courtesy Top Shelf

“At last! The League returns, better than ever! It’s a new age,
a new publisher, and an all-new adventure, packed with even
more metafictional fisticuffs and diachronic derring-do!

Top Shelf is proud to announce the all-new chapter in the
breathtaking series by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill.
In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Vol III):
Century #1 (”1910″), our familiar cast of Victorian literary
characters (or what’s left of them) enters the brave new world
of the 20th century!

The present installment is set against a backdrop of London,
1910, twelve years after the failed Martian invasion and nine
years since England put a man upon the moon. In the bowels of
the British Museum, Carnacki the ghost-finder is plagued by
visions of a shadowy occult order who are attempting to create
something called a Moonchild, while on London’s dockside the
most notorious serial murderer of the previous century has
returned to carry on his grisly trade. Working for Mycroft
Holmes’ British Intelligence alongside a rejuvenated Allan
Quatermain, the reformed thief Anthony Raffles and the eternal
warrior Orlando, Miss Murray is drawn into a vile opera acted
out upon the waterfront by players that include the furiously
angry Pirate Jenny and the charismatic butcher known as Mac the
Knife. Sounds like a ripping good tale, eh?

This book will be the first of three deluxe, 80-page,
full-color, perfect-bound graphic novellas, by the original
League of Extraordinary Creators: Alan Moore, Kevin O’Neill,
Ben Dimagmaliw (colors), and Todd Klein (lettering). Each
self-contained narrative takes place in three distinct eras,
building to an apocalyptic conclusion occurring in our own
twenty-first century!”

Start catching up on your early 20th century occult fiction! I know I am.

Nicol Bolas 4UBBR

Planeswalker - Bolas

+3: Destroy target noncreature permanent.
-2: Gain control of target creature.
-9: Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker deals 7 damage to target player. That player discards seven cards, then sacrifices seven permanents.

5

(more…)

Avengers: The Initiative was a very promising series. Even during the crossover World War Hulk, the story stayed confined to the main characters, young kids in training to be full-blown Avengers. But now the series fluctuates its attention every panel or so, and there has been really no main focus other than the derailment caused by the Secret Invasion crossover, where new characters were introduced and given far too much attention.

The one mystery that was still interesting and present was that of Mutant Zero, the unknown mutant who was on a black ops hero team. Now, originally we were teased with the notion that this was a former main X-Man, one that non-comic people would recognize. But in the recent issue (#20) of Initiative, Mutant Zero was revealed to be Typhoid Mary, a Daredevil villain. That is pretty weak, mainly because the title is already saturated with B to Z list characters.

I love Marvel because there are so many characters, but that’s its biggest weakness, too. With so much “having” to be addressed, any sort of narrative is tossed to the wind. I expect that from mainstream comics, but not from individual series. When I can’t have more than 6 issues of consistent story and characters, I wonder why am I even reading these sorts of comics. I’m wondering that now.

Thom Zahler, the writer and illustrator of Love and Capes, is one of the fine gentlemen I had the pleasure of meeting at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con. His series is a romantic comedy that plays on romance and super hero conventions, blending the two together into a funny, intelligent comic series that honors and pokes at the genres it replicates.

Today a contest was announced in a press release from Mr. Zahler:

“Valentine’s Day is coming up, and since I write comicdom’s most romantic superhero book, I figure I ought to do something to celebrate. So I am. I’m doing a giveaway.

You can sign up at http://www.loveandcapes.com”

I highly encourage new comic readers to check out this series for several reasons. First off, this series is not based on pre-existing characters. You will discover these heroes and the supporting cast without needing to worry about back issues and continuity. However, the series does play on comic conventions, things that are symptomatic to comics you could soon read. Comedywise, this is a great critique of the super hero formula and can allow a new reader easy access to what usually seems like a monster industry.

But don’t take my word for it, click the link to see what it’s about!

images courtesy Thomas Zahler

All semester has been leading up to this! Mac Guffin, She, Dextar, the Tooth Fairy and all your favorite Hot & Cold characters come back together for these last two weeks in the epic battle between Hell and the North Pole. And this conflict is not without casualties…

(more…)

Cape is still a little bitter that Hot and Cold replaced his strip, Cape & Cowl, so he embarks on his quest to prove he is the best stripper ever. Cowl should keep him in check. Hmmm, I wonder where she is?

Hot & Cold © Matt Knicl 2008