EARTH PRIME TIME: DMC GRAPHIC NOVEL AT BOSTON COMIC CON

Continuing our preview of Boston Comic Con and this weekend (starting today!), Earth Prime Time cracked the tape on the mylar bag that is this column to share with you big news for comics and hip hop. Darryl “DMC” McDaniels will be previewing the October release of DMC Graphic Novel #1 at Boston’s ever expanding convention. Dig comic guy and Adidas fan Clay N. Ferno moderates the Darryl Makes Comics panel on Saturday in the Amphitheater at 4pm.

Available exclusively at #BostonCon is an issue #0 of DMC with a Boston Comic Con convention ‘variant’ cover. These are typically the hottest items at a show of any size, but when you cram an already iconic logo with DMC sandwiched between two red bars, you have the most recognizable symbol in hip hop. Comic artist and convention guest Koi Pham (Daredevil, Avengers, Scarlet Spider) apes Steranko’s 1968 Incredible Hulk Special #1 with a new hero about to be squished like Atlas. It’s DMC with Godfather hat, fat gold chain and Ultra Goliath shades! Only 100 will be available!

One of the interior art teams — MadTwiinz Mike and Mark Davis — with be joining DMC at the panel Saturday. These dudes have worked on a ton of animation you’ve seen before, Boondocks, Black Dynamite and How To Train Your Dragon:Riders of Berk. I can’t say much about the pages secretly slipped out of a gatefold for me to peep, but I can use words like ‘dynamic’, ‘colorful’, ‘fun’ and dope!

The book, now available for Diamond pre-order (JUL141175) is set place in an alternate 1980s. In this history, instead of rocking a mic and becoming a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, dude takes his knuckle rings to the streets…to mete out justice!

What we’ve seen so far is fun street level superhero action, like Marvel heroes Daredevil and Luke Cage. You might ask yourself what it’s like to be a superhero. DMC made himself one and it’s awesome. With nods to the New York City run by Ed Koch that birthed hip hop legends DMC with Wild-Style graffiti and turnstile jumping this truly is a different comic story and one worth reading.

Launching a comic in this market is hard, we know, we’ve done it. But launching a whole new publishing imprint is even harder. That’s what (D)arryl (M)akes (C)omics is, an imprint. We’re thinking that what we’ve seen in these pages combined with one of the rap’s pioneer’s singular vision of a comic book company could be great for the industry. Recent books by Ghostface and MF Grimm have done well to pave the way for these three stripes to be kickin’ the comic market straight in the teeth.

BOSTON COMIC CON. SEAPORT WORLD TRADE CENTER, 200 SEAPORT BLVD., BOSTON. FRI 8.8 – SUN 8.11. FOR FULL EVENT DETAILS VISIT BOSTONCOMICCON.COM

DMC (of RUN DMC) – DARRYL MAKES COMICS PANEL W/ CLAY N. FERNO. AMPITHEATER AT BOSTON COMIC CON. SAT 8.9 AT 4PM.

LEAGUE PODCAST IS AT BOSTON COMIC CON BOOTH W3

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THE FOX: FREAK MAGNET (GN Review) - COSMIC TREADMILL AT FORCES OF GEEK

Just before Archie Comics superhero imprint Red Circle Comics gets eclipsed by the grittier, jaw gnashing Dark Circle Comics (imagine lots of lightning and silhouettes), The Fox Vol.1: Freak Magnet is collected for your enjoyment.

Written and illustrated by Dean Haspiel with heavy scripting help from Mark Waid (Daredevil, Thrillbent).

A classic comics creative team J.M. DeMatteis along with Mike Cavallaro (pencils, color), Terry Austin (inks) and John Workman (letters) set WWII comics on it’s side with tie-in back up story “The Face of Hate,” a cornerstone of the whole volume. 

If you remember comics being fun, bad guys getting punched, and if heroes leaping between dimensions gets you trotting, please check out this all-ages friendly The Fox. 

Back in MY DAY, we took our comics by the issue and we liked it! Well, that’s what I said way back in October when issue #1 hit the stands.

These days with all the hustle and bustle and Instagram snaps it’s hard sometimes to focus on a story when you have to wait a whole month between chapters. Lots of stuff is going to trade for me lately.

And boy was I happy to come across this sly Fox, all bundled up nice!

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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (review) AT FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Kevin Feige

Screenplay by James Gunn, Nicole Perlman

Based on Guardians of the Galaxy by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning

Directed by James Gunn

Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, 

Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, 

Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, 

Glenn Close, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin

Marvel Studios, James Gunn and Kevin Feige have done it.

They’ve taken sci-fi to a new level, brought humor to the game and among the accomplishments too many to list have made unknown characters to the spotlight with great actors to get Marvel Cosmic into movie theaters across the globe.

The ensemble cast, one who is a raccoon, another a tree, spark on the screen and the space battle action triples from the previous epic-scale Marvel movie, The Avengers. 

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Indiegogo-GO! Support Nick Bertozzi's RUBBER NECKER #6! at FORCES OF GEEK

Nick Bertozzi’s sixth issue of the Ignatz & Harvey Award winning series Rubber Necker is in the fundraising stage over at Indie Go Go.

The first issue (2003) has sold out, and one of the only way you can get a PDF is by donating to the campaign. The anthology book containing his own work, Nick’s first ongoing series, includes the highly praised Drop Ceiling strip, exploring the relationship a young man has with his father and his family business.

Funding goes to printing and shipping hard copies of the book — a limited run — be sure to check out the campaign today.

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INTELLIGENT LIFE - David Reddick Hits The Cosmic Treadmill AT FORCES OF GEEK

nerd and geek set! With the popularity of such mainstream shows Big Bang Theory and The Wil Wheaton Project and superhero movies being the Hollywood go-to—perhaps the time is right for the real estate on the dwindling comic page to be geeked out!

David talks to us about his ensemble comic strip Intelligent Life (King Features Syndicate) and how he uses social media to spark life into the characters.

FOG!: Thanks for joining us, David! I love when I can catch a strip at the beginning, but now I just want more! How did Intelligent Life come about?

David Reddick: Intelligent Life is a culmination of all the things I love. Anything geeky… nerdy… everything I’ve loved since I was a kid, and still do. It’s also a culmination of my previous experience in working with theStar Trek franchise in an official capacity, with the Roddenberry company, with Garfield, working for newspapers, etc. 

I created the rough concept for Intelligent Life many years ago, actually, in the early ’90s. But the time wasn’t right, then.

And, last year, in my thinking and desire to create a comic strip for syndication, I wanted to create a comic strip that was completely ME, and in asking myself, “If I could create any comic I want, ANYTHING… that is ALL ME… what would it be?

Answer: GEEK STUFFFFFF.”

And Intelligent Life came to life.

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League Podcast and Dig Boston Picks of the Week July 30, 2014

Sometimes even the best comics ship late, but that’s OK for Kate! Hawkeye #19 hits shelves this week as Madame Masque goes after the female Hawkeye Kate Bishop on the latest in this West Coast Avenger adventure! … Did you even know that Neil Gaiman returned to Sandman this year? Well, the Dream King is on issue #3 of 6 in Sandman Overture #3 with art by our pal J.H. Williams III (Batwoman, Promethea). … Like swords and fierce red heads? Fear not, Batgirl’s Gail Simone gives you the best intro to the world of Sonja the Devil with Red Sonja #0 this week. Introducing Sonja’s long lost husband? Picks this week from the Uncanny LeaguePodcast.com.

DIAGRAM FOR DELIQUENTS (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

equart takes on the Senator McCarthy of comics, Dr. Frederick Wertham in their latest deep dive into comic book history.

Longtime fans of comics are familiar with the Comics Code Authority stamp on nearly every comic book cover until very recently, and those with a sharp sense of comic book history are familiar with Wertham’s damaging 1954 book,Seduction of the Innocent.

The book blamed comic books and other media for the rising problem of juvenile delinquency in the United States and spearheaded regulation for the funny books.

1954’s comic book hearings in front of United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency had Wertham as the key witness. 

From censorship to juvenile delinquency to the severed heads in EC Comics,Diagram for Delinquents looks at the tarnished side of the Silver Age and how one man changed the face of comics and book publishing forever.

This documentary explores the nature of the censorship in the 50s and the lasting effects of how the Comics Code continues to ripple into how publishers make decisions to this day. 

Wertham’s motivations are explored and his little known contributions to the African-American Civil Rights Movement are also spotlighted, showing that the man was complex, compassionate and not as much of a demon as everyone may perceive.

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FOG! Chats With BOX BROWN, Author of ANDRE THE GIANT: LIFE AND LEGEND - COSMIC TREADMILL, FORCES OF GEEK

Box Brown joins us today to talk about Andre The Giant: Life and Legend from First Second Books.

The biographical comic about one of the most legendary wrestlers of all time is sweet but honest about some of his shortcomings.

From the French countryside to The Princess Bride, André Roussimoff lived a full life, towering over his wrestling opponents literally and figuratively.

FOG!: Thanks for joining us today, Box! Andre The Giant and comics. What brings the two together? Obviously, wrestling and comics were formative to our generation. Why paint a biography of Andre in comic form?

Box Brown: I am a life-long fan of wrestling and was always kind of obsessed with it to a great extent. In the early 2000s I saw an A&E Biography about Andre so I had that background on Andre’s extraordinary life. I had an understanding of how tragic and compelling it was. Fast-forward to late 2010 I was reading about Andre online and read about how Samuel Beckett gave him a ride to school. I thought that would make a good comic and I just made it into a mini-comic. Then it just snowballed from there.

You touch upon the myth, and truly Andre was like that for us kids. Did he eat a guy? Was he a monster? He was superhuman, a real life superhero. It seemed like that was rough on him. During your research did you find how he dealt with it? Drinking?

Yes, I think drinking was one way he dealt with his issues. He was a person who I feel had trouble connecting to other people.

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A BRONY TALE (Review) AT FORCES OF GEEK

Ashleigh Ball is a voice over actress and singer for Canadian indie pop band Hey Ocean! who played at my nightclub in Cambridge, MA last year. Another performer to grace the same stage last year was the twenty-one year-old Silva Hound, an Atlanta, GA DJ that spins Brony remixes on a tour with Brony musicians as Musiquestria.

A Brony Tale tells the story of Ashleigh going to her first BronyCon as the voice of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, main characters on the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic animated TV show. 

This is the second documentary about the Brony subculture to cross my desk, and the second to make me visit the show again as we see fandom’s most picked on rise above the negativity outside and embrace community inside. 

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INDIE GO-GO-GO! 'MOROS' With Josh Lucas at FORCES OF GEEK

We continue to support our indie creators trying to use Kickstarter and other platforms like Indiegogo to fund their comics.

A hustlin’ Josh Lucas sent us a tweet about his campaign, and sometimes that’s all it takes to get the ball rolling.

Plus the hard boiled crime super hero scratches a few of our itches.

Josh joins us today to talk about Moros.

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League Podcast and Dig Boston Comic Picks of the Week for July 16, 2014

COMICS

Our pal Ben Templesmith releases Squidder #1 from IDW for all of your tentacle needs! You remember him from 44 Flood Kickstarter, right? … The Supers may be saving our asses from harm but their blood may hold the cure for cancer. An undertaker is convinced to help out his delinquent brother to get superhuman DNA in Black Market #1 from Frank J. Barberie and Victor Santos at Boom! … “Trust me, I’m The Doctor”, Star Trek’s medical all-stars are in ST: Flesh and Stone one shot focussing on Starfleet Medical from McCoy to Crusher and EMH! … Picks this week from the All-New LeaguePodcast.com.

Kickstarter Korner - THE CHRONICLES OF FARO at FORCES OF GEEK

On top of that, he chose many different artists to tell the story, giving the book an anthology feel. We spoke to Faro about the book, the Kickstarter campaign and the secrets of Abraham Lincoln.

FOG!: Thanks for joining us today! Your pitch for Chronicles of Faro describes the book as James Bond meets Quantum Leap. Care to tell our readers what to expect?

Faro Kane: My two greatest influences growing up were James Bond movies that my father insisted I watch along with the obsession with time travel I gained from watching Quantum Leap. On Quantum Leap, the main character was a brilliant scientist who is able to leap into different people scattered throughout time. Each week he altered the lives of random people time and again, surviving death and love and confusion from having his mind meld with the people he’s “leaped” into. 

While Dr. Sam Beckett changed minor history for the better, I always wondered how it would go down if someone altered a MAJOR event in time. While good would evolve, wouldn’t evil play the same game?

So I took the main character of FARO and gave him the persona of Professor Francis Kane, a 40 something instructor at The National Academy of Science (founded in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln) who destroys his career and sells his soul to achieve time travel.

The James Bond part comes in after time travel is achieved, where our older hero finds himself 20 years younger and the pawn of an elite circle of time traveling terrorists (like SPECTRE) I envision FARO as the James Bond, his sidekick MUZIO the MAULER as the Felix Leiter, Johnny Olives as Q and eventually the surviving Abe Lincoln as M.

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League Podcast and DigBoston Comic Picks of the Week for July 8, 2014

COMICS

Poyo! If you aren’t reading Chew, you’ve got an eating disorder! The kick-ass kung-fu warrior chicken Poyo is here in his own #1 from Layman and Guillory! … The Life After #1 from Oni peeks into the after-life and beyond. Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov of Ultimate FF fame. … Rick Remender’s tale of Bucky in the Cold War, Winter Soldier #5 wraps up today, recommended for James Bond and train fight fans! Picks from the all new LeaguePodcast.com Dot Now!

THE IMAGE REVOLUTION (review) AT FORCES OF GEEK

‏Twenty years ago, the comic book industry’s top guns took their pen nibs, pouches, flowy capes and big eyes away from the Big Two and started Image Comics. Creator ownership and the comic book industry fundamentally changed that day when McFarlane, Larsen, Liefeld, Silvestri, Lee, Valentino, and Portacio took control of the business of comic books and the rights to their own characters. 

‏Written and directed by Patrick Meany and produced by Seqart in association with Respect! Films, The Image Revolution interviews the guys, plus Sean Howe (Marvel Comics: The Untold Story), Image publisher Eric Stephenson, Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Nick Spencer (Morning Glories) and many more to tell the tale of the early ‘rock star’ days of Image Comics and takes us through today. With the success of The Walking Deadand Image Comics dominating the creator owned market and business model, the impossible dream became real.

We get another great inside the bullpen look from Respect! Films here, highly recommended for fans of these superstar creators but mostly for people of my comic book reading generation. The early ‘90s were an amazing time to be reading the books coming out from Marvel. 

‏The split happened right before our eyes, and like many things no one was sure if it would work.

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THE PRIVATE EYE #1-7 Gets a Turn on The Cosmic Treadmill

Brian K. Vaughan (Saga, Y: The Last Man, TV’s Lost) and artist Marcos Martin (Amazing Spider-Man, Daredevil) have quietly disrupted the comic book industry with a small crack in the wall.

Beyond the innovative distribution method they have devised with a ‘pay what you want’ donation system at Panel Syndicate site, the story itself is revolutionary. 

‏Within the tablet-friendly landscape format with a DRM-free file formats lies a future tale where nothing is private. The Internet doesn’t exist. The ‘cloud’ has burst and everyone wears a mask. The cops of the future are The Fourth Estate - code word for the press.

You may not know about this sleeper hit, but if you wanted to, you can pay $0 to read it right now.

You’ll quickly find justification for leaving a donation (or not, that’s how they roll). 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

LeaguePodcast and DigBoston Comics Picks of the Week for July 2, 2014

COMICS

“Hooked on a feeling…”, Oh man, Guardians of the Galaxy is gonna be so good! Star Lord (played by Chris Pratt) stars in his own book Legendary Star Lord #1 written by newly minted exclusive Marvel writer Sam Humphries (The Ultimates, Uncanny X-Force). … Continuing the tradition of Zero Issues for these books, Magnus: Robot Fighter #0 hits stands starring Leeja: Human Hunter! … Your move, creep! If you weren’t satisfied with the Robocop Reboot last summer, this is the book for you! Joshua Williamson writes what happens after Murphy and Lewis clean up Old Detroit in Robocop 2014 #1. Picks from the all new LeaguePodcast.com Dot Now!

LeaguePodcast and DigBoston Comics Picks of the Week June 25, 2014

COMICS!

Colt City is having a rash of murders and our pulp hero Black Beetle is the only one that can stop them! The followup series Black Beetle: Necrologue #1 starts today from Francesco Francavilla. Pick up many copies, this will sell out! … IDW combines Ben 10, Samurai Jack, Powerpuff Girls and Dexter’s Laboratory into one Cartoon Network Super Secret Crisis War #1! The Crossover that should never be (guest starring Ed, Edd and Eddy! … Master Alan Davis writes and draws the green Banner Monster in Savage Hulk #1! … Picks from the All-New LeaguePodcast.com!

POINT OF ORIGIN: THE HOUSE IN THE WALL #1 (REVIEW) - new column at FORCES OF GEEK!

Again, thanks to Stefan for the awesome logo. It is a much better column title than mine (First Burst) plus has Banner turning into the Hulk!

New Column. Same Great Tastes.

POINT OF ORIGIN will review first issues, natch!

The debut issue highlights Tynion’s supernatural strengths and Donovan’s traditional comic art fits the mood perfectly.

Tynion shares writing credit with Noah J Yuenkel and art is by Super Mario Bros. 2 - (the official sequel to SMB!) webcomic artist Eryk Donovan. Eryk explains on his Facebook page that he appreciates the ability to use panel layers as a new storytelling tool as panels change by touch. His artwork is still created the old fashioned way — portrait, pencils, ink and paper. He seems to be enjoying the experiment and for a first-timer I would say his experiments are right on target to maximizing the landscape digital comics format.

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JERSEY BOYS - (movie review) - at FORCES OF GEEK

Produced by Clint Eastwood, Graham King, 

Robert Lorenz

Screenplay by Marshall Brickman, Rick Elice

Based on Jersey Boys by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Starring John Lloyd Young, Erich Bergen, 

Michael Lamenda, Vincent Piazza, Christopher Walken

John Lloyd Young stars as Frankie Valli in the Clint Eastwood directed movie Jersey Boys, based on the jukebox musical of the same name.

This retelling of the origin of the Four Seasons flips from being Goodfellas to Bye Bye Birdie, adds a bit of previously unknown dangerous element to the pop groups’ origin, and offers another outlet for Eastwood’s directorial oeuvre. 

The talented cast are triple threats in the classical show-biz way, and the romantic notion of cutting a record and shopping it around to labels is illustrated in the musical as the quartet finally gets a name and a ‘sound’.

Told partially by having each of the members of the Four Seasons break the fourth wall and narrate the story, we start out with Vincent Piazza (Boardwalk Empire) as founding member Tommy DeVito. His criminal activities, black market dealings and revolving door at the state prison make for a very Henry Hill intro to the movie.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

FOTOBOM: WALKER STALKER CON BOSTON 2014 - DIGBOSTON

League Podcast hit up the inaugural The Walking Dead and zombie-themed Walker Stalker Con: Boston and scored chats with Walking Dead cast members Jeff Kober, Nick Gomez and Travis Love, plus Walking Dead: The Game and Wolf Among Us voice actor Melissa Hutchison, plus Comic Book Men Bryan Johnson and Ming Chen! Plus, some weird zombie dude! Check out the episode on the newly redesigned LeaguePodcast.com below. All pictures by Stacey B. Rizoli.

League of Ordinary Gentlemen Podcast #194 – Walker Stalker Con! Full interview episode.

Direct Download / Mp3 Stream (opens in new window).

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