Category Archives: Comics
X-Factor Will Be Written by Mark Russell (No Sign of Multiple Man)
Well hot damn, people! The creative team and character roster of the new X-Factor comic book has been announced, and while I’m disappointed that Multiple Man isn’t in the comic, my disappointment is healed by the fact that writer Mark Russell, one of my all-time favorite comic book writers. I am freakin’ thrilled!
The full details of the comic are on AIPT Comics.
Formed by the government in response to a post-Krakoa outbreak of mutant paramilitary, ops squads, and mercenary teams, X-FACTOR will be co-led by Angel and Havok and include recruits like Pyro, Frenzy, Feral, and more. Part special agents for missions that require an arsenal of superpowers and part celebrity propaganda machine, X-FACTOR will wage war against emerging factions like the Mutant Underground and X-Term. Whether they believe in their actions or are just doing it for a check, the members of X-Factor are no fools when it comes to shady politics. As hidden agendas rear their ugly head, they’ll fight against the dark consequences and disastrous public opinion from the inside!
FAME, FORTUNE, MUTANTS! From the ashes of Krakoa, a new mutant arms race sweeps the globe! International governments are building their own mutant armies. But only America’s X-Factor has the most powerful, most patriotic, most marketable mutant heroes to stem the tide and make the world safe for democracy! Join them as they go from one death-defying mission to another. Who will die? Who will fall in love? Who will be the first to sell out? Like, comment and subscribe to find out!
The roster will include Angel, Havok, Feral, Frenzy and Pyro. I’m not all that thrilled about any of those characters, but that’s fine. Russell will work his magic.
If you’ve never read Mark Russell, his Wonder Twins and Flintstones comics are some of the best comics I’ve read this century. He’s phenomenal! And Bob Quinn on art should be fantastic as well!
And check out this quote from Russell:
“The thing I’ve always loved about the X-Men is that they’re characters first, super heroes second,” Russell shared. “So being able to write characters like Havok and Angel and Frenzy in a post-Krakoa reality is an opportunity to write about what I really care about, which is how do we help each other survive the apathy of the world we live in?”
I have been saying that for years! Characters first, superheroes second! Oh man, this comic is gonna be awesome! Though it won’t come out until August.
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6 Potential Futures for the BOOM! Power Rangers Comics
We got the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad news this week that BOOM! Studios is bringing an end to their 8 years of awesome Power Rangers comics. I was a big fan of the Power Rangers when I was a kid, and I think this has been one of the most consistently entertaining comic books of the past decade. It rarely wavered in greatness. So it’s sad to see the whole thing come to an end.
If it really is the end. Personally, I don’t think that’s the case. All we’ve gotten so far about this ending comes from solicitations, and that stuff is specifically written to be teasing and advertisy. And the announcement came paired with a promise of bigger announcements in the future. So something is happening and I highly doubt it’s a full cancellation of all things Power Rangers at BOOM! So I’ve put my speculator hat on and have come up with six possibilities for what’s next for Power Rangers comics!
Join me after the jump to see what I think is going to happen to the Power Rangers in the funny books.
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Hench-Sized Review: Space Ghost #1
Surprise! It’s a new, one-off Hench-Sized comic review on a Monday! As part of my overall goal of easing up on my previously rigid blogging schedule, I’d like to review more one-off comics. As a would-be comics creator myself, I know how hard it can be to get people to care about your comic. So I want to offer my blog as a place where creators can get a good, honest, straight forward review of their issue or series.
We’re starting off with Space Ghost #1 by writer David Pepose and Dynamite Entertainment. I got sent this via email over the weekend and I think it’s the perfect starting point for this new initiative of mine. And then perhaps subsequent issues will become part of my normal Saturday review column.
I haven’t read a lot of Pepose, but the dude is living my dream life. He started out as an indie comics writer and comics journalist and now he’s doing professional projects for real publishers. And he’s reinventing Space Ghost for comics, kind of like how I want to do with the Street Sharks. I’m hoping if I mention that enough times, I will manifest a job of me writing a Street Sharks comic.
Seriously, if you own the license to Street Sharks, I will put in the work for you. I will watch all those old cartoon episodes and then craft a big, sprawling, exciting comic book world for the Street Sharks. And if you want to go a step further and hire a big name to help out, I will gladly collaborate with Vin Diesel to make this happen. But enough about me, let’s see how Pepose and Dynamite have put in the work on Space Ghost.
Also, quick shoutout to letterer Taylor Esposito, my favorite letterer in the business. He’s the letterer on my own indie comic, Gamer Girl & Vixen, and the dude is top notch. I would totally bring him on board for my Street Sharks comic, just saying.
Also, NO SPOILERS. All images in this review were taken from preview pages I found released online earlier this month.
Space Ghost #1
Writer: David Pepose
Artist: Jonathan Lau
Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
I have zero history with the original Space Ghost cartoon or even the Adult Swim revamp. I’m sure I watched a bit here and there in my childhood, but not enough to sink my teeth into. So I’m coming at this character, this world and this comic as fresh as can be.
Jan, Jace and their pet monkey Blip are living on a space science colony when they’re attacked by space pirates! Shenanigans ensue to the highest order and a certain titular space hero stops by to do his thing. No spoilers!
Comic Review: 7/10 – Good.
This is a good, solid start to a traditional superhero-style imagining of the Space Ghost character. It’s got everything you could want. This comic doesn’t reinvent the wheel or go down any weird, Morrison-esque reinterpretations. It’s Space Ghost, with his classic look, in modern comic book form. It’s also packed with supporting characters and villains from his original cartoon, establishing Jan and Jace right away and making them key to everything. I think that’s a good choice. If you’re going for this style of Space Ghost comic, then embrace all of it and build the comic around it. And this issue does a fine job of that. There’s a bunch of exposition to get through, but it’s fine. We definitely get a good sense of our two main characters, and Space Ghost himself gets plenty of time to shine as an action hero.
Personally, I ding the comic a little for not taking a more measured approach or trying anything really new or exciting. As someone who doens’t care about Space Ghost, I can’t say there’s anything in this first issue that really captures my attention and demands I keep reading the series. It’s a very straight forward presentation of the character. It’s possibly a more serious take on the character, but it’s definitely not a gritty and hardcore reimagining. The artwork is pretty standard modern superhero comic book faire, and that’s fine. Everything looks clear, the classic characters look great and the action, explosions and space-age technology all look phenomenal. The artwork definitely fits what the comic is going for.
This first issue has good, if a little exposition-heavy writing, solid comic book art and does a great job of taking the world of Space Ghost and rebuilding it into this new continuity. You can tell a lot of attention was paid to making this comic happen, and I feel like there is definitely promise in more to come. This first issue was just all about setting the table with a lot of opening action.
TL;DR: This is a straight forward, solid adaptation of the classic Space Ghost show into a modern comic book. It’s a fun, action-packed comic that does a good job establishing the core parts of the comic with a good tone of voice, but it doesn’t really think outside the box, which I feel is important to really sell a new comic in this day and age.
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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/27/24
Jeez! I’m sorry this is so late! I had to work this morning. Otherwise we’re back with more comic book reviews! Just like last week, a bunch of my favorite comics came out this week and I didn’t want to leave my reviews of them in the dust. So I read some good comics and I’m prepared to talk about some good comics, like the end of Duke and some more Ultimate Spider-Man.
Comic Book of the Week goes to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #119 for getting the Darkest Hour train back on the tracks, just in time to announce the end of the series.
Meanwhile, I finally started playing God of War: Ragnarok after getting it for free with my Playstation 5 several years ago. It’s pretty much exactly what I expected, and that’s pretty nice. Beyond that, I also finally built the Optimus Prime LEGO set I bought several years ago. That was super fun as well.
Comic Reviews: Duke #5, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #119, and Ultimate Spider-Man #4.
Read the rest of this entryJim Lee Draws the Amalgam Universe!
I am a big, big fan of the Amalgam Universe of comics. I lived through that stuff when it came out, though I wasn’t as plugged into comics back then as I am today. It’s just such an insane and awesome idea, that DC and Marvel would not only work together, but then create this insane, combined character universe?! It’s wonderful and silly!
And they’re reprinting those comics! There’s going to be a new Amalgam Omnibus coming out this summer, collecting a bunch of, if not all, of the issues. They probably don’t hold up, but I’m sure as heck buying the book just to make it part of my collection. And in order to make this omnibus look as good as possible, they’ve got Jim Lee drawing the wrap-around cover.
Behold!
That’s a fun picture! Dark Claw! Spider-Boy! Amazon! Super Soldier! I love that this is happening. I love that attention is being paid. I don’t imagine many of the comics will actually hold up, but they don’t need to. I just wanna own this awesome piece of comics history. And it helps to have a picture like that by the great Jim Lee to really make it shine.
Now what unholy pact has to be signed to get new, modern day Amalgam comics?
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Henchman-4-Hire 