Tagged: comic book
Grand Holiday Adventure With The Krampus?!! You Bet!
Ho Ho Ho & the horror of it all! I just finished the novel “Krampus: The Yule Lord” by Brom the other evening and it was an awesome holiday journey! Now this could in fact be old news to a lot of you out there, but I was only recently turned on to Brom by way of this here book. Even though I LOVE the Krampus mythology to death I wasn’t quite sure about delving into the book until I read one of the endorsements on the back cover by easily one of my favorite comic book writers and artists of all time, Mike Mignola. Yeah the man most well known for Hellboy was quoted saying “Terrific. A wild ride–the idea sounded like a stretch and I’m not sure how many guys could have really pulled it off, but Brom sure has. I loved it. It hooked me and I couldn’t put it down. Plus, the illustrations are amazing.”
At that moment I knew I was going to love this book to death. Turns out Mignola was dead on (of course), the book is simply an incredible epic ride. It reads more like a comic book and in my mind I had grand visions of Guillermo Del Toro adapting this one to film. It tells a the story of a man named Jesse who’s a down on his luck, boozin’ musician in West Virginia who lives in a trailer and longs to win the love of his ex-wife and daughter back. On Christmas eve though this year, after a night of drinking he spots something quite strange in the sky above, what appears to be “Santa” flying in his sleigh trying to fight off some sort of demonic men. As Jesse is no believer in Santa, he’s downright perplexed until this sleigh from the sky crashes nearby and he’s face to face in the dead of a cold winter’s night with the creatures himself. As he fights for his life he also stumbles upon something else that has fallen from the mysterious sleigh, an odd bag that seemingly has no bottom to it.
This begins a tale full of mystery, monsters, folklore and grand adventure. Don’t be fooled by the whole “Santa Claus” aspect of it though, this isn’t a kid’s book by any means. This story is filled to the brim with gore, scares, suspense and foul backwoods language. It’s also got a some great twists and turns in the plot that will have you guessing ’til the very end. And it doesn’t hurt that Brom has a truly unique way with words that puts you right there in all of the creepy action as he paints the perfect picture quite literally. Yes, Brom is also quite an amazing artist getting his start with Dungeons & Dragons way back in the day(yeah how cool is that!), this book has some truly breathtaking art within. I’m eagerly awaiting checking out more of this guy’s work.
I’ve gotta say it- now is the time to pick this book up it’s a must read this holiday season and appeared first back in 2012. Once you jump into the first chapter you won’t be able to stop reading, especially if you’re a fan of Christmas horror and Krampus mythos. The story is huge, Brom did his homework on the vast Krampus folklore but it’s kept to a very personal level following Jesse (who I picture in my head as kind of like Nick Stahl in Carnivale every time the character opens his mouth). I hope Mignola adapts this to comic book form or someone picks this up as a movie. I’d love to say more about this book but alas I wouldn’t dare want to spoil all of the surprises-Pick this up now, grab some spiked egg nog, a candy cane and curl up by the fire this season you won’t be disappointed! The Krampus is on the move this holiday season!! Here’s a cool interview with Brom:
Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool…Again….Why Am I Supposed to be Excited About This?
The big news it seems is that Ryan Reynolds will be reprising his role as Deadpool again-Yipee! Wait, why am I supposed to be excited about this again?! Oh wait, my bad he already played the character…in the most disappointing superhero flick of all time!! Yep “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” makes Brett Ratner’s X-men 3: The Last Stand look like an Academy Award winner! Yeah that Wolverine movie was THAT bad. So now we get the news that Reynolds is going to get a second chance, and I believe everyone deserves a second chance but it leads me to the question: Has Ryan Reynolds ever starred in an actual good movie ever?!
Hey Deadpool-Quit reminding me that we made that movie together ok?!!
Well he did star in R.I.P.D. which I um actually had to turn off because it was so bad. He starred in Blade: Trinity which well I think I may have actually left the theater during way back in 2004. Wait he did star already as a superhero, yeah you remember The Green Lantern from 2011? Nope me neither.
He starred in the sorta Ok-ish Amityville Horror remake, I guess. I know he was in some crappy romantic comedies one where he wore a fat suit or something. I mean is there any movie where he’s actually at least funny? I don’t mean to be a total hater here, but I was less than impressed with that crappy short Deadpool test run in which for some reason Deadpool was a totally not funny, crappy, fully CG character with Reynold’s voice-so what gives? Can someone tell me what all the fuss and excitement is all about already?!
Comic Pick of the Week: Hellboy & The B.P.R.D. #1!
I have been looking forward to Hellboy and The BPRD #1 for quite some time now and this first issue was a real treat for any fan. I’ve missed Hellboy (and Abe Sapien for that matter) in the pages of BPRD now for quite sometime and this series is giving us a first look at his first adventure ever with the team!
Mignola and John Arcudi (one of my favorite writers) team up again this time with Alex Maleev making this an epic event. I’ve been in love with Maleev’s brilliant artwork since his legendary long run on Daredevil he did years ago with Brian Michael Bendis. He’s easily one of my favorite modern comic book artists and his work on this book thus far doesn’t disappoint. This is also the perfect time for anyone who was thinking about getting into the Hellboy universe to get on board, as the universe is at this point pretty vast. This shows us what the red devil was like on his first paranormal outing with a team.
The story is a simple premise thus far. Professor Trevor Bruttenholm assembles a team of human BPRD agents to take a younger Hellboy on a mission to the jungles of Brazil to investigate a series of over thirty murders. They head out to a small village where the townsfolk claim a strange creature has been blamed. The team, a bit reluctant about bringing Hellboy along find refuge there near a huge ominous castle.
This is a great set up issue, with awesome artwork, creepy locales and a cool mystery brewing. This is the kind of book I love. The series is planned to cover each year, in 2015 covering 1953 and so on. I can’t wait to see who we meet along the way as the BPRD fills it’s ranks with likely more odd characters, so buy this book and maybe we’ll get that third Hellboy flick we have been waiting for!
Comic Book Cover of the Week: Conan The Barbarian Hits the NYC Streets?!
What If was one of the coolest Marvel Comic books ever, it was kinda like a weird ass Twilight Zone episode starring your favorite characters! This cover here to What If #13 is a personal favorite and it wouldn’t be the last time Conan grazed the pages of this particular title. He’d go on to face off with the likes of Thor and Wolverine as well here. But this at the time was a trippy idea-what if Conan walked the Earth today? You just know that he’d get into some major shit as it clearly shows by the situation arising on the cover here. This was way back in 1978(notice the Star Wars poster in the background!) and this cover was beautifully drawn by John Buscema and Ernie Chan! A true classic!!
Ex Disney Animator gets FREAKY With Swedish Metal Band’s New Video!
Whoah! Now here we have quite an interesting music video! Awesome fully animated video by Freak Kitchen a Swedish band from the early 90’s that I’ve never heard of before today! Anyway I am a little undecided about how much I actually like the this song, but one thing is certain-the kickstarter funded music video is totally breathtaking!!
Even more interesting is that is was done by Juanjo Guarnido most famously known for his work as head animator on Disney’s Tarzan and his work with Marvel Comics…One thing is for certain this video make me miss hand drawn animation in a big way-check this shit out!
The Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer: Did it Deliver?!
I know, The Avengers: Age of Ultron probably doesn’t need any more hype, as it’s clearly on it’s way to probably being the most successful movie of all time. But to not chime in a little on this one would be a crime right? I was a big fan of the first one, it was a damn fun movie, I finally got a pretty decent Hulk (though I still am not a fan of an entirely CG character) and it merged all the other Marvel movies together seamlessly. Now I’ll say this I’m not sure that The Avengers with all of it’s slick computerized fx will age very well and I to be honest I wasn’t a huge fan of Loki & The Chitauri as the films main villains. But regardless now we have the first trailer for the second installment and it looks pretty damn awesome! So here it is again, like this fucking thing needs any more attention with it’s near thirty million views in like 2 days…
It’s clear the movie is going for a darker almost apocalyptic vibe to it. It’s tone is much more serious and the trailer clearly lets us know this movie is filled with secrets and clues to future Marvel movies. The first look at Ultron was chilling too, he’s a creepy ass robot the way he should be, so I’m tickled pink that they got that right. It promises to an epic battle between The Hulk and Iron Man (or possibly Iron Man’s armor under the control of Ultron?) that I can’t wait to see. It’s clear there’s some sort of problem with Tony Stark in this one that I suspect could set up the movies for the Civil War plot they have been talking about. I also see potential for maybe a Planet Hulk flick coming out of this one. I cannot wait to see the Vision! And this messed up romance!
Now as cool as Ultron looks I wish and hope that there’s more to flick in way of super villains. I love Ultron, but the whole idea of The Avengers fighting another huge ass group of guys who look the same (ahem the Chitauri in the first film and army of Ultrons this time)) again might be the one thing that I am not too thrilled with. I really would love instead to see some Avengers villains really get into the next movie. Give me The Masters of Evil, Baron Zemo, The Super Skrull, The Absorbing Man, The Leader, M.O.D.O.K., The Wrecking Crew for cryin’ out loud!! Where are all these great villains dammit?
I wanna see the Avengers take on a team of bad guys like in the comic books-Let’s get a roster of great actors for the third movie with a final superhero/villain battle unlike anything we’ve ever seen on film. I cross my fingers for part three to deliver this and more. In the meantime though I am pretty damn pumped about The Age of Ultron, it somehow looks leaps and bound more exciting than the first one. It seems Marvel just can’t be stopped, let’s see Fox or Sony or hell even DC top this! It’s an exciting time to be a fan of the superhero…
Cool Indie Comic Book Alert: Help Push “The Plowshare”!!
There’s nothing I love more than seeing friends with great ideas and talent get out there and make their dreams a reality! So I was downright intrigued when I saw this cool comic book project pop up on Kickstarter, from people back in my hometown of Neenah, Wisconsin, a place where I spent much of my youth! It’s always been a dream of mine to write and or illustrate a comic book of my own. I spend a fair amount of time drawing these days, mainly for our weekly D&D games where I illustrate the games villains and player characters (which I will be posting here shortly), but I have never attempted a real legit comic book. So after taking a closer look at “The Plowshare” I couldn’t help but feel incredibly inspired!
This comic written by Doug Flaherty and beautifully illustrated by Dan Wheeler tells a rather chilling tale: “Eager to escape the big city, if only for a day, our unnamed male character follows railroad tracks deep into the country where he, by pure chance, finds himself in a field where numerous men are engaged in a ritual which leads to the death of the revered leader. Our man from the city faces the horror that he might be snatched and held as a future sacrifice.”
It’s clear that Wheeler is on top of his game here, his art is stunning and it’s a bit baffling that he’s not a big name in today’s comic scene. I have a feeling that if this project meets it’s goals that may soon change. Doug Flaherty sites Neil Gaiman as a major influence, and to me that’s quite a good first sign as to this little project’s promise. It’s refreshing doing a post here for something like this that isn’t connected to a giant corporation, spitting out mind numbing stories by the boatload. I love a great original idea being pushed by an underdog and proving that you don’t need to rely on a company with big bucks to get your ideas out there to the public, thanks to modern technology. It’s power to the people and the time is now to do it. So Take a second to check out this dark tale right here at The Plowshare’s official Kickstarter page!! They need the funding to get this printed and into people’s hands and every little bit helps!
Fastner & Larsen’s Classic 1980’s Comic Book Paintings!!
As a kid I loved the Fastner & Larsen superhero paintings they did back in the 1980’s which were often sold as portfolios! These two started out drawing fantasy & scantily clad sci fi pin up girls and muscle bound dudes, I’d imagine that Frank Cho must have had mega inspiration from these two. Eventually they were approached by Marvel to do some work and boy did they ever! As a kid I had these portfolios and they still today remain some of my favorite pics of some of my favorite superheroes. Today these guys still do amazing art check out their website, and check out some of these classic comic book paintings from yesteryear! Stuff like this is why I love comic books today sooo much!
Comic Book Cover of The Week: Mazzucchelli Batman and Daredevil!
I think this awesome cover to Batman #405 (better known as “Year One, Part 2”) deserves to showcased here. First of all it’s proves that sometimes simplicity works best for an effective comic book cover! Second it’s drawn by one of my favorite comic book artists, David Mazzucchelli! In my opinion his version of Batman is perfect, forget the battle armor kevlar BS, this is the perfect Dark Knight stripped down and dirty. This was a great series too written by classic writer Frank Miller (now a total D-Bag) it’s considered now one of the best Batman Stories of all time.
Mazzucchelli also drew some of the best Daredevil comics of all time (also teaming up with Frank Miller), in a similar tone he proves that Daredevil is Marvel’s Batman. This has inspired me to get the full scoop on what David Mazzucchelli is up to now, so expect a post on that soon!
The New Batmobile: The Verdict is In!
Today we get a picture of the latest Batmobile for the upcoming Superman Vs. Batman flick. I’m going to say this, to be honest I wasn’t a fan of the Nolan Batmobile and to me this new version looks like it’s on a similar path. These military style combat machines just don’t register for me as a “Batmobile” in any way shape or form. I’m not a fan of Batman crusin’ around in some sort of fast moving tank. To me the Batmobile should be a sleek, fast and powerful vehicle. I know it’s considered cheezy now but I really liked the original from the 1960’s, now that was bad ass! I’m not saying Batman should go retro, though honestly that would be pretty cool if Batman actually had cool style and decided he was going to drive something more classic. Instead of something that looks like it’s headed to War in Iraq.
Not the case in 2014, nope Batman has got one thing in mind, killing people with his huge fucking guns he’s got mounted on his hulking beast of a road machine! I’m a little doubtful of this movie honestly, I’m not a big fan of Zack Snyder to tell you the truth. His movies in my opinion don’t age well and though he’s got good intentions I believe, I think his whole “dark”, “gloomy” & “gritty” approach and look is a bit dated already. The whole “emo dude” Superman didn’t work for me either. I’m not certain DC is gonna have the same success as Marvel with this universe they are trying to create. Time will tell I guess but in the meantime here’s a coupla’ Batmobiles I personally dig….
If Batman was actually a cool guy he’d have this one out on the streets!
The Classic is still amazing…
Universal Dork 