MATT WAGNER TALKS About WILL EISNER'S THE SPIRIT! - COSMIC TREADMILL AT FORCES OF GEEK

FOG! Chats With MATT WAGNER About WILL EISNER’S THE SPIRIT!

Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) is this week and Dynamite Entertainment gave us an inside scoop about some upcoming announcements.

At the top of the stack is today’s solicitation for the complete creative team for the July’s new ongoing Will Eisner’s The Spirit written by Matt Wagner and drawn by Dan Schkade (San Hannibal). Also, notably, keep on the lookout for some amazing covers by Alex Ross, The Goon’s Eric Powell and so many more.

Of course Matt is most well known for such classics as Grendel, Mage, Sandman Mystery Theatre and a number of memorable Batman stories — my favorite being Batman: Faces (Legends of the Dark Knight). 

Recently at Dynamite he has taken on Green Hornet, Zorro and The Shadow—so no one was surprised at Matt being assigned to scribe Eisner’s The Spirit.

Well, maybe Matt was, and he is here to join us and tell us about it!

FOG!: Matt, thanks for joining us today! The Spirit ongoing is exciting news, and we’re excited you are the one to take it on, though you’ve mentioned that even for you this is intimidating! What made you relent to the requests to take on Denny Colt?

Matt Wagner: Well, I’ve been a big fan of both Eisner and The Spirit for many, many years. As a result of my reverence for both the creator and the property, I at first said, “No” when Dynamite offered me the chance to write an all-new relaunch in honor of the character’s 75th anniversary. 

But both Dynamite publisher Nick Barrucci and their Editor-in-Chief Joe Rybandt were both persistent in getting me on board; “We think you’re perfect for this gig!” Eventually, they broke through my resistance and now I’m happy they did.

When did you first get inspired by Eisner or The Spirit?

I first discovered The Spirit via the over-sized, B&W reprints from Warren Publications in the mid 70s. 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK ]

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Triple Shot: TITHE #1, CONVERGENCE: BATMAN - SHADOW OF THE BAT #1 & HARROW COUNTY #1 Preview at FORCES OF GEEK

Its back to basics for this comics reporter this week with a throwback Thursday Triple-Shot!

What’s better than some single issue comic reviews to get you out to the store this week and enjoy that spring weather. Matt Hawkins (Top Cow President, Think Tank) safecracks his way into a mega-church with The Tithe #1 and Larry Hama (G.I. Joe, Wolverine) takes on Batman and the classic Dark Knight substitute Azrael in Convergence: Shadow of the Bat #1.

The fine folks over at Dark Horse let us have a sneak peak at Cullen Bunn’s Harrow County #1, mentioned in our interview a few weeks ago!

THE TITHE #1
WRITER: Matt Hawkins
ART:  Rahsan Ekedal

Publication Date: April 15, 2015
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Top Cow/Image Comics
UPC: 70985301875900111
Buy it HERE

The Tithe refers to the 10% donation of wages donated to a church or religious organization. Actually, there’s a verb form of that word as well as a noun, and the tradition is ancient so don’t come after me with pitchforks if I’m only slightly correct!

Last year, we talked with Top Cow President Matt Hawkins about his spy-fi comic Think Tank. I enjoy listening to Matt’s views on comics creation and running the Top Cow brand in various podcasts and interviews.

Matt and artist Rahsan are at it again with The Tithe. Three armed robbers invade one of those Disney mega-churches at Sunday mass in Jesus masks.

In the front of house, a young lady highjacks the television screens a la ‘Anonymous’ with images of the pastor Miles Tibett in ungodly compromising positions and spending the churches’ money on extravagances. This organization is called “SAMARITAN” on the teleprompter signoff.

This is at the heart a great heist story, with religion and mega-churches as the playground. The FBI investigates SAMARITAN and other misallocated and tax-free accounting from the church with two very cool and opposite leads. Dwayne Campbell, a Baptist and believer is a family man. His partner Jimmy is a younger dude, a ‘hacker’ (apologies, not even Mr. Hawkins has a better name for this kind of computer savvy security breaching tech nerd gone good) and an atheist.

As what follows traditionally in Matt’s creator-owned books are some essays, behind the scenes to his research and a bit on his background as a former churchgoer turned atheist.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

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Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. April 15, 2015

COMICS

Velvet #10 concludes Brubaker & Epting’s (Captain America) second arc of the lady super spy - highly recommended for female for fans of Agent Carter! … Sabrina the Teenage Witch #2 puts a dark and evil spin on the Archie character in this reimagining. Recommended for everyone, especially the goth girl inside of us all! The Arashikage are after Snake-Eyes and that means Storm Shadow in Snake-Eyes Agent of Cobra #4 (of 5). … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com!

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Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. April 8, 2015

COMICS

Brian Michael Bendis is ending the longest Spider-Man run in history as universes collide in Marvel’s Secret Wars. Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man #12 caps off the Ultimate Spidey universe after 15 years. The Mad Men-esque prequel to Mark Millar and Frank Quietly’s Jupiter’s Legacy starts today in Jupiter’s Circle #1. The Fox #1 kicks off a new ongoing from Dark Circle creators Mark Waid and Dean Haspiel—a superhero series for all ages 8-80! … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com!

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DAREDEVIL: YELLOW: Preparation For The Netflix Premiere at FORCES OF GEEK

Digital comics retailer Comixology anticipated my heightened amplitude and heard my heartbeat though my chest in anticipation of Marvel’s Daredevil next week.

Comixology had a Daredevil sale and I revisited Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s Daredevil: Yellow (2001). The all-star creative team was finished off by Matt Hollingsworth on colors and Richard Starkings with Wes Abbott on letters. Ask your LCS for a hard copy.

In preparation to mainline 12 hours of television next week (over a couple of days, I’m not entirely nuts!) I pulled Yellow and some other books off of the virtual shelf to get ready for Marvel’s first binge-worthy endeavor.

And until ‘binge-worthy’ is decreed out of the lexicon for being cringe-worthy, I’ll continue to use the word. Order in the court! Sustained!

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

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Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. April 1, 2015

COMICS

Way back in the day, we interviewed Chris Lewis about Drones #1, today IDW re-releases the Las Vegas style War book. It’s like your favorite basement band being picked up by your favorite label! … Jasons Aaron and Latour keep up the gut wrenching ball busting hazing in the high school football locker room with Southern Bastards #8 closing the chapter of the second arc of the evil ‘Coach Boss’. Longstanding innovative fantasy comic Elfquest: The Final Quest Vol. 1 continues tales of Chief Cutter and his Wolfriders. … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com!

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FOG! Chats With CULLEN BUNN about THE SIXTH GUN: DUST TO DUST - Forces of Geek

Interview conducted by Clay N Ferno
The Sixth Gun is headed toward its final issues but the legacy of the Western will live on.

Before the close of the final The Sixth Gun ongoing series at issue #50, Cullen Bunn explores the story of one of the more important and favored characters of the book, Billjohn O’Henry in the latest mini-series The Sixth Gun: Dust to Dust from Oni Press.

You’re Darn Tootin’ we were able to wrangle some precious time from the very busy Cullen (Hellbreak, Empty Man, Magneto, Brides of Helheim to name a few!) to tell us about Dust To Dust with art by Tyler Crookm as well as another upcoming project.

The Sixth Gun: Dust to Dust can be best described as Lovecraft meets the Spaghetti Western. Issue #2 comes out April 15, so don’t forget to tell your LCS to order some more of this three issue mini and the trades while you are at it!

FOG!: Cullen, thanks for joining us today! Issue #1 of The Sixth Gun: Dust to Dust is out, starring favorite bounty hunter Billjohn O’Henry. Why go back to this, the story of Billjohn?

Cullen Bunn: Thanks for talking with me! Billjohn O’Henry, the star of The Sixth Gun: Dust to Dust, is near and dear to me, so I love talking about the book! Billjohn is my favorite character in the series, but we’ve seen so little of his life before his adventure with Drake Sinclair began. I thought it might be nice to take a look at the man before he got himself turned into a mud golem!

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

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FOG! Chats With Cartoonist SCOTT McCLOUD About 'THE SCULPTOR' (interview PART 2)

Interview conducted by Clay N Ferno

In 1984, Scott McCloud established a name for himself with his creator owned series, Zot!, receiving a number of Harvey and Eisner award nominations.  He brought Zot! to an end in 1990, after 36 issues.

McCloud returned to comics in 1993 with his book, Understanding Comics, which established him as a comics theorist, presenting a definition, history, vocabulary, and methods of the medium of comics in the form of a graphic novel.  He went on to write two additional books on theory including Reinventing Comics and Making Comics, as writing several Superman Stories and a graphic novel, The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln.

Last month, Sony Pictures acquired the movie rights to Scott McCloud’s newest creation The Sculptor, his first full length graphic novel.

The Sculptor tells the story of artist David Smith, who makes a deal with Death to sculpt anything he can imagine with his bare hands.  After learning that he only has 200 days to live, and suddenly discovering the love of his life makes the decision of what to create harder than he thought.

The comic book scholar and auteur, McCloud, took some time with us to talk the comic creation process beyond his books in the Understanding Comics and his creator owned Zot! series.

Scott also questions the carbon date of The Golden Age of comics. Was that in the past or are we living it today?

FOG!: Thank you so much for joining us to talk about your book. Your books have formed my college years and were part of my curriculum and really helped me understand the language of comics and even more-so, the possibilities of what comics can be. Thanks for giving us the tools and the language to talk about comics like that.

Scott McCloud: That’s encouraging to hear because it has always been about potential.

Even since I was very young, about what comics can do. That has loomed a lot larger for me than what they have done.

I have always hoped that we had greater things in the future than in the past.

A lot of people are very nostalgic about comics, for them it is about celebrating the wondrous Golden Age — I don’t know, I think The Golden Age is now.


It is always good to be looking at the present and to the future for sure. Did you grow up here (Boston, MA)?

I was born in the area, Lexington, MA. I lived there for the first eighteen years of my life. My family had that house for six years when I was born and had it for another 6 or 7 after I left.

How did you get into comics? Were they always part of your life when you were growing up as a kid and that fostered you into wanting to be a creator?

I was a real snooty little kid. I read real books and I turned down my nose at comics.

People are going to be surprised at that!

At the age of 12 or so, I thought I was too old for comics. I had seen some superhero comics at friend’s houses and it just didn’t do it for me. I was sitting there reading Arthur C. Clarke or Tolkien. I was into Ben Bova at one point, Asimov. Stuff like comics seemed to be crudely drawn. I just wasn’t into that stuff.

But I was friends with a guy named Kurt Busiek in middle school. Kurt and I played chess and billiards. He would come over after school to escape his father who kept giving him pointless jobs to do.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

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Cosmic Treadmill: Black Mask Studios' CRITICAL HIT #1-4 (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Matt Miner (Toe Tag Riot) follows up his animal activist comic Liberator from Black Mask Studios with a spin-off starring Jeanette and Sarah on their own adventures.

Pre-orders for the collected edition are being sorted for the May release of Volume 1, so Earth Crisis and pit bull fans should get the word to the LCS.

Black Mask Studios recently launched a new YouTube channel for ‘tubecomics’ — motion comics versions of your favorites, including a prequel for Critical Hit with Liberator - tubecomic episode 1.1.

Jeanette and Sarah’s adventures aren’t always legal and they definitely aren’t safe, and this first volume of Critical Hit exposes the real risks and dangers of sticking it to the man!

Issue #1 starts out with our protagonists going hard on an ‘action’, smashing vehicles and invading cabins in the woods. The cabins are for deer hunters in the area, and Jeanette and Sarah do their best to destroy the camp with a firestorm.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

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Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. March 25, 2015

COMICS

Truly Outrageous! That’s right, Jem is back with her Holograms in a brand new #1. Facing the neon and non-devilock sporting Misfits, girls and boys will be stoked on the fashion, music and comic fun for the modern age! … Continuing our Hasbro theme, how about jumping on to Transformers: Windblade Combiner Wars #1 as Windblade defends her homeworld. …Not to be forgotten from this IDW toy-based comic celebration is Snake-Eyes in Agent of Cobra #3! What, did we think Hasbro would send the Dig Offices a crate of free toys for all of these plugs? I dunno—did we? … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com!

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Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. MARCH 11, 2015

COMICS

Local cat Joe Quinones draws the foul fowl Howard the Duck in a new #1 written by Sex Criminal’s Chip Zdarsky! This book guaranteed to cure any mallardy! One of Valiant’s most popular heroes is Ninjak—perhaps he’ll be in on the newly announced Valiant Comics movie deal! Check out Ninjak in a brand new #1! Dirk Manning’s Tales of Mr. Rhee Karmageddon concludes at issue #4 from Devil’s Due. Can Mr. Rhee save the children under his care or will devilish evil take over the Earth? … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com!

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Cosmic Treadmill: JAY PISCOPO Chats About The Return of CAPT'N ELI and SEA GHOST Action Figure Launch at FORCES OF GEEK

Back in 2012, I interviewed Maine comic book artist and creator Jay Piscopo about his take on Captain Midnight, and his Kirby/Toth sendup Sea Ghost.

Sea Ghost is just one of the many characters starring in the Capt’n Eli ‘Nemoverse’ that heads into its third volume of all ages friendly comic book fare.

Jay will warn you this isn’t for kids, and I agree—this is just great comic book storytelling. And the fact that he draws like the aforementioned masters doesn’t make me want to turn away.

Jay joins us on the Cosmic Treadmill this week to plumb to the depths of The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli Vol. 3 as well as his awesome action figure for Sea Ghost — sure to be a hit with Mego collectors!

FOG!: Thanks for joining us, Jay! It has been a while. There are all new adventures in Capt’n Eli Vol. 3. What can the readers expect this time around?

Jay Piscopo: Thanks Clay! Good to talk to you again! Yes, Capt’n Eli is back!

Book 3 is another installment in Eli’s never ending story. At the end of Book 2, Capt’n Eli and Commander X saved Princess Coral of the undersea kingdom of Aquaria but the ramifications are huge.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

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Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. March 4, 2015

COMICS

Descender #1 is Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen’s future scifi already optioned for a movie! TIM-21 is your new robot friend! Check out the League interview with Jeff. The original Spawn Al Simmons is back in Spawn: Resurrection #1 written by Brian Wood (Star Wars, DMZ). Princess Leia #1 from Mark Waid and Terry Dodson catches up with Miss Organa after the events of A New Hope, looking to answer the question of what is a princess without a home world? …Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com!

MARVEL'S AGENT CARTER S1E8 "Valediction" (SEASON FINALE review) at FORCES OF GEEK

We begin the final episode of Marvel’s Agent Carter in the radio studio recapping the fall of Captain America over the Sea of Japan.

This radio drama serves as a reminder that this episode is the final chapter, echoing the end of Captain America: The First Avenger.

While this series can lean on being infuriatingly chauvinistic and over the top at points — for and toward great dramatic effect — this time it is accurate.

Great Job, Stacey! XO

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Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. FEBRUARY 25, 2015

COMICS

Seems like you can’t spin a web in this town without hearing some Spidey News. From his team-up in Avengers to casting speculations, what we do know is that the Webb-era is behind us. Introducing Spider-Gwen #1, wherein the Spider-Verse cashes in on our wide-eyed favorite girlfriend of Peter Parker—this time with Spider-Powers! … You’ve been hit by, you’ve been struck by Brubaker’s Criminal. Criminal One-Shot that is, from Image this time. This ’70s crime series is already a hit and this is a brand new 48-page story. … Dungeons & Dragons Baldur’s Gate #5 wraps up the first arc with dragon slaying action! Go for the eyes, Boo! … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com!

Cosmic Treadmill: LEGO JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. BIZARRO JUSTICE LEAGUE (review) AT FORCES OF GEEK

What is this, Bizarro World?” clearly is one of my favorite The Simpsons quotes from Comic Book Guy from the running tape in my brain because something is usually going against my will or better judgement in my surroundings.

To which I might now answer, “NO, this isn’t Bizarro World, its better - LEGO Bizarro world!

Yes, I’ll admit me am hungry for more LEGO movie action since last year’s blockbuster so when I got my hands on this sweet LEGO Justice League vs. Bizarro Justice League set, complete with Batzarro minifig, my hunger was sated … for now!

The Two-Disc set includes the typical DCU talking head making of documentary but also another adventure with our Super Friends at the brick Hall of Justice in DC Comics Super Heroes: Batman: Be-leaguered.

It may be no surprise to anyone that I really enjoyed this one!

Especially with two episodes thrown in and the mini-fig, this is a great deal.

Specifically with the packaging, the Blu-Ray + DVD + Ultraviolet copy makes it easy to share but also looks great on my big screen TV (a recent purchase and I always prefer a physical disc for HD media).

Batman is voiced by Troy Baker this go-around (LEGO Batman 3, Arkham franchise as various) but carries on a bit of that swagger and darkness that Will Arnett flavored The LEGO Movie with “More Darkness!”.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

KEL SYMONS Speaks With FOG! About His Comics REYN and THE MERCENARY SEA! - FORCES OF GEEK

Kel Symons is a producer and director and now at the helm of two great Image Comics books! Last year’s acclaimed The Mercenary Sea took at look at The Pacific Theatre in the days before the Big One, and this year’s Reyn (next issue, #2 hits shelves Wednesday, February 18) is a swashbuckling D&D fantasy affair with a hero who’s not going to be easy to root for.



Kel takes a ride on the Cosmic Treadmill to get to the depths of the sea and over yonder valley, sword in hand!


FOG!: So much to cover, Kel! Thanks for joining us! Let’s start with The Mercenary Sea. First of all, your pre-WWII sea adventure book got some great feedback last year. Not many stories take place on a submarine. How did you get to placing this story in an historical context and in a cool undersea boat?

KEL SYMONS: Yeah, I was surprised as anyone that readers seemed to dive right into it (pun sorta intended…). As for how the idea came about, I think mostly I missed my space-friends from Firefly, and also wanted to relive the thrills of my childhood with Raiders of the Lost Ark. The two came together rather seamlessly to form The Mercenary Sea.

A motley crew of adventurers and mercenaries trying to carve out an existence in the wild frontier of the South Seas against a backdrop of war.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

DIRK MANNING Chats With FOG! About TALES OF MR. RHEE: "KARMAGEDDON" Kickstarter Campaign at FORCES OF GEEK

We love it when a campaign comes together! With over $10k raised for friend of the FOG!, Dirk Manning’s new Tales of Mr. Rhee Karmageddon.

Our Hero Mr. Rhee has paranormal abilities and in this volume heads out to protect a family of orphans in what becomes quite an interesting road trip. Demons, monsters and Cthulhu all make an appearance in this post-armageddon world.



Here’s Dirk to stretch out that origin story and tell us about the rest of his campaign!

FOG!: Dirk! Thanks so much for taking off your mask and revealing yourself to us for Tales of Mr. Rhee: “Karmageddon” in this Kickstarter Korner!

DIRK MANNING: Thanks for having me here, dude! It’s a pleasure!

You see, normally we get ahead of these campaigns, or get in on the ground floor, or the home stretch. You’ve really done it, man. You reached your goal already! How did you do it, man? Mysticism? The occult?

Honestly? I’m blown away by how quickly things have escalated with the Kickstarter for Tales of Mr. Rhee: “Karmageddon.” We hit our funding goal of $6,666 dollars in under eight hours, and as I type this – six days into the campaign – we’re already only a few hundred dollars away from our THIRD stretch goal! What can I say? Horror comic fans are very passionate and very dedicated!

Well, that, and being a devoted acolyte of The Great Cthulhu doesn’t hurt, either. [laughs]

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. FEBRUARY 11, 2015

COMICS

The League has a great interview up today with Tom Scioli, writer/artist on Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #5 things are really heating up on Cybertron! … Spoiler Warning - we suggest Machete Order if you MUST include the prequels in your Star Wars viewing experience. Today, heavy breathing Daddy Darth Vader gets a new comic set right after the events in IV (A New Hope). … Lots of bad guys this week as Gail Simone’s Secret Six #2 returns to get to the bottom of Catman’s secret!… Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com!

JEFF LEMIRE Chats With FOG! About 'DESCENDER' on the Cosmic Treadmill at FORCES OF GEEK

That escalated quickly! Before our tape machine was cold with a hot interview with one of the most in-demand writers in the business Jeff Lemire (All-New Hawkeye, Green Arrow, Sweet Tooth, Trillium, Swamp Thing) about his scorching hot new book with Dustin Nguyen (Lil’ Gotham, Detective Comics), Sony acquired the feature film rights to Descender!


Published by Image Comics, Descender is a new science fiction comic appearing on shelves in March, and Jeff was kind enough to take the time to tell us about TIM-21, working with Dustin and creating a whole new universe.

FOG!: Thanks for joining us, Jeff! We’re here to talk about Descender with Dustin Nguyen. What is an overview of the book for our readers out there?

JEFF LEMIRE: Descender is a new monthly science fiction series for Image Comics that I am writing and Dustin Nguyen is drawing and painting.

The high concept is that it centers on a young boy, a robot named TIM-21 in a universe that has outlawed all robots and androids. There is something very special about TIM that everyone seems to want a piece of.

This is TIM’s adventure and quest to discover his own origin and the mystery surrounding his origin in a universe that hates and fears him, slowly building new friendships and companions as he jumps from planet to planet and gets closer to discovering the truth of who he is.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]