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Archive for the ‘Comic News’ Category

Kisenja Superhero Fashion Store Opens its Virtual Doors

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 by Carl Doherty under Comic News

Love comics? Wear Clothes? Of course you do, otherwise: a) you probably wouldn’t have found yourself stranded on these here shores in the first place, and b) there’s something irrevocably wrong with you.

Anyway, Swedish fashion designer Katarina Emgård has opened her Kisenja Superhero Store, which features outfits modelled by her characters in the webcomic of the same name. Far removed from gaudy tights and sparkly capes, these trendy urban garments are pretty damn cool – I especially dig the hoodie shown below.

Kisenja Superhero Store

Kisenja Superhero Store

As for the Kisenja comic, it’s a non-linear tale of five strangers brought together by their unique gifts, with neon-noir visuals and ultra-slick presentation. The Kisenja webcomic and related clothing can be found at www.kisenja.com.

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Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption

Thursday, November 12th, 2009 by Carl Doherty under Comic News

Where: Lazarides Gallery, Greek Street, London
When: 6th – 28th November 2009 (Tues-Fri, 11am-7pm, Sat 12pm-5pm)

Ctrl.Alt.Shift, a youth charity aiming to bring social justice to public attention via digital and contemporary media, are launching a month-long Soho exhibition and accompanying comic book anthology promoting sequential art as a channel for political activation.

The exposing of injustice through the comic medium is nothing new, even if there’s always been a shortage of artists who genuinely have something to say. Joe Sacco’s Palestine has as much oomph as the finest documentaries – fans of Sacco should check out Ctrl.Alt.Shift’s excellent interview with him here – while Bryan Talbot’s A Tale of One Bad Rat drove home the lasting effects of child abuse. These artists and more will be featured at the show, including Dave McKean, Pat Mills, Peter Kuper, Dan Goldman and the winner of a related competition earlier this year. The exhibition will also include a collection of vintage superhero awareness specials that were popular in the 70s and 80s, such as Heroes against Hunger, in which Superman confronts the famine in Ethiopia.

Part of the 2009 Comic Festival (www.comicafestival.com), Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption will also be several intriguing workshops at the ICA, details of which can be found here.

As previously mentioned, if you can’t make the exhibition there will also be an opportunity to buy the Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption anthology, which will sell for a mere £4.99 in comic stores, and profits from the 5,000 copies printed will go to the charity. The Lazarides Gallery will also be selling limited edition screen prints of the original artwork. More details on that here.

And finally, here’s a sample from Sacco’s Palestine, followed by the first part in Daniel Merlin Goodbrey’s on-line strangeness Empire of Odd (www.e-merl.com):

News: Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption

Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption - Joe Sacco's Palestine

Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption - Empire of Odd

Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption - Empire of Odd

Other contributing artists include:
Aleksandar Zograf
Alex Smith
Ben Dickson and Warren Pleece
Cole Johnson
Daniel Merlin Goodbrey
Dave McKean
Dylan Horrocks
Ferry Gouw
Floodworks (Ethan Ede / Adam Rosenlund)
Fredrik Stromberg and Jan Bielecki
Gianluca Costantini and Elettra Stamboulis
Jason Masters
Josue Menjivar
Lee O’Connor and Pat Mills
Lightspeed Champion
Patrick Dean
Paul O’Connell and Marcus Bleasdale
Sean Michael Wilson and Michiru Morikawa
Vishwajyoti Ghosh
VV Brown, David Allain and Emma Price
Woodrow Phoenix and Adele Austin

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Kisenja Fuses Superheroes and Fashion

Monday, September 14th, 2009 by Carl Doherty under Comic News

Increasingly in webcomics and self-published fiction, a little industry savvy is not only a plus but a prerequisite. Much to the chagrin of traditional comic creators, artistic proficiency and a knack for a good story aren’t going to be enough without a level of business strategy.

www.kisenja.com, however, has to be a first. It’s a combination of webcomic and clothes store from Swedish fashion designer Katarina Emgård, with the basis concept being that Katarina’s design’s will be modelled by her characters before being sold online. The shop section of the site is currently still under development, but the first episode of the comic is up for all to read.

Kisenja Fuses Superheroes and Fashion

Kisenja Fuses Superheroes and Fashion

Kisenja tells the tale of “Five individualists with very different lifestyles and appearances, but there is one thing they all have in common: A great sense of fashion.” Fortunately, this narcissistic attitude doesn’t infringe on Kisenja’s story, which is a non-linear, five-chaptered affair chronicling the backgrounds and associations between the gifted strangers.

It’s an impressively slick first issue too, with noirish visuals, considered landscape page layouts and the virtually monochromic art implementing a single additional colour per character. All with some killer threads on display, naturally.

Kisenja can be read at www.kisenja.com… or join the site and receive your metafictional superhero certificate here.

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Cartoonist Sandra de Haan’s Strips Get The English Treatment

Monday, June 29th, 2009 by Carl Doherty under Comic News

Dutch comic artist Sandra de Haan is currently translating her excellent comic strips into English. Her humour definitely translates well, with Sandra’s candid strips commenting on anything from surviving film festivals and enduring the BBC’s wilting standards to the social intricacies of toileting. She has a unique brand of quirk that will definitely appeal to fans of Nemi and the likes.

www.sandradehaan.nl

www.sandradehaan.nl

The English translations are up at www.sandradehaan.nl/portfolio/tags/tag/english/. Sandra already has already released 5 books in her native tongue, so presumably this is a step to reach out to a larger audience.

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David Doub’s Dusk Available Now

Sunday, April 5th, 2009 by Carl Doherty under Comic News

After spending the last half hour wracking my brain for an original vampire pun for the above title, I’ve given up, gone all conventional and opted for the whole brevity thing. Quite pathetic, really. Sorry.

David Doub’s Dusk

David Doub’s Dusk

Anyway, my prodigious powers of prognostication have alerted me to a new vampire series from Texan writer David Doub, entitled Dusk.

Description:
“As a battered wife, Eve’s only concern was to keep her marriage together. But when she is kidnapped into the sordid supernatural world of vampires and foul magic, Eve finds she doesn’t want to leave. Her mysterious benefactor, the Vampire Lord Ash, wish her to have a normal life but Eve chooses to stay in the service of Ash.

“Dusk is the stories about Eve and her challenges living in the darkness. Dusk is a supernatural action/drama story done in a dynamic blending of the sequential art styles of American Comics and Japanese Manga. Several artists help tell these stark noir tales of Vampires and Unrequited Love.”

Visit David Doub’s ComicSpace page for more information, as well as the first chapter of the book and some pretty impressive art. Doub is currently working on a second volume with artist Jolene Houser.

Dusk retails at just $10 and can be found here. 100 pages, B&W Interior Art. Published by Ambrosia Publishing.

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Jim Sheridan and Bart Sears’ The Helm Finds its Head

Sunday, March 29th, 2009 by Carl Doherty under Comic News

I recently received a promo for The Helm, a fun looking graphic novel from Jim Sheridan, the legendary Bart Sears and Randy Elliot. This TPB of the original four part Dark Horse series follows the rather novel premise of “What if you had a magical superpower… and it hated your guts?”

The Helm TPB

The Helm TPB

Synopsis:

“On the same day that epic loser Mathew Blurdy’s girlfriend breaks up with him and he is fired from his job at the video store, he encounters a magic, talking helmet at a garage sale which proclaims him “the Valhalldrim,” the chosen warrior of the light. That is until Matt touches the Helm and it suddenly realizes how unworthy he is. Then it changes its tune. But Matt’s not willing to let his shot at superherodom go so easily. He steals the Helm, thus becoming the first superhero whose magical superpower hates his guts.”

Sounds like a great take on the “legendary mystical weapon” fantasy cliché, and should be of interest to both comic readers and role playing game enthusiasts who’ll appreciate an ironic, humorous take on the subject. I’ve always wondered why there aren’t more ineffectual, overweight slobs in comics. You only have to visit my local comic book shop to see the demographic that’s been long overlooked by the comic industry.

The Helm will be released April 01, 2009, and will retail at $14.95. 104 pages. For more info on the book and a preview visit the official website at www.thehelmcomic.com. During its run as a comic miniseries, the Helm consistently made the Top Ten Best Seller List at Dark Horse and the Diamond 300 top sellers list. The series was also named one of the Best of 2008 by Regenerator Magazine.

In my second shameless plug of the day, I plan to have a review of The Helm coming up next week, so please bookmark shelfabuse.com and return soon to read my worthless and banal opinions.

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Comic Artist Arne Starr Envisions Kevin Mckidd as Thor

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 by Carl Doherty under Comic News

Comic artist and actor Arne Starr, currently seen as “Arne the attending physician” on Grey’s Anatomy, has produced several concept pieces of TV stars he’s worked alongside as several Hollywood bound Marvel and DC characters, including:

Several images of Kevin McKidd (Journeyman, Grey’s Anatomy) as the Mighty Thor.

Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy) as the Sorcerer Supreme, Dr. Strange.

Jon Hamm (Mad Men) as Hal Jordan era Green Lantern.

Interestingly, each of the above actors has at some point auditioned or been talks to play the character. Visit www.arnestarr.com/Pages/Superhero.html to view the images and read Arne’s reasons behind each image.

Arne also emailed me to say:

“Actually do intend on doing a couple of others … one of Adam Sandler as Plastic Man ( I have a friend who is close to him who will get it to him, plus I’ve already been in three of his films, currently visible in Bedtime Stories), and want to do one of Tom Welling IN the Superman suit, since my feeling if they are doing a reboot, possibly without Routh, he’d be perfect after playing Superboy for 8 years, and his current bulk/height  would be perfect for the part.”

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The Tumor by Ben Jelter Preview

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 by Carl Doherty under Comic News

My piscine attention span has today been directed towards to The Tumor, a self-published graphic novel by illustrator Ben Jelter, described as “a surreal graphic novel about a lonely man named Greg who grows a tumor that comes to life.”

The Tumor by Ben Jelter

The Tumor by Ben Jelter

Jelter’s art is undeniably unique, reminding me in places of Francis Bacon and the Gaiman/McKean collaborations of the 80s and 90s. It’s nice to see someone producing a work of sequential art that doesn’t fit comfortably into one of the comic industry’s few rigid genres. Like I always feel the need to do… because I’m rubbish.

The Tumor by Ben Jelter

The Tumor by Ben Jelter

Check out these tantalising page samples; more can be found at thetumor.net, where the book is available for $13.

Infor on Ben Jelter’s upcoming second book, Vulture Root, can be found here.

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Death Falcon Zero vs. The Zombie Slug Lords Preview

Friday, January 2nd, 2009 by Carl Doherty under Comic News

“The Living Dead and the Deadly Living Clash on Charleston’s West Side.”

I’ve come across an intriguing graphic novel entitled Death Falcon Zero vs. The Zombie Slug Lords, an enticing amalgam of those two sacred B-movie commodities; zombies and er… pro wrestling

Death Falcon Zero vs. The Zombie Slug Lords

Death Falcon Zero vs. The Zombie Slug Lords Preview

The book, in which a disgraced former masked wrestler battles the walking dead in Charleston’s West Side, is written by authors William Bitner and screenwriter Daniel Boyd, both of whom are professional wrestlers in real life. It’s somewhat unique that they both have experience in this field; most guys who write about muscle-bound superheroes are potbellied, feeble types who were pushed into comics through a deficiency at physical activities. Or so I can only imagine. Illustrations are by twin brothers Brendon and Brian Fraim.

Boyd was responsible for the cult 80s Troma horror Chillers, which should give you some idea of the general tone here. But while Death Falcon sounds like gruesomely quirky fun, the promotional review extracts assure us that it doesn’t disappoint on the guts and brains front either – and I’m not referring to those body parts in the undead party snack sense. The project was originally intended as a Mexican-style wrestling movie, but eventually realised as an illustrated novel, and features both celebrity wrestlers such as WWE members “Luscious” Johnny Valiant, Headshrinker Samu, current European superstar Joe E. Legend and Mexican lucha star Sol de Oriente, as well as local wrestling personalities.

Death Falcon Zero vs. The Zombie Slug Lords is available from Amazon, priced $12.99. 130 pages. Proceeds from book sales go to the Rev. James D. Ealy’s nonprofit New Covenant Community Development, Inc. So by buying the book you’ll not only be helping Death Falcon Zero cleanse Charleston’s streets of fetid scum but aiding others in this grim but thankfully zombie-free world we call reality. More info at www.grapesofwrath.biz.

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Batman: Arkham Asylum Teaser Trailer Online

Saturday, December 6th, 2008 by Carl Doherty under Comic News

An intriguing teaser trailer for the new video game Batman: Arkham Asylum is online. Last week an odd environment trailer showcased Ol’ Arkham itself, while this footage gives several glimpses of the characters involved.

Unsurprising given the recent surge of public interest from The Dark Knight, the Joker hogs a large portion of the meagre 44 seconds shown, and is evidently responsible for the anarchy at the eponymous funny farm. There’s also footage of an enormous Killer Croc, kept in rather flimsy chains and is that… Doomsday. Certainly looks like him, though that would make little sense, since: a) Doomsday is hardly a nutter, and b) I doubt Arkham’s dilapidated bricks and mortar could hold him.

Other villains also confirmed: Bane, The Riddler, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze, The Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Mr. Zsasz. I would be most surprised if Two-Face does not make an appearance also.

Several familiar vocal talents will be lending their voices to Arkham Asylum. Kevin Conroy will resume Bruce Wayne, and the Joker will be voiced by Mark Hamill; both did such an excellent job in the early nineties cartoon Batman: The Animated Series.

Being as it is not based on any particular movie or cartoon adaptation, Arkham Asylum definitely looks interesting. The building itself is clearly massive, and should make for both confined, claustrophobic interior scenes and expansive outdoor swing-abouts. You even get to trawl through shit infested sewers; something the Dark Knight does an awful lot of.

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