
Review: The Ocean Meets the Sky is a fantastical little one-shot that isn’t very long but manages to pack quite the punch in its 30-odd pages of story. It focuses on Tanako Umi, a 15-year old girl who discovers a robot that also looks like a 15 year old girl and has been hidden away in a school and asleep for the last 15 years. Continue reading
2016: For Better or Worse, the Year of the Reboot
By: Shawn Warner
It’s that time of the year again, when everyone gets a case of short term nostalgia and finds it oh so necessary to make lists; the ten best movies, the fifty best books and so it goes. Well, not to be outdone by those list making gadabouts, I sat down to compose my list of the best comic books of 2016. Continue reading
(IDW-2016)
Writer and Letterer- Fred Van Lente
Art- Ryan Dunlavey
Colors- Adam Guzowski
Are you interested in comic books? Do you have an appreciation for the comic book art form, and how it came to be? If you are reading this you love comics. If you are reading this you also have a mind that whats to delve into more than just the comic books themselves. You are a high-minded sponge wanting to contextualize the books in more than its finished form. Continue reading
(IDW 2016)
Writer: Joe Harris
Art: Wayne Nichols
Colors: Sebastian Cheng
Letters: Chris Mowry & Tom B Long
Cover: Menton 3
It is the season of goodwill in the X-Files X-Mas Special 20116, where a spooky seasonal box of uncanny delights and intrigue await Mulder and Scully as they investigate a school holiday pageant that becomes a Christmassy extraterrestrial mystery. Mulder must face ghosts from the past, threats in the present day, and the unexplained truths of the future. Along with Scully, and a wealth of seasonal visitors, this is one Christmas that Mulder and Scully are never going to forget – so long as they survive Christmas Eve.
FBI Agents Mulder and Scully embark on a decidedly bizarre X-File this holiday season in this year’s X-Files X-Mas Special from IDW Publishing, written by Joe Harris, with art by Wayne Nichols, colors by Sebastian Cheng, and Executive Produced by Chris Carter. Yes, the X-Files brings its own unique spin on a Christmas Carol in this issue as mysteries both paranormal and extraterrestrial collide to bring Mulder and Scully the true spirit of Christmas!
Christmas Eve falls over Washington DC as a mysterious force gathers, but is this manifestation making an assessment the people of Earth over the holiday season or just gathering intelligence about special FBI Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully? So, when a deluded Fox Mulder races to meet Scully at a children’s Christmas pageant, where events have already begun to take a bizarre turn, Scully and Mulder find themselves facing an inexplicable threat this Christmas that’s unlike anything they’ve encountered before.
From its dramatic scene setting and fourth wall breaking opening, writer Joe Harris ensures that the X-Files 2016 X-Mas Special is chock full of surprises and suspense in the truest X-Files tradition. After that uncanny start this special festive themed issue flashes back to events earlier in the day on Christmas Eve, where Mulder has accompanied Scully to a holiday market. But with Mulder acting all Ebenezer Scrooge, together with a fleeting glimpse of an ethereal figure Mulder believes could be his sister Samantha (who was abducted by aliens when they were children), the Christmas festivities begin to prove a bit too much for Mulder to stomach.
So, while Scully decides to accept Miss Holly’s invitation to attend a Christmas Pageant, Mulder retreats to his office back in FBI Headquarters, and it is here where this X-Mas Special really kicks into high gear. This issue features some great artwork by Wayne Nichols, especially in the sequences were Mulder is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, with Nichols brining a distinct X-Files twist on this classic tale as iconic X-Files characters and themes are deftly spliced and magically transformed as the story unfolds. I really liked how this aspect of The X-Files 2016 X-Mas Special explores the story of Samantha Mulder in a completely new and different way – and Nichols art, together with. Sebastian Cheng’s rich colors proves the perfect accompaniment to Joe Harris’ intricately plotted and emotional story.
Everything is resolved a little bit quickly at the end of the issue, but that’s just a minor point really, because the journey Mulder takes in this issue is at times actually quite moving, so it was nice to have everything get wrapped up neatly for a satisfying conclusion. The mysterious Miss Holly remains an enigma throughout, there’s even a kiss under the mistletoe, a wonderful closing scene between Mulder and Scully to enjoy, and as an X-tra special treat we also get a bonus sneak peak at The X-Files #10 (released January 2017).
From the moment you glimpse The X-Files 2016 X-Mas Special, with its brilliantly spooky looking Cigarette Smoking Man cover by Menton 3, and begin reading you’ll soon realize this is a very special and different kind of X-Files story. The tone is somewhat lighter for The X-Files than we are normally used to in IDW’s ongoing comic series, but it is Christmas after all, and you’ll soon find yourself swept along with this delightfully weird and wonderful Christmassy special form Joe Harris, Wayne Nichols, and Sebastian Cheng.
Happy Holidays Everyone!
Paul Bowler is a self-Confessed Sci-Fi Geek, Doctor Who fan, and Zombie Disposal Expert. He likes movies, comic books, and all things PS3. He likes to write about his interests, would love to write a novel one day, and also enjoys chatting to the many people he has gotten to know on Twitter. When he’s not busy being an Impossible Astronaut, he likes to take a break from his adventures in time and space to enjoy some of his favourite tv shows and movies, preferably with a nice cuppa tea & a sandwich! You can follow him on Twitter @paul_bowler, or find him at his website, Sci-Fi Jubilee.
(Young Magazine 2007-Present)
Written and Illustrated by Takeshi Okazaki
Summary: Yamada wakes up on an uninhabited island after falling off the cruise ship his class was on in the middle of the ocean during a thick fog. Alone, he begins building a raft and finding ways to survive until he discovers a female classmate has washed ashore as well. The two learn to survive together until one of their teachers washes ashore and generates animosity between the three of them. After nearly two weeks of living on this island Yamada is swept up by a fog only to regain consciousness while being rescued in the middle of the ocean 15 minutes after he had originally fallen overboard. What is this new reality Yamada finds himself in? No one believes him about the island he stayed upon with his classmate Imaise Chika and their teacher Shibata. But when Shibata shows up unscathed and with no memories of what happened it’s now up to Yamada to discover the truth for himself and find the missing Imaise. Continue reading
(IDW Publishing – 2016)
Writer: Mike Johnson
Artist: Tony Shasteen
Colors: David Mastrolonardo
Letters: Andworld Design
Regular Cover: George Caltsoundas
Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Endeavor pursue a deadly alien threat in Star Trek Boldly Go #3, a cybernetic race unlike anything they’ve encountered beforeÖ but a foe that’s also well known to Star Trek fans – the Borg! Following on from the events of the blockbusting Star Trek Beyond movie, Kirk is now interim Captain of the Endeavor, with some of the Enterprise’s crew either in new roles, reassigned, or deciding their future on other worlds. Continue reading
(Kodansha 2009)
Story & Art by Hajime Isayama
Storyline Ongoing
Summary: In an alternate telling of the history of the world, mankind has been pushed back behind walls where for the last 100 years they’ve been protected from monsters known as Titans. One day these Titans appeared again and brought one of those walls crashing down – the result almost sent humanity into extinction. This is the story of the last remnants of mankind. Continue reading
(SourcePoint Press – 2016)
Created by Adam Green
Concept by Gary and Josh Sobek
Written by Greg Wright
Edited by Travis Mcintire
Pencils and Inks by Stephen Sharar
Colors, letters, and Design by Joshua Werner
During the turbulent 2000’s of the entertainment industry, when networks were born, sold, dissolved, renamed, rebranded, and sold again, a young writer was swimming against the current, tying to makes his bones in the business. This writer was Adam Green, and with partner Joe Lynch, they created a show called Holliston, which ran for two seasons in 2012 and 2013, before the death of Dave Brockie (Oderus Urungus of GWAR), a divorce, and the merger of Time Warner and Comcast again dissolves a network. Holliston went off the air. It stayed in the shadows while Green rebuilt his life, all the while writing movies. In 2016, Green paired with SourcePoint Press and resurrected the title, this time in comic book form. Continue reading
(Image Comics 2016)
Written by Scott Snyder
Illustrated by Jeff Lemire
Lettered by Steve Wands
There are sure things in the realm of comics and literature. Some authors and artists you pick up because their name is on a book. That’s the simple truth of it. For all of the admonitions of elementary school librarians, we judge books by their covers. And often when we’re paging through PREVIEWS magazine, or browsing the over-packed shelves of our local shops, it’s the art or the name on the cover that makes us pick it up. Continue reading
BAG & BORED 