Free Comic Book Day 2013

Free Comic Book Day is one my favorite geek holidays. All the local comic shops get their groove on and put on a show for the crowds. The objective is to bring new readers to the hobby, energize those of us that read comics, and create new fans of both comics and comics shops.

I am not going to deny the fact that this is a marketing angle. As a lover comics, it is one that I appreciate. It not only exposes new readers to the delights of these stories but also exposes current readers to new types of comics as well. There were well over fifty-two different titles on offer at my local comic shop. They ranged from offerings form both DC and Marvel to a book by Graphic India. This is quite range of tales being told and it made me happy to see such a diversity of options.

Free Comic Book Day has a very festival feel to it. At my local shop, Comic Book World, they put on quite a show. They had the Pickled Brothers Circus there swallowing swords to the amazement of the audience. There were Roller Derby Women signing autographs and showing off their bruises. Also, no Free Comic Book Day would be complete with out a comic celebrity which was filled ably by David Mack.

I had no time to enjoy the day. Other commitments made it impossible for me to spend more time than picking up my comics and seeing the festivities begin. The turnout was good for the start of the day as it took me a bit of time to get through the crowd to pick my five free comics and the one comic I missed from Wednesday. MY haul for the the day was Ramayan 3392 AD, Judge Dredd Classics, The Waling Dead,  Atomic Robo, and Infinity.

I, like everyone else here are Ideology of Madness, am a big fan of Ron Marz. I saw that Ramayan 3392 Ad was done by him which made it a an easy choice. This book from Graphic India is a re-imagining of the myths and legends of India. It plugged easily into my love of mythology of any sort. Marz’ deft hand with story easily introduces the various players in this sprawling drama. He takes the exotic and alien and makes it accessible. Each vignette is illustrated by a different artist with my favorite being Luke Ross. He did the story Seeta. Despite being only three pages, his art captures the energy and vibrancy of the story and makes it jump from the page. The last page is sheer beauty and well worth just contemplating for awhile. I want to pick up this book going forward.

Judge Dredd Classics was a nice little surprise. As the title implies, this is not a new story. Instead, IDW treats us to the Story of Judge Death. It was nice to see this story again as I had not read it in quite some time. The only difference between this and the original was that the art had been recolored. A nice trip down memory lane though I am not sure if it is a good introduction to Judge Dredd though.

I will admit that only picked up The Walking Dead because they had a limit of one per customer. I am not a fan of the zombie genre but was pleasantly surprised by this book. I am unfamiliar with the these characters but found the vignettes to be captivating. From listening to people talk about the books prior, it seems that these may not be stories that are continuing on but have happened in the past. I am more likely to pick up the first trade and start there than to pick up the next issue.

Atomic Robo from Red 5 comics was simply amazing. The story was new to me and very fun. Once again Robo has to stop a runaway experimental robot. The action is fast and clean with the witty banter that I have come to expect from Brian Clevinger. The art us chunky and dynamic. It captures  the feel of a science action story wonderfully. The Bodie Troll story is pure, unadulterated cuteness.

I also picked up Marvel offering, Infinity by Hickman and Cheung. The first part of this book is a an introduction to the coming six issue event of the same name. Cheung’s artwork is superb. The alien feeling of the setting is carried well by his efforts. The story itself was OK. I never really understood what was going on outside of the fact that a planet had the crap kicked out of it and was further brutalized. Oh, and the next planet on the agenda was Earth. there was also a reprint of the Thanos story “Last Flower” and a brief introduction to Marvel’s first Original Graphic Novel, Avengers: Endless Wartime. Overall, I was unimpressed and do not see myself picking up either Infinity or the Avengers OGN.

I also made sure to spend some money to show a little love to my local comic shop and picked up Gail Simone’s The Movement. I have not had a chance to read it yet but look forward to seeing what she has in store for me.

 

Written on May 6th, 2013 , Comics Tags: , , , , , ,
Funnybooks with Aron and Paulie: Musical Chairs at DC Comics!

  • Musical Chairs at DC
  • Batman 66 Returns
  • Angela in the Age of Ultron
  • All – New X-Men #9
  • Superior Spider-Man #6
  • Artifacts #26
  • Avengers #8
  • Constantine #1
  • Justice League of America #2
  • Justice League of America’s Vibe #2
  • Supergirl #18
  • Nightwing #18
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Infinite: Rocket Raccoon
  • Nova #2

Give us a call at 972-763-5903 and leave us your thoughts. If we use your voicemail, you’ll win an Ideology of Madness SurPrize.

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Written on March 24th, 2013 , Comics, DC, Funny Books with Aron & Paulie, Marvel, Podcasts Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Ron Marz’ Kyle Rayner: The Torch-Bearer

In 1994 writer Ron Marz was given the unenviable job of writing the story that would end Hal Jordon’s tenure as Green Lantern and create a new character to take his place.  Hal Jordon was a test pilot and knew no fear.  He was part of a Universe spanning police force and had decades of history.  Basically there was nothing even remotely approachable about the title.  He had begun to be defined more by his interactions with others than his own character.  With the death and return of Superman it was decided that this would be a good time to revamp Green Lantern.  This is where Kyle Rayner came in.

I doubt that Ron Marz knew at the time that this story would end up being one of the most controversial stories of the 90s.  Websites, petitions, and even organizations would grow out of the decisions he would make.  What this meant for comics as a whole is still debated to this day.  For me though what happened was one of my favorite characters – and one I would end up being able to share with my wife -  made his first appearance.  Kyle Rayner is and likely always will be my favorite Green Lantern.

Hal Jordon fans were angry about the way he was written out of the title.  Many claimed that death would have been acceptable, but seeing their hero fall from grace and destroy the Corps in the process was more than they could accept.  I personally enjoyed watching him go through a breakdown.  The city he protected was destroyed while he was away.  While his fans declared that it was out of character, I completely understood these events breaking him.  I think it would have broken anyone.

The second major controversy came from the death of Kyle’s girlfriend Alex.  This death has been pointed to as everything that is wrong with comics treatment of woman.  There is a claim that she was a two dimensional character whose sole function was to motivate Kyle with her death.  I question if the people who claim this have ever read the actual story.  Alex was an interesting and strong character.  She motivated Kyle to be a hero with her interactions.  Her death motivated him, but she had already made him a hero with her life.  It is sad to me that this character who I found to be one of my favorite supporting characters of the era has been marginalized not by the story, but by the controversy it triggered.

Despite the controversy and eventual retcons the Emerald Twilight\New Dawn stories were successful. Where Hal had become unrelateble Kyle was created to be the ultimate entrance character.  He was a super hero fan like us.  He wasn’t hand chosen for the role, but was just in the right place at the right time.  While other heroes were filled with confidence he continually doubted himself and didn’t really know where he fit into the world. You could imagine yourself in his role and picture how you would react to similar situations.  Since you cared about Alex her death shocked you as well and you could imagine how you would want to lash out at the person who had done it.

Kyle was a different kind of Green Lantern than had been portrayed before.  He didn’t answer to the Guardians, didn’t have a built in ring weakness, and was basically on his own.  The biggest difference though came from him being a freelance artist.  Kyle was more creative than previous Green Lanterns.  Hal might have been more efficient with a giant boxing glove, but Kyle had more style with a giant Hulk Hogan.  You never knew what Kyle would create next, but you knew it would be fun.  Despite life continuing to kick him the character was still upbeat and fun to read.

With the New 52 Universe Kyle has lost some the history that helped define him.  He was never the sole Green Lantern and was no longer responsible for single handedly recreating the Corps.  The father\son like relationship he had with Alan Scott never happened because Alan Scott only exists on Earth 2.  With the retcon of Alan Scott out of continuity Kyle has also lost one of his longest relationships with Alan’s daughter Jade.  Kyle continues to stand out as a special Lantern, but his rich back-story is lesser for these losses.

Written on February 22nd, 2013 , Comics, DC Tags: , , ,
Ron Marz and Lee Moder’s Shinku as RPG Setting

EDITOR’S NOTE:

As detailed earlier this week, we love Shinku by Ron Marz and Lee Moder.  In fact we love it so much, we want to enjoy that world a little more.  So we asked IoM contributor James from Black Guard Press to give us some campaign tips for a role playing game set in the Shink-u-niverse.

. . .

Shinku

Our noble name is also our glorious battle cry.

Long ago, our ancestors realized that fighting over the finite land of our island home was foolish.  As such, they set their sights on the larger world beyond the shores of Japan.  The mainlander dogs proved little challenge for the honor, skill and bravery of the noble warriors of the Empire of the Rising Sun.

With our honorable samurai in their lead, our military was able to conquer all who stood in their path.

This inevitable stride to glory did not stutter until we found ourselves in the dreary mountains that served as a border for the lands the primitive local referred to as Europe. Even then, the gaijins’ armies were no match for those of the Empire of the Rising Sun.

But dark, unnatural creatures stalked the night in this barbaric land.  These filthy beasts hungered for the noble blood of our people and were gifted with inhuman strength and abilities by the foul powers that they made their unholy pacts with.

These kyuuketsuki  were incapable of meeting us honorably and in the light of day but became a bane to us in the darkness of the night.  The non-Japanese in our ranks fell to these vampires and they infected many of them with their curse.  The blood of the true sons of the Empire was too pure, however and while the blood drinkers could slay us, they could not corrupt us and turn us into vampires. Read the rest of this entry »

Written on February 21st, 2013 , Comics, Image, Role Playing Games Tags: , , , , ,
Ravine: Finely Crafted, Stunning

I am a big fan of Shinku by Ron Marz. I enjoy his writing immensely and how can you not love samurai and vampires. I follow him on twitter and noticed him mentioning Ravine would be coming out soon. I was ignorant of this book and turned to the internet to do a little more research. I was very happy to learn that this was a creator-owned epic fantasy collaboration between Ron Marz and Stjepan Sejic. I was familiar with Sejic from his art in Witchblade and hearing the guys on Funnybooks talk about his work on Artifacts. It definitely sounded like something that I would enjoy and I was lucky enough to get to read this book.

Marz and Sejic decided to forgo the usual 22-page comic issue format for this story. They opted instead to go the route of the original graphic novel. This way the story can progress more organically without the need for a cliffhanger every 22 pages. The plan is to tell the story over several volumes. After reading this first story, I have to say that it was an excellent decision.

The world that the story is taking place in is large and textured. It has dragons, magic, and gods that one comes to expect from an epic fantasy. The two main differences are in the unique changes that Marz and Sejic bring to the genre. Instead of magic being just another force, it was one of the four gifts that the first dragons bestowed upon the world. People are able to tap into this power and direct it more safely through the scales of the dragons that populate the world. It is a cool take both on how magic came to be and how it works in the world. The story also has a definite Game of Thrones feel to it as well. It is a sprawling landscape filled with diverse people. They have been brought together in an alliance by the recent defeat of a powerful and evil necryte. The peace they are enjoying is turning out to be short-lived. Political factions from within begin to make their move to take power from the current king while darker powers begin attacking the borders as a prelude to something much worse. All the while, fate is moving pieces on the board to bring about change.

In case the finely crafted story that is taking place is not enough, there is the stunning artwork by Sejic. His style has a very photographic quality to it that brings a surreal feel to this story. I found it breathtaking. Early on in the story there is a confrontation where a daughter sacrifices herself to protect her fiance from her father. The reactions of the two combatants are displayed along the top and bottom of the two page spread with the center being a picture of the father. He is this terrifying creature dominating a battle-scarred landscape.  These two pages held me captivated for quite some time as they were just so powerful.

I really appreciated the the little extras at the back of the book as well. The cast of characters section with a small portrait of each character is very helpful in a story filled with such a large cast. I am also a big fan of glossaries when there are new words created to deal with different parts of the world. The glossary isn’t necessary as context is used well to define these new terms but it warms my heart to see it all the same.

I loved this book and am looking forward to the next visit to the land of Paladia to see how the story continues to unfold.

Written on February 20th, 2013 , Comics, Image Tags: , , ,
Shinku: Throne of Blood is Incredible, Gorgeous

I am fan of both vampires and samurai.  My penchant for these two genres has been kept to gaming, novels, and films.  I have been a player in White Wolf’s World of Darkness since inception.  The same can be said for Legend of the Five Rings.  Each of these games allowed me to take on the role of either a vampire or a samurai and enjoy my time in their world.  The movies I have watched to indulge my penchant for vampires has been numerous and mostly painful.  Samurai cinema has been much kinder to me though.  Comics is the only venue wherein I have not truly indulged in my love of  vampires and samurai.  I place the blame squarely on my ignorance of titles that would scratch this particular itch and my trepidation at trying anything outside of the big two.

It came as a pleasant surprise to me when I heard Aron and Paul discussing Shinku issue 5 on a recent episode of Funnybooks.  They were talking about a lone samurai woman fighting a clan of vampires in modern day Japan. This was a book that combined both of these genres and it sounded like it did it well.  I had to read this story.  Sadly, I was unable to locate physical copies of all five issues.  My local shop was kind enough to put them on order for me and I took solace in the digital copies.

I sat down to read them and devoured them in no time.

I feel like an idiot for not having read this book before now.  Ron Marz and Lee Moder have taken two of my favorite things and combined them in a fashion that is amazing.  The story and art of this book combine in such a fashion that makes it difficult form me to decide just where to begin in telling you about this book.

Words are my forte so it is wiser for me to tell you about the story first.  Shinku is the story of the last samurai of the Tadataka clan and her war against the Yagyu clan which is comprised solely of vampires.  The story begins, oddly enough, with a gaijin in a night club.  Heis there at the insistence of his Japanese friend who’s mission appears to be getting him laid.  Nothing can go wrong with this plan, right?  Davis, the aforementioned gaijin, approaches a beautiful woman dressed in a goth style and is quickly escorted out to the back ally for some entertainment.  Our hero, Shinku, rides to rescue on her iron horse decapitating the vampire before she has a chance to end the life of the dumfounded Davis.  He is quickly whisked away and taken into the world that Shinku inhabits.  It is his ignorance that provides for an excellent vehicle for exposition.  Having no time for pleasantries, Shinku quickly explains the world that Davis never knew existed. How the Yagyu clan, composed of vampires, now controlled Japan from the darkness after defeating her clan several hundred years prior.  All this within the first issue.  This firmly set this book’s hook into me.  What follows in the next four issues is the beginning of the struggle of Shinku and her two retainers to destroy all vampires and confront Asano, Daimyo of the Yagyu clan.

I loved how the story of the samurai interweaves throughout this tale of vampire hunting.  It is the second issue of the book that depicts this the best.  This issue open with the question of what is the meaning of samurai.  The words tell us what it means to be samurai while the pictures show us what it means to fail as samurai.  Mr. Marz then brings us to the modern day and shows us how Shinku embodies this definition even though she has no master to serve.  He uses the meeting of Asano and his vampiric underlings to provide a stark contrast to the determination and strength of a true samurai.  It is not until the end of the issue where the questions is asked “What happened to those who abused their position as samurai?”  It is here that we are both told and shown that one would be dispatched to end the embarrassment that such an offender created.  We learn that Shinku’s ancestor, Daimyo of the Tadataka clan, was just such a samurai and so is she.  Very powerfully artistry right there.

The art on this book is gorgeous.  Lee Moder handles the swings from ancient Japan to modern with aplomb.  The scenes set in ancient japan capture the feel of antique Japanese art without crossing the line into a cartoon caricature.  The colors on the book are also excellent.  The juxtaposition of the bright Japanese night life with the gray pallor of the vampires was very effective.  this contrast is used most effectively in the combat sequences.  The flashes of red following Shinku’s blade stand out even more against a backdrop of gray vampire flesh.  The covers themselves are just astonshing.  I’ve put the cover of Issue one at the top of this postand highly recommend checking out the others.

The first five issues of Shinku were incredible.  The story was fast-paced and engrossing and the artwork wonderful.  I highly recommend picking up this book.  I already have a spot picked out on my shelf for the trade.

Written on February 19th, 2013 , Comics, Image Tags: , , , ,
Funnybooks with Aron and Paulie: Death of the Family!

First off, let me apologize for Paul’s sound quality this week.  His Skype connection was not of the high caliber we usually enjoy and was in fact decidedly suckish.

Second, I had several titles for this week’s show vying for selection:  Mein Kampf 2: The Dark Fuhrer Strikes Again as well as Stealing Wolverine (and the X-Men).  Listen to find out why!

  • Tim’s Valentine’s Day and Fun with Pop
  • Geoff Johns leaving Green Lantern
  • D’N’A’ on Battlestar Galactica
  • Orson Scott Card and the Superman debacle in which Aron’s comic shop, Zeus Comics, boycotts the OSC Adventures of Superman books.
  • Toy Fair 2013
  • Batman #17
  • Batman and Robin #17 – PAT (and “Robin R.I.P”)
  • Batgirl #17
  • Injustice: Gods Among Us #5
  • Scarlet Spider #14
  • Fantastic Four #4
  • Uncanny X-Men #1
  • Wolverine and the X-Men #25
  • Ravine comes out next week!

Give us a call at 972-763-5903 and leave us your thoughts. If we use your voicemail, you’ll win an Ideology of Madness SurPrize.

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Written on February 18th, 2013 , Comics, DC, Funny Books with Aron & Paulie, Marvel, Podcasts Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Funnybooks with Aron and Paulie: Stephanie Brown Sucks!
  • Aron’s elevator story
  • Walking Dead and Comic Book Men
  • What happened to DC Nation?
  • Paul went to Toys R Us
  • Bendis/McNiven on GotG and Loeb/McGuinness on Nova
  • Avengers Assemble #8
  • New Avengers #31
  • The Mighty Thor #21
  • Green Lantern: New Guardians #13
  • Before Watchmen: Minutemen #4
  • Hawkeye #3
  • Cyberforce #1
  • The Darkness #107
  • Shinku #5
  • Harbinger #5
  • Batgirl Spoiled

Be sure to check out THE WALKING DEAD give-a-way!

Don’t miss the debut of an all-new Ideology of Madness podcast.  Three Beers and a Scotch is a monthly guy-talk, discussion show featuring reviews of three beers and a scotch each episode.

You can join the countdown to the return of Paul’s Mom Jokes… or Wayne’s expiration date.

KNIGHTS OF REIGNSBOROUGH NEWS: Season 2 is on; however, due to Aron’s schedule we are taking a six-week break from recording.  We have move than five shows in the hopper now, but that’s’ our cushion for production.  So we’re taking the next two release dates off.  But we’re not going to leave you hanging. The first of two more actual play recordings made at Fear the Con 5 was released: And a Little Child Shall Eat Them.

Give us a call at 972-763-5903 and leave us your thoughts. If we use your voicemail, you’ll win an Ideology of Madness SurPrize.

 

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Written on October 22nd, 2012 , Comics, DC, Funny Books with Aron & Paulie, Image, Marvel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Funnybooks with Aron and Paulie: TwitterPiece Theater!

You can join the countdown to the return of Paul’s Mom Jokes… or Wayne’s expiration date.

KNIGHTS OF REIGNSBOROUGH NEWS: Season 2 is on; however, due to Aron’s schedule we are taking a six-week break from recording.  We have move than five shows in the hopper now, but that’s’ our cushion for production.  So we’re taking the next two release dates off.  But we’re not going to leave you hanging. The first of two more actual play recordings made at Fear the Con 5 was released: And a Little Child Shall Eat Them.

Give us a call at 972-763-5903 and leave us your thoughts. If we use your voicemail, you’ll win an Ideology of Madness SurPrize.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Written on September 16th, 2012 , Comics, DC, Funny Books with Aron & Paulie, Marvel, Podcasts, Superhero Tags: , , , , , , ,
Funnybooks with Aron and Paulie: Ron Marz’s Prophecy!

We love Ron Marz here at Funnybooks. It’s been a while since we’ve had a guest on the show, so what better way to get back into the swing of things than to chat with friend of the podcast Ron about his newest project, Prophecy, from Dynamite Entertainment, now on comic shelves everywhere?  The massive event loops in most of Dynamite’s most popular properties, as well as some of the most popular literary characters of all time, in a storyline that has them taking on the Mayan Doomsday prophecy of 2012.

In addition to Prophecy, we also talk to him about the uber-excellent Artifacts, Shinku, and the ends of his runs on Magdalena and Voodoo.  Always a great interview, definitely check this out, and run to the store to pick up Artifacts and Prophecy!

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Written on June 5th, 2012 , Comics, Funny Books with Aron & Paulie, New Comic Book Day Interviews, Podcasts Tags: , , , , ,

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