Have you read this comic?

Girls (2005 - 2007) by The Luna Brothers

2010-01-21T22:01:00.000-08:00

The small community of Pennystown has a big problem: a seemingly endless supply of beautiful, naked, alien women have invaded.

What's the problem? Well, the girls are instinctually eviscerating any human women they come across, having sex with any men they can find, then giving birth to a new crop of girls. The worst part? The entirety of Pennystown is enclosed in a massive shell. No one comes in and no one comes out, at least not until these murderous, sex-crazed girls have been dealt with. -- Source

If you are a fan of Stephen King, you have probably read his latest novel: Under the Dome. If you think the idea of a giant dome separating a town from the outside world is original, think again. The Luna Brothers did it five years ago, and did it in an outstanding fashion. With Girls, the Luna Brothers have crafted a chillingly effective, unpredictable horror tale filled great characters and complex psychology. There are plenty of nudity here, as those lovely, flesh-eating, egg-laying girls are completely sans-clothes. But at no time was I aroused, for I was completely hooked by the story. That in itself is no small feat by the Luna Brothers, for I am someone who is very easily excited by the sight of women au naturel.

I'd love to see a movie adaptation of this graphic novel. For one thing, in the hands of a competent director and supported by a good script, it would be a great horror film. For another, well...the sight of a hundred naked beautiful girls running around would indeed be very pleasant - for me at least.

Miss out on Girls and you're doing yourself a disservice, trust me.

Support the artists and buy this series if you like it.

The Luna Brothers Site
============

============
Issues 1 - 5
Issues 6 - 10
Issues 11 - 15
Issues 16 - 20
Issues 21 - 24 End
============

The Sworn Sword (The Hedge Knight II) by George R. R. Martin, Ben Avery and Mike S. Miller

2010-01-14T14:13:00.001-08:00

Here is the follow-up to The Hedge Knight. Apparently this is too new for reviews. But you don't need them, if you have read the first graphic novel, you know you're in for a treat because The Sworn Sword is just as good.

Adapting New York Times best-selling author George R. R. Martin's SWORN SWORD! The long-awaited sequel to HEDGE KNIGHT tells the story of the adventures of Ser Duncan and his squire one year after their initial meeting at the tournament in Ashford. After traveling the land in search of the puppeteer girl Tanselle, Dunk and Egg find themselves in the charge of Ser Eustace, an aged knight who has accepted Dunk as his sworn sword. But Ser Eustace has another knight in his service who is nothing but trouble, and he will make Dunk's life far more difficult when he rashly attacks a peasant and causes grief to a local noble, the Lady Rohanne Webber. But the Lady Rohanne has problems of her own - and she knows the truth about Ser Eustace and the side he took in the battle of Redgrass Field.

http://www.multiupload.com/TF6JRX8NO0

The Hedge Knight - George R.R. Martin, Adapted by Ben Avery, Art by Mike S. Miller & Mike Crowell

2010-01-14T10:59:00.000-08:00

The Hedge Knight
George R.R. Martin, Adapted by Ben Avery, Art by Mike S. Miller & Mike Crowell

Fans of George R. R. Martin may already know about "The Hedge Knight" (1998), the first in the "Tales of Dunk and Egg" series, set in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire. In 2003, the second tale, "The Sworn Sword" (2003), followed.
This is the comic adaptation of The Hedge Knight and I only have one word to describe it: fantastic.

I can't wait to read Fevre Dream, the comic book. It's been in development for so long now, I am afraid the project's been abandoned or something. Fevre Dream is one of the best and most original vampire novels ever written.

A review by Adam Volk, from SF Site.

The comic book has come a long way since its emergence in the late 30s. Once the realm of anthropomorphic cartoon animals and spandex-clad superheroes, the modern comic book is now a legitimate literary and artistic medium. The graphic novel in particular is perhaps one of the most innovative developments in the industry, thanks to the pioneering work of a handful of talented writers and artists, including the likes of Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore. No longer the pop-culture pariah it once was, the graphic novel exists now as an intriguing and respected new form of story telling.

Such is the case with George R.R. Martin's The Hedge Knight, a lavishly illustrated and highly entertaining graphic novel from Devil's Due Publishing. Martin has earned a well deserved reputation as one of the top writers working in the field of fantasy today, due in part to his highly successful A Song of Ice and Fire series. The novels, which are loosely based on the historical events surrounding the War of the Roses, chronicle the fates and fortunes of a disparate cast of characters struggling to survive in a land wracked by civil war, strife and bloodshed. Martin's writing is crisp, his characters and plots textured and realistic, and he skillfully avoids the usual pitfalls and clichés associated with the fantasy genre. In short, the series of novels are nothing short of brilliant. In The Hedge Knight, Martin -- along with the assistance of writer Ben Avery, illustrator Mike S. Miller and inker Mike Crowell -- continues the tradition established in A Song of Ice and Fire and offers readers yet another glimpse into the elaborate world of Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms.

The Hedge Knight itself takes place a hundred years before the events in the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, and chronicles the misadventures of Dunk, a burly and somewhat oafish commoner who has spent his life as a squire to Ser Arlan; a now elderly hedge knight who earns his living wandering aimlessly from both jousting tournament and battlefield alike. Like many young squires, Dunk naturally longs for the day when he too can take up the mantle of a knight; a chance he is finally given when the elderly Ser Arlan finally passes away on a mud splattered road in the middle of nowhere. Armed with nothing more than his former master's sword and a weary steed, Dunk makes his way to the great tournament at Ashford Meadow posing as an ill-born hedge knight and determined to earn fame and fortune on the jousting field.

Along the way to Ashford Dunk encounters Egg, a young boy living near a road-side tavern, who despite Dunk's best efforts, eventually becomes his squire. When Dunk eventually reaches Ashford Meadow however, he soon finds that he is completely out of his league, and with no reputation, no gold, and no noble born status. He becomes a virtual outcast amidst the seasoned knights and pompous aristocrats that flock to the tournament. Adopting the name Sir Duncan the Tall, Dunk eventually finds sponsorship with an influential noble house even as he finds his attention drawn to the beautiful Tanselle, a skilled puppeteer and artist plying her trade at the tournament.

But before the newly reborn "Sir Duncan" can try his luck on the jousting field, Dunk finds himself caught up in a deadly political confrontation after rescuing Tanselle from death at the hands of a brutal lord, and discovers that there is more to Egg than meets the eye. The story culminates in a frantic battle with Dunk's very life on the line, and results in a series of key events that will reshape the history of Westeros and have a direct bearing on future events as they relate to Martin's novels. An additional illustrated short story unrelated to Dunk's trials and tribulations, chronicles the Battle on Redgrass Field, a key moment in Westeros history which sheds some light on the dreaded house Targaryen and provides the basis for one of the Seven Kingdoms pivotal legends. It is these clever details that offer a unique glimpse into Martin's intricate and well-developed world and readers already acquainted with A Song of Ice and Fire will instantly recognize many of the allusions and references peppered throughout the text.

It is in Martin's pacing, plot and dialogue however, where The Hedge Knight truly shines. What might outwardly appear as a rather contrived tale of a squire seeking to become a knight is in reality a complex, multi-layered and highly innovative tale combining Martin's usual stylistic balance of action and character. The reader can't help but care about Dunk, Egg and Tanselle, and all are complex, well-developed characters complete with their many foibles and moral ambiguities. The Hedge Knight, in terms of the writing alone is well worth picking up, but the brilliant narrative is also complemented by the gorgeous artwork of Mike S. Miller and the vibrant colouring job by Team Kandora. In both instances the quality of the visual work is truly impressive. Miller's art in particular is almost cinematic in scope, shifting between kinetic action sequences and more subdued character driven moments. It is this calibre of artwork and writing that elevates the work into a truly unique artistic and literary experience.

In the end The Hedge Knight is well worth picking up and remains a stunning example of both the visual and literary potential of the comic book medium. With the fourth book in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire nearing completion, and fans eagerly clamoring for more, The Hedge Knight offers a wonderful opportunity for both new readers and fans alike to take a glimpse into the brilliant and vibrant world that is George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.

http://www.multiupload.com/BH59ADW9RK

Hawaiian Dick By B. Clay Moore, Steven Griffin, and Nick Derington

2010-01-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

Official Site

Gorgeous artwork and a great story in the best noir tradition. Simply a must-read.

Review from Blog Critics:

I love the whole premise behind Hawaiian Dick, the ongoing 1950s private eye comics set in Hawaii. The noir feel of the storytelling and characters is dead-on. The ex-pat main character, Byrd, is well-drawn and has a lot of emotional baggage he’s carrying that only gets opened up in this first graphic novel.

Byrd of Paradise gathers the first three issues of the comics written by B. Clay Moore and drawn by Steven Griffin. The story immediately seized a lot of attention when it first came out because of the mixture of old and new.

Moore has a great grasp of the story, and noir must run in his veins. The set-up for the story and the execution hits all the cornerstones of the venue, and Byrd’s backstory comes as a natural progression of the case he’s on. Moore’s development of the story “reads” like a movie. He stays off the page and out of panels unless narration or dialogue is really needed. Action tells this story as well as anything, and readers often forget how much a good writer can do with a few panels of delineated action. Moore has a fantastic grasp of the concept.

As good as Moore’s story is, though, Griffin’s art emphasizes everything about it. Griffin’s use of color – bright and vibrant, then dark and moody – sets the tone for the scenes, the characters, and the atmosphere. Through color alone, Griffin could have brought home every emotion that he needed to in order to convey the story.

However, he doesn’t stop there. He gives us well imagined characters and body posture. Byrd just wouldn’t have been the cocky, worldly private eye without the five o’clock shadow and Hawaiian shirt. Mo wouldn’t have been the homicide cop without the immense stature, the clean-shaven appearance, and the immaculate black suit.

The artwork is loose and tight as needed. Sometimes panels only feature characters in action. Then there are times that the background is developed in depth. All of it looks painted, with lots of contrast and rounded shapes that flow naturally to the eye. After you read the graphic novel, don’t be surprised to find yourself leafing back through the pages just to see the artwork again.

The story is pedestrian by all outward appearances. Byrd gets handed a case to find a car, but he’s getting paid more for the recovery than the car is worth. Immediately suspicious, Byrd confronts the man hiring him and finds out the car has a cargo that belongs to drug kingpin, Bishop Masaki. This is the kind of story a noir fan would expect to find laid at the feet of Marlowe, Spade, or Hammer. Moore throws in an extra wrinkle by including Hawaiian voodoo and zombies. The horror aspect never overshadows the private eye story, though. Rather, it complements it and gives the reader a little extra zest that gives the appearance of being something brand new.

I love this story. I’ve read it a few times now and enjoy it each time. It’s simple in structure and delivers everything I’d want in a noir adventure. Plus, the zombie creep factor and a few twists and turns I didn’t see coming. The 1950s feel makes a big difference, too, like our heroes are just a little more exposed than they would be in the present day and age.

The graphic novel contains about 50 pages of extras, including sketches, notes, and script. Hawaiian Dick: Byrd of Paradise is a great entertainment and behind-the-scenes bargain. The property has also been licensed for movie development and you can see how a film would flow from these pages. This is a crackerjack read.

This file contains 2 volumes: Byrd of Paradise and The Last Resort.
http://www.multiupload.com/OVUB8ZSEJI (74 MB)

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Adapted by Steve Niles and Elman Brown

2010-01-12T20:36:00.000-08:00

Review from Blogcritics:

So who decides if you are human? Is it enough that each person holds on to the unshakable belief that he or she is human? What if everyone else thought that you were not one of them? Does that shake your beliefs or do you hold onto them with a vice-like grip — afraid that your last attempts to stave off insanity must mean that you must hold these beliefs closer than ever?

Richard Matheson's I Am Legend forces us to ask the question: if everyone else on the planet is alike and you are the only one who is "different," then who is really human — you or them? What if all of them were bloodthirsty vampires out to kill you? Every single one of them! Since you are obviously in an abject minority, does it really matter that you believe that they are "freaks"? Does it give you the right to decide that their lives are not worth it and yours is more important?

These questions hit home; uncomfortably so, in fact, in this book. When it is in the stark black and white that is the graphic novel adaptation from IDW by Steve Niles and Elman Brown, there is no question that this is not just any other "cool" vampire book.

This book will dispel any preconceived notions about graphic novels or vampire stories. The protagonist is not a muscle-bound super-smart guy who uses cool technology and martial arts moves to bring down vampires. Robert Neville is just another small town guy who has suffered the loss of his wife and daughter to the vampire manifestation (or is it a "virus"?) and has to survive being hunted down every night. He's neither good looking, nor does he have a technology expert helping him hunt vampires. He does so the old-fashioned way — shaping wooden stakes from planks and putting up garlic cloves everywhere.

He has to constantly fight his all too human urges — fires within his loins for instance. This is a facet that keeps him tottering on the edge. Whether he will give up all attempts at humanity and rape a female in sleep — or if he can control himself — are positions that he must constantly evaluate and painfully so. He does try to attack the problem analytically to understand the "scientific" issue of vampirism even while facing failure from time to time.

Is he right in trying to preserve his ideas of right and wrong? Does he have the right to kill vampires in their sleep? Are they now the "humans" on the planet and he an aberration? How does one man fight an entire planet?

If you haven't read I Am Legend, then well, you should! And it is also a good book to show those people who believe that graphic novels are for prepubescent teenagers to salivate over hot babes/superheroes in tight costumes. This book shows that quality graphic novels can achieve a level of storytelling that is often hard to beat.

http://www.multiupload.com/OOZF1YOL38

Alias by Brian Michael Bendis

2010-01-12T15:56:00.000-08:00

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Gaydos, with Rick Mays, Mark Bagley and Art Thibert
Colourist: Matt Hollingsworth with Dean White

Wikipedia

There should be more comics like Alias. Even though the main protagonist of Alias is an ex-Avenger and the story takes place in Marvel's world, this series is about a thousand miles far from your run of the mill superhero comics. Jessica Parker used to be superhero - one with unremarkable power - now she is a hard-bitten, neurotic private detective who takes photos of cheating spouses for a living, in between bouts of drunken fornication. The classic noir anti-hero. Brian Michael Bandis's great characterization and superb storytelling makes this series an instant classic and a must-read for anyone, especially people who wrongly perceive comic books as a lesser medium.

Review from Comics Daily:

Alias was launched as part of Marvel’s MAX line, a rival of sorts to DC’s Vertigo imprint intended to tell stories with subject matter unsuitable for children. And certainly, Alias did that, with its warts-and-all portrayal of Jessica Jones, a private investigator and former super heroine consumed by self-loathing. The fairer sex has received notoriously short shrift from the mainstream comic book companies over the years, so allowing a male writer free rein to use graphic nudity, violence and swearing in a female-led series about a down-and-out super heroine – well, let’s just say it could easily have gone horribly wrong.

Instead, Jessica Jones might just be one of the greatest new characters to come out of Marvel in decades. Indeed, in creating a female character who wasn’t conventionally attractive or sexualised, who wasn’t exclusively defined by her relationship to the men around her, and who wasn’t portrayed as a fantasy girlfriend for the series’ readers, Bendis created a female lead who was almost unique in the genre. That alone made the series great. The fact that he also placed her in a gripping detective saga that also served as an ongoing character study just made it even better.

Collaborating with Bendis on the series was Michael Gaydos, an artist who translated the noir-influences and emotional depth of Alias into a unique look that capably placed real, human drama alongside the fantastical background of the Marvel Universe. Occasional appearances by Ultimate Spider-Man artist Mark Bagley helped the book evolve into a meta-commentary on female superheroes just in time for the series to conclude, too soon for the readers, but, in fairness, at exactly the right moment for the narrative.

Years after the series finished, there are still lessons that can and should be learned from Alias, and it’s a shame that Jones herself has been relegated to the supporting cast of New Avengers, losing a lot of her character in the process. The planned Bendis/Gaydos Alias miniseries should remind readers of this frequently overlooked modern classic, but hopefully it’ll also serve to remind Bendis of the depth and nuance he once instilled in the character. Whatever her fate, there can be no doubt that the initial 28-issue series of Jessica Jones’ adventures deserves to be recognized as one of the best comics of the decade. If any Marvel comic can be considered a must-read, this is one that can.

http://www.multiupload.com/6G59F5Y1AN (part 1)
http://www.multiupload.com/A39H28JM4H (part 2)

Download both parts before extracting.

Bram Stoker's Dracula by Leah Moore and John Reppion

2010-01-11T15:24:00.000-08:00

Bram Stoker's Dracula is meticulously and faithfully transferred to the medium of comic books by the storytelling team of Leah Moore and John Reppion, with stunning, painted artwork by Colton Worley and detailed lettering by Simon Bowland, published by Dynamite Entertainment. The result is a gorgeous adaptation and presentation of the original novel: lush, textured brushstrokes; startling transition from the dark, dreary, somber hues of Transylvania through the stark contrasts of a frightful sea voyage to the vivid hues of the daylight Victorian-era English countryside. Bram Stoker wrote his novel as a collection of excerpts from personal diaries, journals, telegraph messages and letters, written by different characters, revealing the story from these characters' viewpoints. The Complete Dracula portrays these changes in narrative voice by showing these messages neatly typed on telegraph paper with varying typefaces, or handwritten in letters or personal diaries, by different hands. Such approach and attention to detail have drawn praises and rave reviews from everyone:

“The only adaptation of Dracula you’ll ever need,” praised comics author Warren Ellis (Planetary, Astonishing X-Men). “This is the new gold standard.”

“The forefather of all gothic horror, Dracula, faithfully reassembled to its original state by a talented and exceptional creative team is a wonderful gift to the reading public,” said artist Jae Lee (Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born). “Putting Stoker’s masterpiece back together for this new generation is like peeling away a magnificent piece of art to discover the artist’s true vision buried beneath.”

“A tremendous exercise in authenticity and precision that stretches to the proper organisation of keys on an antique typewriter keyboard,” said writer Paul Cornell (Doctor Who: Human Nature, Captain Britain and MI: 13). “Atmospheric, chilly and excellent, with an art style and a clarity of adaptation that really suits the subject matter. This is the definitive expanded version of the tale.”

“I’ve taken a look at this, and think it’s terrific,” raved author Kim Newman (Anno Dracula, Judgment of Tears: Anno Dracula 1959). “I’ve got a bunch of comics in my collection of editions and adaptations of Dracula, and I suspect this will be the best to date.”

“If Moore, Reppion and team maintain their commitment to the level of detail on display in Dracula #1, they’re bound to deliver the definitive adaptation of Stoker’s magnum opus by the series’ end!” said writer Brian J. Showers (Literary Walking Tours of Gothic Dublin, The Bleeding Horse and Other Ghost Stories). “An invigorating new look at a hoary old chestnut!”

“A superb work of art, combining fidelity to the original text with visuals that evoke the primal fears lurking in the novel.” Elizabeth Miller (Dracula: Sense & Nonsense and co-author of Bram Stoker’s Notes: A Facsimile Edition)

“A meticulous graphic adaptation of Stoker’s classic text, with powerful images that take the original tale to new heights of horror!” Leslie S. Klinger (The New Annotated Dracula)

http://www.multiupload.com/EZWBOFJCXL

Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics

2010-01-11T15:05:00.000-08:00

Publisher: Dark Horse Books
Writer: David Lapham, Jeff Lemire, Alex De Campi, Chris Offutt, M.K. Perker, Paul Grist, Rick Geary, Ken Lizzi, Gary Phillips, Ed Brubaker, Brian Azzarello and Matthew and Shawn Fillbach
Artist: Hugo Petrus, Joelle Jones, Eduardo Barreto, Sean Phillips, Kano, Stefano Gaudiano, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba

Review from Comic Revolution:

As a fan of crime fiction and, even better, crime comics, Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics was one of those graphic novels I could not ignore. Rarely has Dark Horse ever disappointed me with the titles under the crime genre and now I must say I have a new favorite with Noir. The reason is simple: it contains a collection of short stories told by some of the industry’s most talented writers and artists and boy are these stories wonderfully grim.

With 13 stories by brilliant minds such as Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Paul Grist and Gary Phillips (just to name a few), the stories are on the short side but are no less exceptional. In fact, the bite-sized nature of the stories actually work well. Starting with David Lapham’s “Open The Goddamned Box” where a pair of angry boys take a female classmate captive and stuff her in a box and continues with a story by Jeff Lemire about a farmer on the verge of losing his land to a bank when fortune smiles upon him when a wounded bank robber ends up in his barn.

Fans of Mister X and the Kane series will not be disappointed seeing as there are two short stories featuring the characters from the series. In “Mister X: Yacht on the Styx,” Mister X helps journalist Rosetta Stone try to uncover the mystery behind a massacre that might have involved a dead shipping magnate. In “Kane: The Card Player,” Detective Kane and Detective Felix look into the case of a burglar that leaves a calling card. It’s certainly great to find short stories with Mister X and Kane and these two stories are actually good.

There are also some truly gruesome crime stories such as “The Albanian” where an Albanian nightshift custodian arrives on time to witness the finale of a disgruntled employee’s macabre handiwork. In “The Last Hit,” a seasoned hitman goes up against a younger hitman. Then, in “21st Century Noir” a young man meets a sexy woman online and has a chance encounter that goes sour. It’s the more gruesome stories that actually make Noir even more fascinating.

“The New Me” finds a gym’s personal trainer hitting on just about every woman in the place only to find himself interested in a woman that suddenly becomes more attractive now that she’s lost all the weight. What makes this an interesting tale is the reason why she got fit and what she has in store for the playboy personal trainer. In “Blood On My Hands,” a man thinks his wife is cheating on him so he orders a hit with an unexpected aftermath. There’s even a text short story called “Trustworthy” where a man hooks up with a woman who comes with her own baggage of the deadly kind.

Some stories are actually wonderfully written but just feel out of place in this graphic novel for some reason. “Ladies’ Choice,” for instance, finds a bored woman whose boyfriend think’s he’s a tough gangster when a cowboy shows up and sweeps her off her feet. “Fracture” deals with a woman who wonders what would happen if she pushed a homeless person in front of a subway train. Finally, there’s the short story “The Bad Night” that has a familiar content for those who know who recognize the surprise ending.

As I mentioned in the beginning, this graphic novel contains short stories written by some of the most talented writers and artists working in comics and it shows. All the stories, even the ones that I felt didn’t seem like they belonged in this collection, are not only intriguing but fun stories to read. Many of them are actually unforgettable gems.

Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics is just how I love my crime comics … gritty, dark and downright brilliant. With a collection of talented writers and artists, the stories might be on the short side but they will not fail to impress and to put on smile on your face from beginning to end. Yes, comic fans, it is just that good so trust me when I say that you will most definitely want to pick up a copy immediately.

COMIC REVOLUTION RATING BREAKDOWN

STORY: A+
There are several standout stories among the collection as well as some Dark Horse favorites like Mister X and Kane show up in interesting short stories. There are some deliciously twisted stories like “21st Century Noir” and “Open the Goddamned Box” as well as story or two with no real crime but the best ones are violent and unforgettable.

ART: A
There’s certainly no shortage of amazing artists on display whether you love Jeff Lemire’s interesting visual style, Eduardo Barreto’s classic artistic vision or Hugo Petrus’ wonderfully detailed artwork.

OVERALL: A+
Noir isn’t just a collection of brilliant crime stories but it is also one of the most darkly enjoyable rarities that make this a real gem for fans of the genre. All of it, of course, is due to the enormously talented writers and illustrators that bring these short stories to life on the pages of this Must Have graphic novel.

http://www.multiupload.com/B7TIQQNBW1

DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? by Philip K. Dick

2010-01-11T14:38:00.000-08:00

This "graphic transcription" of Philip K. Dick should be perfect for fans of Blade Runner who have watched the movie 5 times yet have never read the book it's based on. If you think you know Blade Runner by heart therefore you don't need to read the book, think again. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is very very different from the movie. I actually read this book more times than I watched Blade Runner.

By the way, notice I used the word "transcription", it's because this is not a graphic adaptation. This is a word-for-word transcription of the novel with illustrations that are both beautiful and appropriate to the book's tone.

Note: this is Book 1, which collects issues #1 to #6. Check back for more later.

From The Village Voice:

“If you're a fan of Blade Runner but have never read the source material, this experimental adaptation should be just the ticket.”

“Village Voice is a fantastic publication that is always pointing readers towards new and exciting things,” said Marketing and Sales Director Chip Mosher. “This is high praise from a source of such smart readership. We're honored.”

Since it's first release DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? has garnered praise for numerous critics across the globe:

"...impressively, it works... it's a great job." – io9.com

"Best bet" – MTV Splash Page

"...what a wonderful idea and fantastic way to introduce the work of Philip K. Dick to new readers... a great package, ideal for newcomers and fans alike." – Comic Book Resources

"...it works incredibly well ...." – Fanboy Planet

"...it's going to be a treat. 4 out of 5. Check this out, especially if you're a fan of the novel, the movie, or Philip K. Dick." – Comicvine.com

Worldwide best-selling sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick's award-winning DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? has been called "a masterpiece ahead of its time, even today" and served as the basis for the film BLADE RUNNER. Last Summer BOOM! Studios in association with Electric Shepherd Productions debuted the first issue of the complete novel transplanted into the comic book medium, mixing all new panel-to-panel continuity with the actual text from the novel in an innovative, ground-breaking 24-issue maxi-series experiment!

http://www.multiupload.com/LF9P68OAC3

Conan by Kurt Busiek and others (Dark Horse)

2009-12-17T00:18:00.000-08:00

Dark Horse Comics brings the legend of Conan to vivid life with this fantastic series. If you have always thought of Conan as a brute, think again. As well as great strength and martial skills, he is also a superb tactician. Expertly written by Kurt Busiek and featuring outstanding artwork, this 50 issues series is a must-read for everyone, especially fantasy lovers. If you are a stranger to comic books, this is an excellent place to start.

Buy it from Dark Horse

Excerpt of the review from SF Site:

Contrary to popular misinterpretation (thanks primarily to the Marvel comic books and two feature films), Conan, as presented by Howard, is much more than a fighter. He is a thinker, a tactician, a lover, and a loyal friend. Conan is a barbarian, a thief, a mercenary, and ultimately, a king. The tales are full of political intrigue, romance, swordplay, magic, mythology, and more. Like all of Howard's work, Conan was a vividly imaginative interpretation of a young man's West Texas world.

In the graphic novel, a young Conan has journeyed north in search of the legendary kingdom of Hyborea with its riches and immortals. While saving a young woman's life, he gets embroiled in a confrontation between the warring peoples Aesir and Vanir. Through a series of fights and political machinations, events eventually lead to the frost giant's daughter and eventually Hyborea.

Busiek's masterful manipulation of Howard's playground is supported and supplemented by the artistic talents of Gary Nord, Thomas Yeates, and Dave Stewart. Robert E. Howard was a master of action, who wrote some of the finest and most influential fight scenes ever produced. Reminiscent of Frank Frazetta, the art manages to translate the intensity and flow of the source material. Nord's interpretation of the frost giants is original and inspired.

Excerpt of the review from Graphic Novel Review:

Overall, the point to be made about the writing is that Busiek easily handles the difficult task of blending his own stories, and his own interpretation of the character, with Howard’s: the man is a pro. Yes, the prose is purple, the plots are melodramatic, the characters are thin. But, come on, this is Conan the Barbarian.

What really sets this version of Conan apart from the rest, though — and apart from almost any other action/adventure comic book being published today — is the mind-eatingly splendid artwork. That sort of thing gets said a lot, by graphic novel reviewers, when they’re talking about fantasy books. Usually, it means that the artwork is the kind of overly-rendered, photorealistic, pose-centric crap that you see on the covers of heavy metal albums and in posters for big budget fantasy movies. That’s not what this artwork is like at all. It’s something I’ve never seen before: scribbly, deliberately unfinished-looking, on the lowest level (the figure and the line), and yet gussied up at the highest level with the latest mainstream comics coloring techniques and painterly washes. It’s a strange, tense marriage of styles that works very well. As I mentioned earlier, there’s a bit of Kubert’s Tarzan to Nord’s Conan, but where Kubert puts his ink line in the forefront, making everything all about the line, Nord allows his line to fall to the back, in favor of pure shape and action, when necessary. In some places, the coloring by Dave Stewart swallows the line entirely, giving the characters and the settings a carved-in-soap kind of look. In other places, you get the sense that there was a tightly-pencilled line, which has been covered over by the coloring, and then one or both of the artists came back in with a Sharpie to just touch up a couple of key details with a thin black squiggle. I’m not sure if that was the technique or not, and I’m sure I’m not describing it well enough — suffice it to say that the style is distinctive and well-done. Together, Nord and Stewart have managed to breathe visual life into a character and an idiom that had become tired and old under the influence of geeky fan-favorites like Frank Frazetta, Barry Windsor-Smith, and John Buscema. I’m not saying that these artists weren’t masters — they were great, each in his own way — but that’s precisely the problem: they were masters. Their vision of the character and the world, bastardized by imitators and by imitators of imitators, like fifth and sixth generation mimeographs, had to be blasted out of our brains before we could actually “see” Conan again, with fresh eyes. Nord and Stewart have done that. This Conan is alive: he’s funny (his body language, I should say, is witty), he’s vicious, and he’s something else entirely. The fact that, toward the end of the book, another great fan-favorite, Michael Wm. Kaluta, actually draws a longish sequence in the middle of a story, in a completely different style, without putting the younger and less-well-known artists of the rest of the story to shame, or jarring us in any way, is another testament to their accomplishment.

Usually, the highest compliment I can pay to a series of graphic novels (and so many of them are series, rather than standalone works, that the series structure is probably the norm, rather than the exception — grumble, grumble) is to recommend that you not only buy the current volume, but that you follow the series into the future, and purchase subsequent volumes as well. Not only will I personally be doing that (at least, as long as the current creative team stays on board, I will be doing that), I’m also planning, myself, to purchase the previous two volumes, even though this isn’t my favorite kind of story, or my favorite kind of character, by a long shot.

http://rapidshare.com/files/122725086/Conan_v2_000_-_007.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/124312965/Conan_v2_008_-_014.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/122734681/Conan_v2_015_-_021.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/122893834/Conan_v2_032_-_039.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/122910172/Conan_v2_047_-_050.rar

Captain America: HE WILL BE BACK

2009-12-16T08:31:00.000-08:00

Remember the day they killed Captain America, in March 2007? A shock was felt all over the world, except in those countries where people don't know Captain America from Adam. Though I am no fan of any superhero, I was still very shocked and pissed-off because I have always liked Steve Rogers. But I had a nagging suspicion that it was all a cheap ploy to boost sales, that because no one ever really dies in comics the Cap will be back. I was right, and I believe many people had the same suspicion, too. They are bringing Steve Rogers back in Captain American Reborn.

What is that I am hearing? Oh yeah, comic fans everywhere are saying "I told you so".

The original Captain America is finally coming back," Marvel Comics editor in chief Joe Quesada told the Daily News. "We've been patiently planning for this moment for 2 1/2 years."

Read more

"Captain America" writer Ed Brubaker, who scripted the character's death and will also be scripting the five-issue "Reborn" series featuring Rogers' return, has already gone on record saying the gone-and-back strategy was planned from the very start. So, while response to Rogers' return has been mixed (with many of the most vocal critics of his death now equally critical about his return), the most important question coming out of the media frenzy could be the simplest: why did he have to die in the first place?

So, they had planned it all along, eh? That just confirmed what I have always thought: every time some big name get killed in a comic, that's just a cheap marketing ploy to make money. It worked wonderfully in the case of the star-spangled Avenger, though, didn't it? It boosted sales like crazy. And I must admit I am really happy to have Steve Rogers back. I can't imagine anyone else as Captain America.

However happy though I am at hearing the news, I am still extremely disappointed. I have officially lost faith in the comic industry. If you kill someone, let them stay dead, else what would be the fucking point? Deaths of important characters in comic books lose all emotional impact when you know they are going to pull a Terminator anyway. And that is the difference between mainstream comics and indie ones. DC and Marvel will do anything, anything, to make more money.

"Just because we're bringing back Steve, don't think you know everything we're going to do," said Brubaker. "I wouldn't have 'Captain America: Reborn' be this big of a deal and not have some tricks up my sleeve."

Of course I expect no less. I expect fans are going to spend a shitload of money on a truckload of issues before they finally get to see Steve Rogers back in costume.

Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere By Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry

2009-12-14T14:01:00.000-08:00

I have become an unconditional fan of Neil Gaiman ever since I first read American Gods. Neverwhere is the second of his novels I have savored. I have a special fondness for any fantasy book that uses the theme of Alice in Wonderland. Neverwhere is among the best of them. Other similar books I highly recommend: John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things, China Miéville's Un Lun Dun, and Peter David's Tigerheart.

Mike Carey did a great job adopting Neil Gaiman's work into comic book narrative style and Glenn Fabry's artwork is simply gorgeous.

Buy it at Amazon.com

Excerpt from the review at Blog Critics:

Author Mike Carey and illustrator Glenn Fabry have done an amazing job in both telling the story and creating a visual representation of the world it takes place in. While they have had to streamline and leave out some bits from the original novel to accommodate the medium, they have done so without sacrificing any of the elements essential to the tale. What I found especially powerful was their willingness to let the illustrations speak for themselves and tell the story pictorially in places.

There are some truly wonderful moments, where they have elected to use large panels that succeed in both setting the scene and generating the atmosphere of the moment without any dialogue. It's times like these when you realize what makes this media so special and how potent great visuals can be. With one or two panels, they are able to accomplish what would take an author three to four pages to describe.

To my mind, Glenn Fabry's illustrations captured the world Neil Gaiman described in his book perfectly. While I had never developed any clear idea of what individual characters would look like, I had an image in mind of what I thought the world should look and feel like. Fabry was able to capture the essence and atmosphere of this world, a sort of 19th century England gone to seed, with a strong sense of the exotic and fantastic thrown in for good measure.

For those of you who are fans of Neil Gaiman's novel Neverwhere and are looking for a visual adaptation of the novel, Vertigo's presentation of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere is the perfect solution. It's as exciting as the original story and superbly illustrated. What more could you ask for?

Download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/319349369/Neverwhere__complete_.rar

Meltdown (2006) by David Schwartz and Sean Wang

2009-12-11T02:30:00.000-08:00

Writer: David Schwartz
Artist: Sean Wang

Publisher: Image Comics

I first discovered this comic, 2 years ago. After devouring it, my thought was "WOW! Best goddamn comic I have ever read since Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns!!". I have read a lot of good comic books since, but today, I read Meltdown again and my thought was "Damn! This is the best superhero comic I have read since Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns!!". With only 2 issues, this tiny mini-series has managed to achieve what 52 and Countdown to Infinite Crisis couldn't: greatness.

I highly recommend you to buy Meltdown in graphic novel format, for it contains a lot of extras. If any comic is worth spending your precious mullah on, Meltdown is it. Buy it at http://www.seanwang.com/comics_meltdown/.

Review from Comics Bulletin:

I don’t even know where to begin my accolades for Meltdown #1, a prestige format series coming from Image later this year. Well, I guess I’ll keep it simple and start at the beginning!

Meltdown has an opening similar to the film American Beauty, with our hero Cal, a.k.a. Flare, explaining his current situation: “They say that when you’re about to die, your entire life flashes before your eyes. I can tell you that it’s absolutely true, and I speak from experience. My name’s ‘Caliente.’ ‘Cal’ for short. I’m a super-hero. And I’m about to die. This is my story.” To tell you the truth, I wasn’t too impressed with the opening. It was a little too theatrical and gimmicky, leading me to believe I was about to head into a preachy 48-page epic. Nothing could be further from the truth, thank goodness! David Schwartz has crafted a slick, involving, emotional tale that is only made better by Sean Wang’s awe-inspiring artwork. It’s a super-heroic biography that gets it right, painting Cal as a human being first, then a super-powered wunderkind. Meltdown has laughs (“Maybe then I wouldn’t have to be here, wearing a ridiculous leather costume in the middle of August in Miami.”), tears (as Cal learns he can’t conceive with his wife due to his powers), and introspection on the nature of costumed heroics (“I did all the grunt-work, while the more established heroes hounded all the glory”). All I could think about was how this comic really communicated the essence of being a super-powered human, something that Marvel and DC have lost sight of in the midst of Civil Wars and Infinite Crises. I care about Cal and his travails, and I can’t wait to see what comes next from this excellent mini-series.

Everything about Meltdown has to do with heat, whether it concerns Cal’s body temperature and powers, his hot temper, or his heated passion for Amara. Fittingly, Amara is a feisty red-head with more than a few similarities to Mary Jane Watson (should we take their eventual break-up as a commentary on Spider-Man?). She is also the catalyst of the tale, as many female love interests become in heroic entertainment. When Amara learns that she can’t have a child with Cal due to his heightened body temperature, she is devastated, which causes Cal to leave. The best transition of the issue is at the point when Cal leaves Amara, as he “freed her to find a better man, a better life.” The panel displays Cal taking off into the air with a fiery stream trailing behind him. The following page almosts presents the same scene; the only differences is the costume Cal wears and the change of locale. He says, “That’s the problem with getting too close to someone. The pain can be unbearable, and here I am, doing it again.” What we realize is the pain he is talking about currently is coming in the physical variety, from his arch-nemesis Maelstrom. Throughout the issue, scenes of insight into Cal’s history and the events leading to his current situation are mixed with his presumably final battle with his main foe. The action scenes between the two enemies are beautifully orchestrated and illustrated, but they pale in comparison to the shocks and revelations that come hot and heavy (no pun intended) for Cal after his break with Amara. I won’t reveal exactly what happens, but there is one scene that will remind you of Civil War in a couple of ways (though much more emotionally involving), as well as final page that will have you cursing Schwartz and Wang for making you wait. I have to wait even longer, darn it!

I haven’t seen anything previously from Schwartz, but after Meltdown, I think he is a writer who understands what comics can do, and I hope we see more from him real soon. The pace of this entire issue is pulse-pounding without being too fast, and, considering that much of the issue is Cal’s flashback on his life, that is a real accomplishment. Main characters are rendered with realism and engaging humanity, except when Schwartz creates caricatured players to prove a point or make us laugh. One of the more interesting minor characters is Neuron, the “most brilliant mind on the planet,” who is unable to help Cal with his childbearing problem and his life-threatening condition. There is no magical cure, secret dimension, or technological wonder that can help Cal, showing that the super-heroic world that he frequents is our world, one where real problems don’t have an "Easy" button. For me, that is the greatest accomplishment of this comic. Schwartz very easily could have meandered into the unbelievable worlds we see week in and week out at our local comic shop, which is not necessarily bad. I’d love to live in a New York frequented by the Fantastic Four! But, from an originality/human connectivity standpoint, Meltdown delivers the goods, creating a super-hero epic with true heart and passion.

But, Schwartz’s words wouldn’t have had as much power without the incredibly rendered artwork by Wang. His excellence in Meltdown revolves around his appropriate touches on each and every page. The tone of his art changes with the tone of the story, which creates an involving visual experience throughout the issue. The fight between Flare and Maelstrom has realistic grit, the early tales of Cal and his crush on Amara have an almost cartoon-like/manga feel, and his early days of costumed heroics have the clean lines that are typical of JLA. The moment in the first issue when Cal finally snaps is communicated to us as much with visual cues as with the scripting. The full-page panel showing the height of Cal’s rage leads to a gritty depiction of destruction and despair throughout the remaining twelve pages of the issue. After seeing Wang’s work in Runners and his work here, I realize that he is an artist with overwhelming talent that needs greater exposure.

Hopefully, people will take heed when I say that this is a must buy once this series hits the comic stands. You can’t ask for more from a 48 page super-hero comic, even though you will feel kinda bummed about Cal’s situation at the end of the issue. But when you think about it, being depressed about Cal is a great thing. It means that Schwartz and Wang have made us care about a character we didn’t know 48 pages ago, and for a super-hero comic in this day and age, that is a tremendous achievement.

Download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/319336891/Meltdown.rar

Identity Crisis by Brad Meltzer

2009-12-10T14:39:00.000-08:00

Written by Brad Meltzer
Art by Rags Morales and Michael Bair
Covers by Michael Turner
Introduction by Joss Whedon

I love this comic so much I even bought the TPB, after having "sampled" it through illegal means. It is responsible for rekindling my love of comic books. Yes, it features a bunch of supes, but it's a murder story and a very humane one at that. Here we get to see the supes as real people with real emotions. The story is compelling, the dialogue excellent and the artwork simply exquisite. Damn, there are even people dying in this comic. 4 corpses out of 6 issues, needless to say, I was truly impressed!!

Buy Identity Crisis at Amazon.com

Review from Review Streams:

Brad Meltzer’s graphic novel, Identity Crisis, is a true masterpiece. This story, published by DC, features a heartbreaking murder mystery and features slews of favorite Justice League characters. Rags Morales pencils the graphic novel, and his work is divine. I would recommend this story to any comic fan.

How many superheroes does it take to solve a murder? The answer that it takes a lot, especially when the spouse of a super hero is murdered in most unusual circumstances. The story is tight and focused and really pulls the reader in from the very start. I felt for these characters in a way I reserve for people in real life. These characters are portrayed as real people, with real emotions and flaws. The dialogue is so realistic it contributes to the brilliance of the work as a whole. Meltzer uses unique colored thought panels so you can easily tell who is thinking what. This also allows you to follow a ‘conversation’ between off screen heroes while watching something else unfound. I found this technique highly imaginative.

This is a story I just cannot put down. The pencils by Morales are spellbinding. They literally pop off the page. The colors are rich and bright. There is nothing boring about this graphic novel whatsoever. Even the quiet moments of introspection are vivid and will pull you in. Meltzer does a masterful job of discussing relationships between spouses, between fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and members of the super hero family in the DC universe. You are given access to the innermost thoughts of so many characters you can appreciate their diverse perspectives on this tragedy. I want to add that it has a twist ending too! This is a masterful 10 on a 1-10 scale. Buy it right now.

Download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/319165141/Identity_Crisis_HC__2005__Minutemen-Y2K_.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/319150352/Identity_Crisis_HC__2005__Minutemen-Y2K_.part2.rar
or
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EMJ7V7AS
or
http://www.mediafire.com/file/jd2l4zm2zrz/Identity Crisis HC (2005) Minutemen-Y2K).part1.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/file/mnfu0m23lti/Identity Crisis HC (2005) Minutemen-Y2K).part2.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/file/hnjzj2md3zo/Identity Crisis HC (2005) Minutemen-Y2K).part3.rar

Why Batman, Superman and the rest are fucking wussies (but I still love them, except Aquaman)

2009-12-10T00:17:00.000-08:00

Batman is a pussy. Superman is a wuss. Wonder Woman is, well, a pussy - that goes without saying (unless one day she turns out to be a tranny). To put it simply, the entire JSL and JLA and the rest of them superheroes are just a bunch of pussies and wussies.

Why?

Because they don't kill, that's why.

Cops pursue criminals. Criminals shoot cops. Cops shoot criminals dead. Cops are heroes.

Supes fight criminals. Buildings and properties are destroyed. People are killed (undoubtedly, but they don't show us that). Supes put criminals in jail. Criminals escape, commit crimes, kill people again. Supes catch criminals, put criminals in jail. Criminals escape.

Repeat. Over. And. Over. Again.

Who the FUCK do Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and the rest of them wussies think they ARE? Above the law? If the law can kill, and justifiably so, then why do supes never kill? What do they achieve with their no-killing policy anyway? Here is what: they put bad guys in supposedly ultra-secure, no-escape prisons. Only the bad guys keep escaping again and again. Who know how many innocent lives have been lost just because the Bat guy didn't put one between the Joker's eyes.

One other reason super pussies don't kill is: villains like The Joker, Darkseid, Galactus, etc are too well liked to be allowed to die. They make money. They keep the fans coming back. Besides, if the famous super villains are to be killed, writers will have to come up with new villains, which I reckon is too much trouble for them. Why fix what ain't broken, right?

Be that as it may, there is no denying that a lot of comics about Batman, Superman, and all the rest of the famous superheroes are pretty darn good. I love them and read them as often as anyone. I just wish one day the supes will stop being a bunch of goddamn hypocrites and kill some super villains for a change. And I don't mean some two-dime villain that nobody will remember a month later. Like Barack Obama would have said: the time for changes has come. Kill The Joker.

The Territory by Jamie Delano and David Lloyd

2009-12-09T21:52:00.000-08:00

Buy this book from Dark Horse

Synopsis:

Mysteriously marooned in an unnamed ocean, a man named Ishmael is rescued by pirates and sold into slavery. His past is a blank. Equipped only with courage, a talent for action heroics and the inspiration of a half-remembered love, he must flirt with the sinister tentacles of Hydracorp to win his freedom. The Territory is a land of wonder and fear; hidden in its dark heart, a haunting truth that Ishmael is driven to discover. But there are no maps to The Territory. Those who would explore it must draw their own.

Repackaged as a hardback on the back of V for Vendetta and the forthcoming Kickback, this flight of fantasy (originally published as a four-part series in 1999) was artist David Lloyd’s first collaboration with writer Jamie Delano since their celebrated 1995 Hellblazer story, The Horrorist. Like that latter title, The Territory is a nightmare tale in which reality and fantasy is inexplicably intertwined as a man suffering from amnesia wakes up in a retro-futuristic world ruled by a tentacled terror known as The Gorgon.

In narrative and visual terms it’s a stylish mix and match of early 20th century fantasy fictions such as David Lindsay’s A Voyage to Arcturus and Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter, Warlord of Mars, with a bit of Raymond Chandler thrown in. The dénouement is an all too familiar cop out and the storytelling doesn’t quite strike the right note of irony, but it’s entertaining escapism nonetheless. --Source

http://rapidshare.com/files/318208538/The_Territory_HC_Dark_Horse_2006__Clasher_.cbz
or
http://www.multiupload.com/N0975SH2WK

100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso

2009-12-08T13:29:00.000-08:00

"Inside this attache case is irrefutable evidence that what I'm telling you is true. Also in the attache, a gun and 100 rounds of ammunition. All untraceable, all yours. Do with it as you see fit. If you act on this information, you will have carte blache."
— Agent Graves to Dizzy Cordova, 100 Bullets #1.

100 bullets on Wikipedia

Review from Graphic Novel Reporter:

After a serial publication history spanning nearly 10 years, the final issue of 100 Bullets was published by Vertigo in April, followed in October by the final trade paperback collection, bringing an incredible, extended noir tale by writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso to an absolutely explosive conclusion. And while the ending wraps things up in grand fashion—and fans wouldn’t have it any other way—the real fun is in the journey.

One hundred issues for 100 Bullets seems like such perfect construction, and from the very begging, Azzarello’s story is smart. We are introduced in the very first issue to Dizzy Cordova, who goes on to play a bigger role in the series. Cordova’s family is murdered in Chicago. A mysterious man in a suit named Agent Graves approaches her and offers a way to avenge their deaths—an attaché briefcase with a handgun and 100 rounds of ammunition that by some method, initially unknown, have been rendered untraceable. Any police investigation that comes across the rounds will halt immediately. The case also includes indisputable evidence regarding the culprit. Essentially, it is a way to get away with murder, seemingly without consequences, and a nudge in the right direction.

Cordova’s initial short story wraps up in three issues, and then 100 Bullets moves onto a man wrongly sentenced in a child pornography case and the woman who set him up. As 100 Bullets progresses, we meet a full cast of characters who learn in their own short stories that there is someone to blame for the way their lives turned out. In each case, Graves offers the individual a way to rectify it with an attaché briefcase and 100 untraceable bullets. Some question the consequences of a higher power; some question the contents of the briefcase; some question their own accountability for where their lives are at; some simply take the opportunity to kill…and not always just the person responsible. No matter what, they all deal with the moral dilemma of that briefcase and their actions following it.

But as the stories unfold one after another, characters start to return as the reader learns that they are all connected by something more than the mysterious man and his attaché briefcases, and then a larger plot and conspiracy begins to unfold, keeping readers on the edge of their seats until the very last pages of chapter 13, “Wilt.”

The individual stories as well as the overall arc in 100 Bullets feel like good old-fashioned crime fiction, with beautiful, big-breasted blonde women, suave men in business suits carrying out some of the most violent action around, with everyone trying to stay one step ahead of the other in a plot that will keep readers thinking the entire time. But 100 Bullets also stays away from major clichés, and we also get women who, while, yes, are still almost universally big-breasted and beautiful, are such in a less traditional sense. Likewise, the guys are all cool in their own way, but each of them has a unique back story, leaving different reasons to both root for and despise them. The story finds a level of complexity unique to the storytelling in comics, and that’s what makes 100 Bullets truly special.

But arguably none of Azzarello’s story works without the art of Risso and his supporting staff. Risso’s management of designs for an incredible cast of characters is noted, but the real treat is how he handles perspectives, panel construction, focusing on small details and most notably his shadings of characters and shadow. This is accented by colorist Patricia Mulvihill. From the scenes bathed in sunset oranges to the nighttime blues and blacks, she possibly does the most in creating the true tone of 100 Bullets. And Dave Johnson doesn’t leave one cover in the entire series unmemorable.

Like most ongoing series, 100 Bullets has some rough edges at the very start, as Azzarello and Risso try to click and find their groove. The dialects Azzarello tries to recreate can be jarring at the beginning, but whether he gets better or the readers simply become accustomed to his incredible work along the way, it doesn’t take long for things to sink in, and then the story and the visuals grab hold. And unlike most other ongoing series, 100 Bullets never lets go. It’s hard to find a dull moment or an uninteresting character, dilemma, or story along the way, making 100 Bullets a true testament to what can only be accomplished with collaboration in the comics medium. It is a pulp-driven extravaganza, striving for deeper meaning about the history of American violence. For the most part, 100 Bullets hits its mark, and like the crime saga greats of cinema, it is always entertaining.
-- William Jones

Download the entire series (100 issues)

http://rapidshare.com/files/317961990/100_bullets__1-10_.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/317968449/100_bullets__11-20_.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/317975168/100_bullets__21-30_.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/317911275/100_bullets__31-40_.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/317916840/100_bullets__41-50_.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/317922358/100_bullets__51-60_.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/317928329/100_bullets__61-70_.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/317936470/100_bullets__71-80_.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/317944807/100_bullets__81-90_.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/317954542/100_bullets__91-100_.rar

Sleeper by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

2009-12-07T19:01:00.000-08:00

Did I mention that I loved anything noir? And is there anything better, more delicious than a hard-boiled noir story set in a world full of posthumans, especially when it's written by one of the master of the noir genre: Ed Brubaker?

Sleeper and its prequel Point Blank are excellent graphic novels that, sadly, didn't get the recognition they deserve. There are rumors about a movie based on Sleeper, starring Tom Cruise and directed by none other than Sam Raimi. I am crossing my fingers and hope to see it some time this decade.

Wikipedia

Comic Review: ‘Sleeper’ Vol 1 and 2

Jack Bauerstein83 Posted by Jack Bauerstein83 | September 30th, 2009 at 7:26 pm

Sleeper
Vol. 1: Out in the Cold
Vol. 2: All False Moves
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Sean Phillips
DC Comics/WildStorm

Back in 2001, a funny thing happened. Noir style comics got popular. Sure, they have been around for a pretty long time but I think it hit its peak once noir-esque style writers like Brian Bendis, Greg Rucka, and Darwyn Cooke started to make some engrossing pieces of comic book fiction. And with the popularity came the glut of noir comics, filled with morally ambiguous heroes and deadly femme fatales. Some were good but a lot were not great. The worst part of it all was that with so many books out there, a great book was bound to be lost in the fold. Sleeper by Ed Brubaker (Daredevil, Criminal) and Sean Phillips (Criminal, Marvel Zombies) was one such title.

Though it garnered a lot of critical acclaim, sales for this title was okay at best but because of solid following plus strong trade sales, the entire series is finally collected in two volumes.

Okay, so let’s start with the basics. Sleeper centers on Special Agent Holden Carver. When a mission to grab a mysterious artifact goes south, Carver and his team of government agents are left for dead. Lucky (or unlucky?) for him, Carver is the lone survivor. The artifact bonds with him, saving his life, and leaving him with the power to store and distribute pain to other around him. With the world believing he is dead, Carver decides to help his government the only way he can: become a double agent.

Flash forward to four years later, as Carver has established himself as one of the top men in a super powered criminal organization. Carver’s very close to nabbing the organization’s boss, Tao, but a wrench is thrown into the mix when he discovers his handler on the outside (and the only person who knows who he actually is) is put in a coma by an unknown attacker. To make matters worse Tao suspects a rat in his fold and plans to do all he can to smoke him out.

Like everyone else, I was late getting into Sleeper. I remember picking up the first issue but for one reason or another, never picked up the subsequent issues. It was only until I picked it up at my local library that I got hooked on all its greatness.

For one thing, it is written by uber writer Ed Brubaker. Anyone who has read any of his works knows the man can spin a yarn and he doesn’t disappoint with this. The characters are developed, engaging, and most of all, you really root and feel for the characters, even though a majority of them are immoral homicidal criminals. The best character is the main character Carver, who is the quintessential noir hero. He is basically a guy that is trying to do what is right, despite the cards he was dealt with, and you root for him to come out of this mess alive, even though deep down you know there will be no happy ending.

Yes, dear reader, sorry to burst your bubble but there is no happy ending at the end. It is a noir story after all. No character comes out of this story unscathed as Carver’s criminal and government lives begin to intertwine, and I think it was a wise move on Brubaker’s part to fashion such a story. It is not a pretty story so it shouldn’t get a happy ending.

What is pretty though is the art by Sean Phillips. Many should be familiar with his work on Marvel Zombies but I really love his work on Sleeper. His dark tones and style fits the mood of the story perfectly. I can’t imagine anyone else would be able to fill his artist shoes.

Sleeper is a hit on all counts. The writing is solid and the art is perfect for the tone of the story. You will not be disappointed with this read. -- Source

Download Sleeper vol 1 and 2 and Point Blank.

http://www.multiupload.com/ACOP90UZ5T (part 1)
http://www.multiupload.com/BBFPA59USM (part 2)

Download both parts before extracting.

Le Tueur aka The Killer vol. 1 (issues 1-10)

2009-11-16T07:37:00.000-08:00

Written by Matz
Art by Luc Jacamon

Some of the best hard-boiled noir France has to offer.

A professional.

A man of few scruples, nerves of steel, and a steady trigger finger.

A man whose crimes might be catching up with him.

A man on the verge of cracking.

ASP presents THE KILLER, a hardboiled 10-issue noir series chronicling one man’s journey through some seriously bad mojo.

“4 (out of 5) stars. An intriguing look into the life of an assassin, The Killer delivers a sober tale of the risk and solitude faced by the protagonist.”
— Lance Eaton, Curled Up With a Good Book

“In the tradition of Jean-Pierre Melville, it captures a noir-infused Paris, with atmosphere to spare and enough sex, double crosses and hard-boiled attitude to leave you wanting more. Grade: A.”

—Mike Sebastian, Campus Circle

“Maddeningly enjoyable… Whether or not you traditionally enjoy graphic novels, the cinematic sensibility of The Killer makes the book as accessible as any film.”

—Erik Hinton, PopMatters

“A fresh breath in the noir genre with art that is terrific in its simplicity and writing that is engaging, intriguing, and gripping.”
—Newsarama’s Best Shots Team

“Matz and Jacamon have created a storytelling language that is immersive and riveting… A mesmerizing piece of work that thrills to the potential of the comic-book medium.”

—Jeff Jensen, Entertainment Weekly, The Best Comics of 2007

“The French have long been masters of moody noir films like Band of Outsiders or Le Samourai, so The Killer carries some heavy expectations. Fortunately, Jacamon's art is more than up to the task. His layouts are exciting, equally adept at choreographing brutal action, placing the camera for maximum suspense, and playing with panel borders to convey the protagonist's gradual mental breakdown.”

— Publishers Weekly (July 2007)

“A+… This is a modern work of art which has already immediately earned itself a place in the pantheon of respected industry works.”

—13 Minutes

“An A+ project. It’s the best thing on the stands right now. It’s just as smart as anything from Vertigo.”

— Dan Head’s “Stray Voltage,” Paperback Reader
http://www.paperbackreader.com/

“A provocative and intense read…. If you just like a good, well-told, nicely illustrated book you definitely need to pick this one up!”

— Brant Fowler, Silver Bullet Comics
http://www.silverbulletcomics.com/

“A dark, disturbing tale of rationalization, violence and death. If your comic book store doesn’t carry this import, tell them they are missing out.”

— Matthew McLean, The Comics Review
http://www.thecomicsreview.com/

"Looking into the head of a sociopath shouldn’t be this intriguing, and yet that’s exactly what Matz provides… Jacamon’s art is lovely, a lushly styled creation."

— Greg McElhatton, www.readaboutcomics.com

“[The Killer is a] tale of a contract-killer [that] forgoes the usual hyperbolic mix of adrenaline and testosterone for realism, patience, and introspection—and the results are terrific.”

—Blair Butler, “Fresh Ink” on Attack of the Show
http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/index.html

“Matz has woven an intriguing and frightening look inside the mind of a murderer here, and it is as chilling as it is entertaining. Luc Jacamon's art here is phenomenal, and really drives the book home… It takes a great artist to make the minute to minute activities of a man waiting seem interesting, but Jacamon does it perfectly, accenting each thought the killer has with his bored activities. Very impressive.”

—Dan Grendell, “Indie Jones” at Ain’t It Cool News, http://www.aintitcool.com/

“Jacamon’s gorgeous artwork… The Killer #1 is one of the best first issues I’ve read this year, a moody and intense character study that serves as gateway to a very intriguing new story.”

—Randy Lander, Comic Pants, http://www.comicpants.com/

“The Killer is, in fact, a lot like reading a movie. It plays like a French film, more elegant and heady than your typical American fare… The Killer is a small gem of a find… The Killer is 32 pages of ad-free, uninterrupted intrigue, and worth every penny of its $3.95 price of admission.”

—David Henry, Comixfan.com, http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/

“Really, truly excellent. It's a Comic You Should Be Reading if you like hard-hitting comics that don't dumb it down. Don't miss it.”

—Dan Head, Paper Back Reader, http://www.paperbackreader.com

http://rapidshare.com/files/307034197/The_Killer__complete_.rar

Mouse Guard Fall 1152 and Mouse Guard Winter 1152

2009-11-12T00:22:00.000-08:00

Imagine Les Trois Mousquetaires as written by J.R.R. Tolkien, in graphic novel format with fantastically drawn and colored animal characters. On the surface, this may look like a children book but don't let that fool you. It's serious and at times dark; full of adventures and realistic dangers. Despite having a good story, I suspect it's the attractive, vivid artwork that will keep you coming back for more. Certainly one of the most beautiful graphic novels I have ever read. Support the authors, buy the books, if you can. There is a RPG based on this comic that will be released soon. According to some of the previews I have read, the game is as good as the books. I am definitely getting it.

Here is a short review for Mouse Guard Fall 1152, from x-librarian.com:

Mouse Guard is a beautiful book, even the physical presentation is something to behold. A fairly large square-book format it will probably cause some librarians angst in regards to shelving but that should dissipate once you see the book. With vibrant autumnal colours on a matte dustcover and a cover picture of three earnest mice with swords and capes, the presentation leaps out at the reader and is instantly appealing.

Originally released as a 6 part comic series in 2005-2006 Mouse Guard was an instant hit with various issues selling out, being reprinted and then selling out again. Much like Bone by Jeff Smith, Mouse Guard starts with a deceptively simple beginning. The three mouse protagonists are sent to search for a lost mouse that failed to arrive at his appointed destination. Like all good mysteries, this small act reveals a clue that bigger things are afoot and soon the story expands into a tale that reaches into the history and mythology of the Mouse Territories.

It is a fairly sombre book, with focus on the quest of the three mice intertwining with a larger war situation later in the book . However the violence depicted is fairly minimal, with no gratuitous shots and minimal blood. Younger readers may find it all too serious and heavy despite the cute protagonists. The ideal minimum age would be approx 11+.

For me, its the art that drew me in, and keeps me coming back. You can see some internal art from the series at David Petersen’s website. Make sure you check out his other work , such as the covers he is doing for the latest Muppet comic series from Boom! studios.

http://rapidshare.com/files/305865525/Mouse_Guard_-_Fall_1152.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/305878183/Mouse_Guard_-_Winter_1152.rar

Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosa (2008)

2009-11-11T21:06:00.000-08:00

I borrowed this graphic novel, in French, at the local library, not knowing anything about Cyril Pedrosa. Turned out I made one of oh-so-few good decisions in my life. Three Shadows is a dark, suspenseful and heart-wrenching tale about a father's attempt to save his son's life. Here is the English version for your reading pleasure. If you love this book, buy it. It deserves a honorable place on your bookshelf.

Review from School Library Journal Blog:

When I showed my husband my latest First Second graphic novel, Three Shadows, he took a gander at where the book had originally been published. “France? Doesn’t First Second know that there are hardworking American graphic novelists being put out of their jobs because of guys like this?” He was joking of course, but after a while a person might begin to agree. Where DOES First Second come up with these people? If they’re not romancing us with handsome mummies as in The Professor’s Daughter then these overseas masters of the pen are shooting dogs into space like in Laika. Cyril Pedrosa is French, but looking at his style alone you wouldn’t be inclined to give his pen a strict nationality. This is maybe one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Can you “read” an image? “Reading” Pedrosa can be dangerous. It means fully immersing yourself in a story that, at its heart, is about the death of a child and how parents fight and cope with the tragedy. You have to be able to trust that the artist will get you in and out of this kind of subject matter with skill. Fortunately, in this particular case there is little need for worry.

When little Joachim sees “shadows” staring at him from his window at night, it doesn’t initially seem to be of any concern. Sure, there are three mysterious horsemen on the hill by his home, but is that a crime? Until now Joachim, his mother, and his father have all lived an idyllic life consisting of planting, skinny-dipping, and long nights in front of the fire. Yet the presence of the shadows is undoubtedly sinister and when the boy’s mother discovers their real purpose, her husband decides to take matters into his own hands. They want his son? Fine. They’ll just have to follow where he goes, over the river and to a land where they’ll be safe. Soon, though, it becomes clear that the journey to safety may be more dangerous than anyone could have expected. And when at last it’s time to let go, it is Joachim who enables his father to face the truth and who helps him understand at last.

The bookflap of this novel says this about the story’s creation. "Three Shadows was born out of the agony of watching his close friends’ child die very young.” Maybe a parent who had lost a child firsthand would have been too close to the material. Maybe it took a friend like Mr. Pedrosa to put a magical realism spin on the action and make something that is more “true” than a straight memoir might be. A book like this, working with the hope that it will convey at least a smidgen of what a person feels when their child is taken away, has to rely on the skill of the author’s storytelling. So it is that we encounter several lives. There are moral uncertainties and terrible choices, and it is the mix of these stories that make this book a richer piece of fiction. The story makes a rather odd turn when Joachim at last confronts the three shadows and we take a peculiar interlude into the decadent upper echelons of rich society. Otherwise the script is tight and the scenes a valuable part of the whole.

You might wonder what other artistic endeavors Mr. Pedrosa has dipped his toe into. Well I’m getting all my information about him from the bookflap of this title, so take that for what it’s worth. Apparently Pedrosa, “began his career in animation, working on, among others, the Disney films Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules.” I wouldn’t have had a clue about this without reading this info. Thinking of those two films you get a very clear image in your mind of that particular Disney style. And certainly Pedrosa’s art is, above all, wholly cinematic. There are close-ups, landscape shots, views from above, and magnificent dream sequences. There are panels that stretch across the page in long strips, panels that are tiny boxes and others that work without lines or borders.

More than this, however, is the man’s use of line. He is to long thin curvy lines what Peter Sis is to dots and speckles. Whole scenes are carved out of twisted lines that sweep about the characters. And yet it is the sheer variety of artistic styles that will impress you the most. When Joachim’s father takes him away to be “safe” the sequence of the boy leaving his mother is done in sharp contrasting shadows, the mom almost barely more than a shadow by the end. Or there's the golem sequence that looks more scratchboard than ink. And yet the image in this book of Joachim pulling a chair across the floor, in spite of all the technical beauty of Pedrosa’s ink, is my favorite image if only because it feels so real and true. That then is the true reason I respect the man’s work.

All this, and not a single sacrifice made on the part of character. Motivations are never purer than when they are invested in keeping your children healthy and happy. There’s not a person in this book that doesn’t appear to know his or her own mind. What they do, they do out of self-interest, or on behalf of someone who is impotent. Except the three shadows, of course. They too know their own minds, but their actions are on behalf of something we cannot hope to understand while we live.

You may wonder if this is an appropriate inclusion in your children’s collection, to which I would have to reply, “Ah, the French”. About page four you get a look at innocent full family nudity that is highlighting the sweetness of their life together and will make many a parent shake in their shoes. Boobs! And later in the book when the family is sleeping, more boobs! And hanging dangling bits! So, taking into account the maturity of the subject matter, the allusions to what happens to African female slaves, and the sheer amount of breasts in the book, best to be putting this in the teen and adult sections of your library, I should think.

The book begins with the poem “Not Pleasant But True” by Deborah Garrison about a parent’s wish to die in their child’s stead. It’s a small poem. No more than ten lines in length, but the tone is there. And yet, this is not a story that dwells in misery and loss without acknowledging life in all its mysteries. Three Shadows is a sometimes subtle, sometimes chaotic, always beautiful book that dares to tackle every parent’s deepest fear. Heartbreaking and brilliant by turns, this is required reading.

http://rapidshare.com/files/305810753/Three_Shadows__2008___Minutemen-DTs_.cbz (132mb)

The Black Diamond Detective Agency by Eddie Campbell

2009-11-11T20:26:00.000-08:00

by Eddie Campbell, based on a screenplay by C. Gaby Mitchell, 2007, First Second

Very nice mystery/western comic with great artwork from Eddie Campbell whose work in Alan Moore's From Hell propelled him to international stardom.

Review from Jog - The Blog:

Sitting here now around the tail end of the publisher’s third wave of releases (the fourth wave has been announced, by the way), totaling an even 18 books with all heads counted, The Black Diamond Detective Agency is a unique in two major areas: (1) it’s largely a straightforward, ‘realistically’-rendered action/mystery comic; and (2) it’s a comics adaptation of a pre-existing movie screenplay, written by C. Gaby Mitchell and handled by producer Bill Horberg. The movie has not yet been made, but Eddie Campbell’s comic is all ready to go.

The book is also unique among the artist’s works. Campbell is no stranger to adaptation, mind you. After all, his prior book for First Second, The Fate of the Artist, concluded with an adaptation of an O. Henry short story, which the artist seamlessly folded into his mix of themes and intuitive visual cues. Prior to that, we’ve had the works eventually collected as A Disease of Language, transformations of Alan Moore’s spoken-word performances into swirls of word and picture. However, Campbell has never quite matched his style with the quick-moving thrills of a streamlined slice of action movie entertainment before - obviously there were action sequences in various bits of the Bacchus saga, or the likes of Batman: The Order of Beasts, but they’d always been contained in a Campbell-created capsule of austere intrigue and mythic conversational play, one where he could set the parameters right from the start. Here, the parameters had to be reconfigured.

Thus, we have the saga of John Hardin, a haunted man of obvious mystery, and the murderous train bombing that obliterates the peace of his life and summons the detectives of the title, one of those private investigation services that could grow to the size of an army back around the close of the 19th century, which is where the book is set. The Black Diamond detectives think Hardin exploded that train, and maybe facilitated the disappearance of a very important mystery safe traveling therein. The detectives are at a bit of a loss themselves - they’re always clashing with federal authorities, like the Secret Service, and don’t even have access to the basic knowledge of what the stolen goods they’re chasing actually are. But then, the truth was as flexible a thing back then as it was now.

As will come to no surprise to those who’ve read First Second’s Free Comic Book Day giveaway, Hardin eludes the detectives’ grasps, and goes on the run. Have I mentioned his beloved wife has also left him, at just the same time as the bombing? Neither of them were quite what they seemed to be, and throughout Our Anti-Hero’s journey, several additional transformations take place. Hardin adopts two additional names. At different times, he poses as two other members of the book’s cast. At one point -- and this would no doubt be the trailer’s ‘hook’ if this were to become a major motion picture -- he actually joins the very detective agency that’s chasing him, utilizing their smarts and resources to accomplish his own ends, which after all does involve solving the mystery.

All of this is possible through the uncertainty of memory, identity and technology, a theme that Campbell ably carries through this comics incarnation of the material. The book is divided into two chapters, plus a prologue and epilogue. The chapters are titled “Frames” and “Secrets.” That first one is particularly pregnant with possibility - Hardin is apparently ‘framed’ for a crime he didn’t commit, he constantly stares at the world through the frames of glasses (a classic comics symbol for secret identity), and he moves freely thanks to the low quality of the drawings that frame his image for the newspapers. Eventually, Hardin and the detectives run in with a lovely, alcohol-soaked sketch artist and photographer, the only person around who seems capable of harnessing something evoking the truth in the frames of her own creations (an interesting character indeed for Campbell, who himself has worked as a courtroom artist, sketching the likenesses of the accused, for occasional use on the news).

--Red the complete review here.

http://rapidshare.com/files/305792490/The_Black_Diamond_Detective_Agency.cbz (35 mb)

Chronicles of Wormwood by Garth Ennis

2009-10-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

Garth Ennis's take on the Antichrist and the End of The World is far more enjoyable than anything that has been done about that subject before or since. This is Ennis at his best. Expect the expected, namely: great black humor, un-gratuitous nudity and sex, a shitload of profanity and, of course, tons of inventiveness.

Excerpt of the review from comicbookbin.com:

The Antichrist is among us, and he's neither ruling the world from a mountain of blood and skulls nor working at that Burger King around the corner where it takes 25 minutes to get an order of fries. Instead, he has abandoned his destiny, forsaken his father, and instead uses his powers to run a cable television empire, drink beer with a brain damaged Jesus, and bugger Joan of Arc. He also has a talking rabbit. This is Garth Ennis' vision of the End Of Days, and while it's not strictly according to scripture, it's just as unwholesome, and far more fun.

Immensely entertaining, inventive, and surreal in just the right places, Chronicles of Wormwood is showing all the signs of being as well-written as the first few issues of Ennis' Preacher.

One wouldn't necessarily expect the upbeat, light-hearted quality of Jacen Burrows' artwork to mesh well with a story about the son of the Devil, but it's that contrast that makes it work. Ennis is certainly taking the piss out of one's expectations of an apocalyptic Antichrist story, and the pencils definitely support that approach. Burrows makes fine use of light colors and white sections, completely the opposite of what, say, Mike Mignola or Frank Miller might do with the story. It's refreshing and unusual, and coupled with Ennis' writing, the art makes the end of the world fun again. Just the way it should be.

http://rapidshare.com/files/300322510/Chronicles_of_Wormwood.rar

Crecy by Warren Ellis

2009-03-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

Warren Ellis's take on the battle of Crecy, a major battle in the Hundred Years war between England and France and also one of warfare's most important historical battles.

This being a Warren Ellis comic, expect coarse language, nasty humor, graphic violence and expect to learn, too.

The black and white artwork is simply exquisite.

If you're squeamish, you may want to stay away from Crecy, it's your loss. But if you're familiar with Ellis's works, you know you are in for a treat.

http://rapidshare.com/files/209382333/Crecy__2007_.rar

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=H92Y5ZTL

The Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo by Dwight L. MacPherson

2009-03-14T12:41:00.000-07:00

Original, imaginative and beautiful dark fantasy. If you love movies like Coraline (a great adaptation of the Neil Gaiman's book) and Pan's Labyrinth, this comic will make your day.

101 pages. Colors.

Review from Broken Frontier:

The inimitable Edgar Allan Poe squeezes a hero out his backside, and what comes next is, unbelievably, a brilliant fantasy epic on par with Mouse Guard.

What’s in a name? In the case of The Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo, the title is a literal one, an absolute, pinpoint, accurate explanation of what you’ll find inside, as the historical E.A. Poe, taking care of business in an outhouse latrine, ejects a Mini-Me version of himself, a miniature little tin-type that falls down the toilet hole and into a world that’s one part surrealism a la Alice in Wonderland, two parts high fantasy anthropomorphism a la Redwall, and three parts dark epic danger in the vein of Lord of the Rings. Perhaps Little Nemo in Slumberland is the closest, stand-alone comparison to be made, although even then -- in case my flailing from classic to classic in desperate attempt to explain this magnificent bastard of a graphic novel hasn’t already clued you in -- the work in question is plainly unique, and stands on its own, a story well worth the read no matter how overexposed to past fantasy standards one may or may not be.

Writer Dwight L. MacPherson (of Markosia’s Dead Men Tell No Tales and Silent Devil’s Jim Reaper fame) has crafted an astonishingly good fantasy comic, utilizing the much loved through-the-looking-glass narrative structure of moving between real world to fictional world and then back again, and via this, weaves a complex, though wholly undemanding heroic quest comic. Basically, when the aforementioned ejected Edgar Allan Poo falls into the land of Terra Somnium, he befriends many a curious character there, all impossibly conceived, and they in turn lead him on a journey to discover his origins, his importance to this fantastical locale, and how both of these relate to a veritable cavalcade of nightmarish villains. Toss in a main baddie as quintessentially evil as Sauron or the Storm King, a story as caringly crafted and intellectually intriguing as it is random and damn-the-torpedoes, let’s make Edgar Allan Poe a piece of poop, TSAEAP is one lovable, enchanting gem.

Though -- story aside -- does the art sell it? Does it enhance it, suit it, make it all that it sounds to be? Oh, baby…the art is phenomenal. If ever I write a comic book, whatever the subject matter, whatever its desired aesthetic, tone, and tint, I am hand-selecting Thomas Boatwright to illustrate it, because he is bloody amazing. Handling all pencils, inks, and colors, he delivers a style like Scott Morse as trained by Don Bluth, a ridiculously well-matched blend of figurative art and crystal-clear animation. His protagonists are winsome and his villains fierce and his backgrounds deserve a gallery show of their own. Even better, his chosen color palate for Edgar Allan Poo is bar none; it evokes all the proper shades of atmosphere at all the right times, an exactingly painted portrait of a true gothic fantasy.

Now, this here book, it’s from Image, so no one’s got any excuse to blah blah blah my comic shop won’t blah -- your comic shop’s got it, and they can easily get more of it, so you get on and get it! At $9.99 for 96 gorgeously rendered pages of well constructed high-weird fantasy, you cannot, under any circumstances, go wrong with this book. It’s only "Book 1," too, so much more to come from these guys. The first outing comes to a decent enough close, though it’s largely a cliffhanger, with many questions left unanswered, nearly all the problems left unresolved. Still, I’ve rarely read so much actual event inside a mere 96 page GN (slim, for a collection), and here again I’ll stroke Mr. MacPherson’s ego by claiming his script to be the densest damn use of a sparse, nearly decompressed style I’ve ever experienced. So check it out, and let a long line of Edgar Allan Poo books rain from the heavens (so you can spend all those pennies that come from the same)!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=88WKNNDY

Buy this comic from Amazon.

Back in blackmail by Steven Earnhart and Rudolf Montemayor

2009-03-14T11:45:00.001-07:00

There is almost nothing I love more than hard-boiled characters, whether they are in a novel, a comic book or a movie. Back in Blackmail is hard-boiled excellence at its best. Read review below. Download link is at the bottom.

Review from curledup.com:

The year is 2024 and the place is Los Angeles, a seething cesspool of violence, drugs, and corruption. Right, not much has changed, except that mutations and aliens are in—and that’s not a reference to plastic surgery and people from other countries. After a case goes particular sour for private investigator Billy Blackburn, he finds himself stuck in the gutters with few people other than bill collectors knocking at his door. When the wealthy businessman Mr. Torchsong comes knocking and almost instantly hires Billy, he is grateful, to be sure,though not entirely without suspicion. But, for now, the money is flowing, and that is what an investigator thrives on.

Torchsong requests that Billy recover the original video of his daughter involved in lewd acts and excessive drug intact that someone is using to blackmail Torchsong. Realizing the depth and force that might be needed in this investigation, Billy quickly employs the help of his harder, stronger, more aggressive friend, Knuckles. But shortly into the case, it becomes apparent that there are several people with vested interest in this, and that solving this case is going to take a bit more than Torchsong originally implied. Several car chases, fist fights with an anthropomorphized steroid-injecting shark, and a sadistic clown later, and they quickly discover how perverse the world can be.

Hard-Bullied Comics is a gritty, smart, action-packed tale filled with its share of sarcasm, brutality, and noir that fans of creators such as Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, and Grant Morrison will thoroughly relish. Earnhart brings a fresh vibe to the hard-boiled detective genre that will leave readers yearning for more.

Rudolf Montemayor’s art perfectly complements Earnhart’s narrative style. The stark black and white art works well with the story, creating a cold environment where blood and skin are colorless, as if in this dystopian future they matter little. Montemayor does some really interesting work throughout this collection, manipulating panels, character viewpoints, and visual displays such as television screens within the story itself. Though he generally sticks to a paneled format for most of the book, when he does break out of the borders, it leaves that much more of an impression on the reader.

The book includes a decent collection of extras. The first is a different artist’s adaptation of Issue #2. As a point of comparison, it proves intriguing to see how artists work with the same dialogue but illustrate it in different manners. This is followed by a brief tour of Los Angeles and the classic bars and lounges that have served as fodder for detective stories in Los Angeles for decades. The next is a bit more dubious. The creators decided to include a variety of alcoholic drinking recipes for readers to enjoy. It makes sense, on the one hand, since adults are the general demographic here, but on the other hand it seems rather irrelevant. However, the background information provided on the history of hardboiled detective stories in the pages thereafter is a great way to allow readers to further understand the mechanics of this story. A brief sketch gallery of future characters and a profile page of characters included in the first volume round out the bonus material in this striking new series.

Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Lance Eaton, 2007

Buy this comic at Hard-bullied comics

Download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/167417397/Back_in_Blackmail.rar (59mb)

Blacksad by Juan Diaz Canales

2009-03-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

Blacksad (vol 1-3)
Written by Juan Diaz Canales
Art by Guarnido

[There is supposedly 5 volumes, only 3 were scanlated from french editions. One of the greatest and most beautiful crime-noir comics ever published!! The artwork is simply gorgeous!! A must-read for everyone, even the casual comic reader. This comic reminds me of S. Andrew Swann's Forests of the night, in which the hero is a hard-boiled half-tiger, half-human detective.]

Here is what some of legends in the comic industry have to say about Blacksad:

"Brilliant art and an unusual display of anthropomorphic realism" - Will Eisner

"The art is totally fantastic. The story is like following the most gripping movie directed by the most inspired director. It's everything a sensational graphic novel should be-and more. I case i didnt make myself clear- I think Blacksad is as good as it gets"-Stan Lee

Meet John Blacksad, a cat in the shadows. Imagine New York as a city of criminal rats, jazz-playing gorillas and rhino thugs. Enter a mystery where the suspects have tails. Find out why comics' biggest names are wild about one of the freshest graphic novels in years. Enter the world of Blacksad. Natalia Wilford is a famous actress. To the world, she had everything anybody could wat: beauty, fame, glamour and lovers who would do anything for her. When she is found murdered in her home, it touches the man who had not seen her since their bitter breakup many years ago...private eye John Blacksad. He vows to find Natalia's murderer. When the police are told to call off their investigation of the crime, Blacksad charges forward alone, risking his license, his reputation and even his life!

From Publishers Weekly

The second volume of Canales and Guarnido's hybrid of hard-boiled detective and anthropomorphic-animal comics is a visual masterpiece. The entire work is constructed around a single joke, but a brilliant one. PI John Blacksad gets involved with an investigation having to do with a white power group, the Arctics, that's been murdering blacks; a kidnapping; and a dark secret of illegitimate birth. It's a standard-issue detective-novel plot, if nicely handled—but the twist is that all the characters are animal-headed humanoids, and the tension revolves around not the color of their skin, but the color of their fur. Blacksad is a black cat; a racist politician is a polar bear; there's a black power gang led by a black horse; etc. (The climactic plot twist involves a white character turning out to have a small patch of black fur.) Like any good gumshoe tale, the story's crammed with sex and violent gunplay, and Guarnido manages to set even his wackiest-looking characters within gritty, realistic backgrounds and lighting. His art is exquisitely sensitive to the nuances of facial expression and body language—not an easy feat with characters who are drawn as weasels, crows or mice. The story's point, though, is the vicious absurdity of racism, and Canales and Guarnido express it by making their tone absolutely straight.

From SplashPanel:

Blacksad is probably one of , if not the very best anthropomorphic graphic novels currently on the stands, if ever published. I know this might sound like hyperbole, but in this case it would be a fact. Not trying to pigeon hole it or anything I’ll even go a little further and say that it’s one of the best crime noir series I’ve read in a good long while. Make no mistake, just because animals are used here instead of humans does not mean you can give this to your little brother to read. This isn’t Donald Duck we’re talking about here.

The story is set in what seems to be a place very much like LA during the 1950s. So the buildings, cars and clothes all fit within that time period. The book starts off with a murder case (how else would a book set in the 1950s start?) and John Blacksad, a private eye has been called in by the Police because he knew the murdered woman in question. They give him the regular qliched line about him not getting involved and leave it to the professionals, which of course he doesn’t really bother listening to and he begins his search for the person who murdered his ex-movie actress girlfriend. That’s the setup, the middle part continues in a very familiar fashion (at least to those who have seen this sort of movie before), however it ends in a way you wouldn’t really expect.

The characters all have unique voices It’s clever, it’s funny and oddly, it’s very very human, which I guess is Canales’s greatest achievement in this book.

(read more at: http://splashpanel.com/archives/blacksad-somewhere-within-the-shadows-volume-1/)

Buy this comic from Amazon.

Download vol. 1-3:
http://rapidshare.com/files/167407775/Blacksad.rar (50mb)

Pax Romana by Jonathan Hickman

2009-03-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

If you have read The Nightly News by Jonathan Hickman then know that this new mini-series is also something special. I can't write a review for the life of me so I copied this one from Aintitcool.com. The review is right on the spot. Download link below.

Review for issue #1 from Aintitcool.com:
PAX ROMANA #1
Writer/Artist: Jonathan Hickman
Publisher: Image Comics
Reviewed by Humphrey Lee

In the recent months since Jonathan Hickman's debut in comic books with THE NIGHTLY NEWS he's been called many things: Innovative, visionary, exhilarating, etc. But quite frankly I'm here to call him one wordy motherfucker. But it's okay! Because, goddammit, this is the first time in I don't know how long where a comic has earned every last penny I spilled out on it, simply based on how long I spent digesting it. There's a lot to appreciate in a book that knows the value of a dollar...

Just like with THE NIGHTLY NEWS, Hickman's first issue in the four issue mini that is PAX ROMANA here lives up to all the adjectives I threw around to begin this review. Right off the bat you can't help but notice the art with its ruggedly smooth lines and unbelievably lush colors. Already if there's anything I've come to be excited about with the man's work, it's the art. Most times there's not a lot of panels, and yes, there's more word balloons in this issue here than possibly in all the other comics of your weekly stack combined, but it still remains untameably vivid, rife with symbolism and iconography. Hell, I've only seen a whole seven comics of this stuff (and a few stray pages from the POPGUN anthology TPB) and I'd pay top dollar just to have an art book detailing Hickman's creative process as he creates his visuals, and art books are something I rarely, if ever, purchase.

Okay, enough with getting all gooey over the line work, how's the story and what exactly is PAX ROMANA about? PR is actually a pretty intriguing mess of Religion, Politics and Military Ops all wrapped around a creamy Science Fiction center dealing with the concept of Time Travel. The main conceit of PAX ROMANA is a future seemingly dominated by the Holy Roman Empire and the tale of how this came to be, from a point in its past (our near future) where the first scientists to successfully bend time to their whim weren't from the employ of Governmental or Independent science groups dedicated to the concept, but that of the Vatican. From there the pages of PR denote in great detail (I did mention this book is wordy right?) a domino effect of events leading to the unthinkable: The Pope and Cardinal Council devising a plot to time displace a unit of handpicked soldiers and scientists into a period of history where their nudging hand in that society can most effectively lead to a world dominated by the Church.

... Fuck me, I guess Mr. Hickman isn't the only wordy bastard in the house...

But, all said, even with the half hour read time this issue took me, I wouldn't have changed a thing. This is stylistically the same approach Hickman took with his NIGHTLY NEWS and it worked there just like it works here. Yes, there's a lot of information being dumped here, but it never once makes for a boring read; in fact it actually makes for the opposite as all the info fleshes out the world the story takes place in so much that you can't help but be enveloped in it. Really, the only issue I had with THE NIGHTLY NEWS is that in the end it was actually a little predictable, and even though it knew what it was and tried to avoid comparisonal pitfalls, it really did run a bit like some of its influences, mainly the movie NETWORK. PAX here, though, is a story unlike I've really encountered with comics. Yes, of course I've seen a dozen times the use of Time Travel in comics to "reshape the world in some diabolical image!" or whatever but PAX ROMANA is working on a much more human and fundamental level than the norm. As stated in the back matter of this issue, this is a book about sociology, not necessarily to make a stand on Religion or what have you, and I see a lot of intriguing concepts and debate coming out of this on the matter of a society and extra-societal forces--cause and effect type stuff.

Already I can tell this book is probably smarter than I am, but dammit I'm still in for the duration. Hickman's thought processes when it comes to just what a comic book can be are something that the industry needs to take note of. It's just simply thinking at a different wavelength that the majority of books out there aren't. These stories might not be terribly new in origin, but they're working at least a step or two above conventional thinking when it comes to the subject matter and how it is presented to us. Hickman is simply stepping up and doing what always needs done at some point: pushing a medium along and progressing it to the next level. Here and now is the time to see what the future of comics is...

Buy this comic at Amazon.

http://rapidshare.com/files/166161306/Pax_Romana.rar(44mb)