REVIEW: Star Mage #1

Writer: JC De La Torre
Artwork: Ray Dillon
Review: Cody "Madman" Miller

So last month the fellas here at the HCB decided we would pair off and choose books for each other to read and review. It sounded like a good way for each of us to color outside the lines a tad and escape to the danger zone. On most days there are a fair amount of books that we all read and love, but the ones that we disagree on are what has given me a pretty good understanding of each of my fellow writers’ preference towards comics. So when I drew Will “wool trousers” Dubbeld out of the hat, I knew it was going to get interesting.

Star Mage here I come. The first thing that came to mind when I saw the cover was Harry Potter in space. Yeah, not so much.

Darien Connors is our guy. Darien is the stereotypical high school dorky bastard that all the jocks pick on. What’s not stereotypical is Darien’s old man’s day job. Douglas, the dorky bastard’s father, was an astronaut who was trying to be the first sausage to land on Mars. He mysteriously crashed and burned. Exactly two years after that fateful day, somewhere in Mars’ atmosphere, we find Darien in all his patheticness run up a flag pole by his under-britches once again by his arch-nemesis, the evil jock guy . . . yep.

All of the sudden the American flag gets hit by lightning, and our little nerdy bastard gets his magical hoodoo powers. Darien ends up escaping his tormentors and fleeing into the woods only to be abducted by aliens (yeah, that’s right, I said aliens) that look like humans, and happen to know Darien’s old man. Huh? Who knew? That’s where this here first issue leaves us. Darien Shanghaied is rocketing through space.

This book really, really needs a hug, because I’m about to call it bad names. I totally couldn’t get into the story or the middle-of-the-road artwork. There was an impressive half a page comb over, but hopefully you never have to see it. Just ignore it and it’ll go away.

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014: part 2

Ah, Free Comic Book Day . . .

It's like a nerd Christmas in May, and this year Santa was pretty good to me.

In previous years I've meandered up to the LCS, scored some loot and checked out the sales that invariably fall on Free Comic Book Day. Last year I was unable to attend as I was firing reproduction 19th century field artillery at the 200th anniversary of a War of 1812 siege.

C'est la vie.

This year, however, I would not be foiled. I picked out two shops and headed into the city for two of my favorite things: free and comics. The day started off with a bang. At the first shop I visited greeted me with a door prize, a complimentary variant Superman Unchained no. 5.

Free Comic Book Day was looking good . . .

This particular shop limited FCBD goodies to 4 per customer and my choices were as follows:

Valiant FCBD 2014 Armor Hunters Special

Valiant is busy being hailed as the company putting out the hot books, and their FCBD was pretty much an advertisement for the newest X-O Manowar mega-event. The book offered previews from 3 upcoming books, a pinup or two, interview with creator Robert Venditti, and a recap of the company's mission statement.
It was no Stan's Soapbox, but it'll do.
2 out of 4

Mouse Guard, Labyrinth and Other Stories

Archaia's offering this year was a hardcover anthology. A FREE hardcover. Nearly 50 pages of free, hardcover comics. Outstanding! This book would probably retail for $12-$15. In addition to the titular comics, the anthology offers selections from Rust, Bolivar, Will O' the Wisp and Farscape. Admittedly, I know nothing about most of these selections. The Mouse Guard short was excellent, but I'm a bit biased as a Redwall fan. Likewise with Labyrinth and Farscape. The Labyrinth short was a fun story detailing Ludo's origin story, and the Farscape story is a throwaway, though sure to be enjoyed by a fan of the television show.

As an aside, I've realized how close a parallel there is between Farscape and the current incarnation of Guardians of the Galaxy, what with a displaced earthman tear-assing around the galaxy with a group of rough-and-tumble extraterrestrials. No accusatory reference to the House of Ideas, just an observation.

The other stories therein involved a tweener with a jet pack, a little girl and her sentient t-rex, and what appeared to be a mischievous voodoo raccoon.

Not much to cling to here. I really enjoyed a few of the shorts, and I applaud Archaia on giving away hardcovers.
3 out of 4

Free Comic Book Day 2014 (Guardians of the Galaxy)

Yeah, yeah, I know. I should have used Free Comic Book Day to pick up an Indy book I'd not otherwise read in order to boost readership for creator owned material, but Marvel Zombie must buy product.

If it's any consolation, I actually wanted the Rocket Raccoon book . . .

So, here we are, plugging the GotG movie in comic format. It was very nearly a recap of the movie trailer, involving Tony Stark explaining to Flash Thomson who the Guardians of the Galaxy are. Each Guardian got his or her own page explaining how cool and explodey they are, and at the end of the story it's revealed to the reader that Tony Stark gave this information to Flash not to sell movie tickets but to prep him for his next assignment; he will be representing Earth as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy!

I KNOW, RITE?!!!!

Also, Flash Thomson is currently host to the Venom symbiote, and although he no longer wants to eat Spider-Man's brain, he is still prone to psychotic episodes. Just the chap I'd want representing the Earth. The whole thing seems like a '90s gimmick, so I fully expect a Wolverine appearance if sales slack.

Story by Bendis, whatever. Nick Bradshaw's art was great, though. The book featured two more stories, one a preview of Jim Starlin's upcoming Thanos graphic novel and the other a preview of Dan Slott's new Spider-Man arc, Spider-Verse.

I'll certainly get the Jim Starlin book, because why would you not get a Jim Starlin cosmic Marvel book?

Seriously.

Why wouldn't you?

The Spidey story was a great teaser as well, involving Morlun fighting a Shakespearean Spider-Man and leading me to believe the arc is all about Morlun hopping dimensions and eating the respective Spider-Men therein.

I'm in.

Morlun is probably the most interesting Spider-Man villain to appear in decades, and Dan Slott has been breaking new ground with the Webslinger and doing a great job. Almost great enough a job to make me forget what a piece of garbage Brand New Day/One More Day/One Moment in Time was.

All said and done, Marvel's FCBD offering was little more than transparent advertising, and I'd've felt cheated if I had to pay money for it.

2 out of 4, on the merits of Nick Bradshaw's art.

Hip-Hop Family Tree Two-In-One

I'm going to try really hard to keep this from sounding like a b.j. for writer/artist Ed Piskor, but holy shit you guys this book.

Hip-Hop Family Tree is Ed Piskor's love letter to the formative days of hip-hop music told through sequential storytelling (that's comics, kids!) and for the love of god is this book well done. The layout is an homage to late '70s-early/mid '80s Marvel comics, from the cover to a faux 'Bullpen Bulletins' section.

Piskor's art is sharp and detailed, stylistically similar to many underground artists from that particular genres Golden Years. Stylistically I was reminded of Spain Rodriguez' art, albeit crisper and less chaotic.

I admittedly know almost nothing about hip-hop music, but Ed Piskor has done painstaking research into the genre. I've learned more about Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, and Run-DMC on Free Comic Book Day than I think I had my life previous.

Okay, that's probably not true, but it's still a damn good comic. I'm not even really a hip-hop fan. I'll absolutely be picking volume 1 & 2 of this book at the earliest opportunity.

Bravo, Mr. Piskor. Hip-Hop Family Tree ranks right up there with Minimum Wage and God Hates Astronauts as far as I'm concerned.
5 out of 5 for the big prize.

The first shop offered goodies from a slushy machine and a popcorn maker, had a young lady cosplaying as Power Girl, and a couple local artists who were mobbed by fans seeking autographs and sketches. There were also three spinner racks offering $4 tpbs, and I netted an Atomic Robo trade, Ultimate FF vol. 2, and the Ballad of Halo Jones.

Because four dollars is cheap for a trade paperback, folks.

My first stop finished, I whisked away to the second store on my route. And was horribly disappointed. Upon entering, the clerk looked up and said, "there's not much left". That may have been an understatement. There was a table scattered with what could only be described as scraps. Leftovers from Free Comic Book Days long past. There were no current titles to speak of, perhaps a Bongo Comics or DC kids book, but nothing I was ravening after. I ended up grabbing an Image Comics sampler from 2012, last years Smurfs book, and an interesting flier piece from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund called Raising A Reader! (exclamation theirs). This particular book is a public service tract detailing how graphic novels can improve literacy in children and can be an educational tool. I would leave copies of this book on every household doorstep and at every library and school classroom, were I able.

Aside from that, I picked up some free back issues including 3/4ths of Topps Comics Satan's Six miniseries and the first two issues of Teen Titans Spotlight from '86, which features Starfire vs. Apartheid. I've not read those yet, but apparently Starfire fights oppressive racism with the power of her bewbs, because holy crap that costume what were you guys thinking? I've always loved old-school Teen Titans, but Starfire looks like she should be in Heavy Metal or that Witch of the Black Rose comic.

Altogether a disappointing second stop, and no Atomic Robo or Rocket Raccoon books at either shop, but in all I'll mark this years Free Comic Book Day in the win column.

If for some bizarre reason there is a reader out there not taking advantage of FCBD, I'd encourage you to do so and spend some money at those brick-and-mortar shops while you're at it.

- Will Dubbeld

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014

Cody “Madman” Miller and I, Art Bee, went to our LCBS (Local Comic Book Store) for Free Comic Book Day together with some of our other friends. It looks like FCBD seems to grow every year, under the watchful eyes of Stormtroopers and Spider-Man. The following are our thoughts on some of the books we picked up at FCBD.

Cody “Madman” Miller's Books

Free Book 1: Magic Wind – FCBD Edition

Creator/Writer: Gianfranco Manfredi
Artwork: Pasquale Frisenda
Color: Laura Piazza

As soon as I saw the Indian on the cover, this book became my main target and my first choice for FCBD 2014. I had to work for it too as my LCBS was completely out by the time I navigated the long line that only “Free Comic Book Day” can bring.

Ever since the first time I watched the movie Young Guns, I’ve been a sucker for a good western story. Wild West stories rank right up there with pirate tales as far as my tastes are concerned.

This edition happens to be an excerpt from Magic Wind Volume 4, the beast which hits shelves sometime in July. I, however, will not be buying it. This book was a huge disappointment, the writing as well as the art. This one is a definite meh.

Free Book 2: Sherwood Texas

Writer: Shane Berryhill
Art: Daniel Hillyard
Colors: Charlie Kirchoff
Letters: Ed Dukeshire

When I saw the preview list, this became my instant #2 selection. The cover just totally sold me. As the title suggests, it’s all about rough and tumble bikers. Within the first few pages, we have rival biker gangs. The Jesters and the Nobles, led by a guy named Queen ironically enough, duke it out over the grave site of Rob’s father. Rob is the main character in the book. Awesome scenario.

Rob turns out to be a Redman. Therefore, in the end, I got my Indian fix. I really enjoyed this title. The artwork was a masterful blend of rich pastels. I can see myself really getting into this title when the ongoing starts up later this summer.

At the very tale end, we are graced with the appearance of a preview of Troy Duffy and J.B. Love’s Boondock Saints. The preview was enough to guarantee that I will never buy this comic. Toby Cypress’ art looked like absolute crap. The story, however, is not much better. I’m staying well clear of these guys.

Art Bee's Books

Free Book 1: Publisher: Epicenter Comics
“Entropy"
Story: Davor Radoja
Artwork: Well-Bee

Just to get it out of the way now, Entropy is just an insult to comic books. It uses boring cliché after cliché throughout the story without really building any substance. I realize this is just a preview, but the writer could provide some depth in the characters or the story. So this book just told me the real thing is a complete waste.

The art work is devastating to the comic, even worse than the story. It is grotesque with accents of a Quentin Tarantino film effects and Beavis and Butthead looking characters. This sounds like an absurd description, but Madman was in total agreement with me when I showed him the book.

The two short stories at the end of the comic really salvage the use of ink and paper. The first of the two is called “Vegetable” and is created by Tihomir Hrlic. The artwork, though not great, is far better than Entropy. It is a simple little story with a nice twist ending. The other story is called “Crossed” and is written by Davor Radoja. The four pages of this story are fantastic, even though I feel as if I had heard the story before somewhere. Nenad Cviticanin uses sharp defined lines in the details of his artwork, which really adds flair to the story.

Free Book 2: Publisher: Red Giant
“The First Daughter”
Script: Chris Crosby
Artwork: Tina Francisco
Color: Katrina Mae Hao

The First Daughter is a bright new concept in a super-hero mythos, and it has a lot going for it. Tasha Tasker is the daughter of the President of the United States and a protector of the world under the guidance of Nom, a gray little alien whom started the First Daughter project. The story is exciting and goes by just too fast. This is going to be a really neat story when it hits and will be a good read for children as well as older readers.

The artwork and colors are gorgeous. On the first page there is a front view of the White House with such detail that the sun is actually glaring off of the top of the building with photo quality.

“Magicka”
Story: Kevin Juaire and David Lawrence
Artwork: Wilson Tortosa and Sebastian Cheng

Magika is a tale of some kind of fantastic fairy land in which a boy, Niko, is learning the ropes. This is a cute story and right up a child's alley. The artwork is glowing throughout the segment of the book. It is very much equal to a Disney animation quality. I am sure I will not get this one later, but my child is definitely be interested.

Free Book 3: Oni Press
Courtney Crumrin #1
Created by Ted Naifeh

Oni Press has been really impressing me lately. They seem to put out good quality comic books. Courtney Crumrin is definitely on that list. This free comic is a reprint of one printed in 2012, and it is quite fascinating. The story is centered around a girl, Courtney Crumrin, whom is a bit of a loner and a witch, and she reluctantly ends up making friends with the new girl, Holly. As their friendship develops the situation starts to sour.

Ted Naifeh's artwork resembles something from Cartoon Network, but it is clean and fresh. The images are very good and consistent. The real advantage of his art is the backgrounds; they are very elaborate. I feel I may need to keep my eyes open for the trade collections, even though I am not big on witchcraft themes.
Free Book 4: Capcom

Street Fighter #0

“Hong Kong Hustle”
Story: Jim Zub
Art: Hanzo Steinbach

This will be short and to the point. This short story lacked a real story and was very predictable. The artwork was dull as well, featuring a lack of depth and awkward action.

“Your Enemies Closer”
Story: Ken Siu-Chong
Line Art: Takeshi Miyazawa
Colors: Espen Grundetjern

My stomach could not handle it, so I did not finish this story. Enough said.

“Beyond The Hills”
Story: Chris Sarracini
Pencils: Joe Ng
Inks: Rob Armstrong
Colors: Espen Grunderjern

The story was not horrible, but it was not good either. At least the artwork was really good.

So lets face it, Street Fighter is a great video game and has been for a long time. As a story it is a bit lame. The characters speak then fight, fight and speak, fight and more fighting, and finally wonder when is the next fight. This is just too shallow of a concept to keep someone engaged in reading. I am certain there are video game nuts out there just frothing at the mouth for the next line of Street Fighter comics.

REVIEW: Epileptic

Creator: David B.
Review: Art Bee

Take a moment to reflect on the past events of your life. What has defined your existence? How would you tell your story? The graphic novel Epileptic by David B. has made me think about those very questions. Some people would be able to answer these questions fairly easily, but many people would be challenged. One of the greatest challenges of writing an autobiography is presentation.

People as a whole are more interested in their own existences than others, so writing your own story in such a manner as to create interest in your life and experiences is the hurdle to clear. For a few this hurdle is only knee high and easy to get over. Presidents, royalty, professional sport stars, and other celebrities are already interesting to many, so creating interest about their journey to their status is mostly done by merely placing the letters of their name on the cover of the tome. For insignificant people such as myself, the hurdle can be much higher.

The Hammond Comics Blog founder, William R. Davis Jr., suggested the graphic novel Epileptic by David B. for me to read and review. At just over 360 pages, this was a decently sized task to undertake. I must admit that my interest struggled to stay afloat while reading this autobiography, but about the middle of the novel, the story clicked and became much more interesting.

David B., Pierre-François Beauchard, is a French comic book artist and writer, and one of the founders of L'Association. He tells the story of his childhood and his family dealing with the severe epileptic seizures of his older brother, Jean-Christophe. Through his own story, David B. shows us how epilepsy and other such disorders do not just affect the person with the disease. These disorders are debilitating to the entire family.

The story of David's life in Epilepsy is braided page by page with history, artwork, family tales, and characters. David's life cannot be told without focusing on his brother's condition, which caused up to three grand mal seizures a day.

As he progresses through his story, David uses his rich interest in French history, particularly the wars in which France took part, to propel the story of him and his brother. On pages 22 – 28, David B recalls the actions of his grandfather in World War I and delivers a fantastic and unique position on the trench warfare that was so dominant of that war. David's other grandfather fought in World War II, and it was quite humorous to learn that his squad was commanded to defend a bridge that was already seized by the enemy.

Pierre-François and Jean-Christophe are described as “full of rage”. David's rage spills into his stories and drawings of medieval battles featuring Ganghis Khan and other great warriors, while Jean-Christophe's rage explodes into seizures.

Along with the French history presented, David B. also describes his families struggles with epilepsy as his parents lead their family around looking for a cure or a successful method of treatment for Jean-Christophe's disease. Their quest takes them from medical research to new age medicine and holistic treatments. As I read these parts, the family almost seemed ridiculous in their efforts, but as a father myself, I can't be too harsh. A parent’s love for their child will lead them to do some very ineffable things in the attempt to help their child.

The artwork of Epileptic is very different from anything I have read before. It is black and white utilizing thick black lines and black shading, and even though the art felt bland and unattractive at the start, my appreciation for it grew as progressed through the novel. There is real genius in David B's work.

My favorite artwork in Epileptic is located on page 277. The page features Pierre-François (below) laying on a desk and drawing with a collage of his artwork layered throughout the image. It is a fantastic piece, and I am going to add it to my collection of background images on my laptop (a very high honor I must say).

Another great image in this novel is located in the larger panel at the top of page 11. This features Jean-Christophe and his parents surrounded by quack doctors. It is whimsical and hilarious to see how David B. allows his true feelings for the lab coat donned physicians to shine in his depiction of them as they dance in a circle around the trio.

Throughout the novel you can tell whether David B. liked or disliked a person based on how he drew them. The more exaggerated the features the stronger the feelings. For instance, David seems to have a lot of respect for Master N, since he is drawn in the image of a venerable cat person. Master N showed the whole family a better way of life and was accredited with halting Jean-Christophe's seizures for a time with the utilization of specialized diet, massage, acupuncture, etc.

It was a great circumstance for Mr. Davis Jr. to suggest Epileptic for this review. As I stated earlier, this graphic novel was hard for me to read at first, because history and biographies have never really interested me. Fortunately, with dedication and persistence, the story opened my interest and became a wonderful read. I have already read this novel twice and am looking forward to reading it again.

REVIEW: The Superior Spider-Man #31

Writer: Dan Slott
Script: Christos Gage
Pencils: Givseppe Cumuncoli
Inks: John Dell and Terry Pallot
Color: Antonio Fabela
Review: Cody "Madman" Miller

So yeah, here it is . . . in the immortal words of Jim Morrison, “This is the end . . . beautiful friend.” It’s been a great run, but like most things (I say most things because you always have to consider the Rolling Stones and their seemingly uncanny ability to continue living long after their bodily fluids have dried up), it has to end. Peter Parker has to be Spider-Man.

Any Spidey fan can tell you that Superior Spider-Man has been the most exciting thing to happen in the Spiderverse since . . . well . . . probably ever. Dan Slott and company did a really good job all around.

Don’t get me wrong, there were parts I hated too; I’ll get to that but all in all I felt it was worth buying the ticket and at the end of the day; that’s all that really matters. I’m sure I’ll forget a few but I figure I’ll hit on a few of the highlights from the series and go kinda light on the details from the final issue. I don’t want to spoil the goods for those of you who haven’t had the chance to read it yet.

Just after "Dying Wish Ended", issue one of Superior Spider-man hit shelves way back in January of 2013. Sixteen months is a pretty long run for any bi-monthly book these days, 31 issues and 2 annuals to be exact.

In the first couple issues we get to witness Otto defeat the Sinister Six and we also get to see that Peter is still “alive”, trapped in Octavius’ consciousness. Otto battles the Vulture at one point and puts a beating on him, ultimately ending with Vulture being blinded. Spidey then tracks down the escaped killer Massacre and proceeds to publicly execute him. The word gets out that Spider-Man is playing for keeps. These first few issues were probably my favorite issues of the entire series.

That’s when the thousands of Spidey bots hit the scene. Otto unleashes his homeland security spider spy came to NYC. I thought this was pretty ridiculous from panel one, but in the end they turned out to play a pretty pivotal roll in the final issues, and I admit maybe I was quick to judge.

Somewhere around issues 6 or 7, is when Otto beats the hell out of a couple of young pranksters called Jester and Screwball. This begins to draw the attention of the Avengers.

In the same time frame, Peter begins to “mind battle” Ock for control, but Ock defeats Peter. Octavius erases all of Peter’s memories, in theory ending him for good. I hated ghost Peter at first and, at the time, was glad they had finally made him disappear.

As if things weren’t crazy enough already, all of a sudden, we have Spider-Man blackmailing Jameson into giving him the Raft to use as his new headquarters, requiting an army of “soldiers for hire types” to be his “Spider-lings”, and last, but not least, full blown assaulting Shadowland, the Kingpin’s headquarters.

Spider-Man 2099 Miguel shows up on the scene. He’s just dropping into the past to save the future. It all makes sense at the end.

But we ain’t done yet . . .

Enter: The Goblin King, the Tinkerer, the Goblin Knight, Cardiac, Menace Hobgoblin, Venom, Superior Venom, and Charlie getting injected with goblin formula, transforming her into Monster. It gets good . . . really good.

The facts are simple. If you haven’t read this series especially the final issue, buy the second printing or buy the trades. This is a must read, even for a non-Spider-Man kinda fellow.

Here’s to the disappointment The Amazing Spider-Man #1 is sure to be. Cheers.

How Maus and Harvey Pekar Changed My Life

By: William R. Davis Jr.

I originally thought comics were kind of stupid as I grew older. I read them when I was young, knew about the superhero characters in general, but the mythologies, the creators, the shit I really salivate about now, I had no idea what it was really about at the time and wrote comics off completely. Went to Uni. Studied English. They make you read all of these high handed, terrible books, and the professors are mostly assholes. It's like a secret club for assholes. "Academics" if you will, I hate most of them. 

There's a lot of mental masturbation going on at some Universities, and a ton of it happens in the English departments at their respective schools. There were other students that felt the same way. Naturally we all found our way to the back of the classroom. I was talking with this guy who was a huge comic fan, I can't even remember his name anymore. 


I was like: "C'mon man. Mutants. Aliens. Superheroes. I like this stuff, but it's kids stuff." 
He said: "I'll prove you wrong." 

He gave me Maus to borrow. I read it, then I read it again, and again, and again, and again. Finally it clicked, and I realized the power of sequential art, and the limitless potential of words and pictures and comics. Comic books can do so many  things that other art forms can't do. Maus is maybe one of the best books I've ever read; definitely my favorite. 

Slowly found my way into Eisner, Ware, Moore; some of the other fringe independents. And then I found American Splendor. It hit me like a ton of bricks. It just spoke to me. I had to work full time during school at a student loan company called Sallie Mae. The majority of my job was trying to get people to pay their loans that were late over the phone, so they gave us this software to find people who didn't want to be found. One day I said:"Fuck it", and looked up Harvey Pekar's number (creator of American Splendor). 

It's a rare name so he wasn't very to hard to find. Although doing this is pretty unethical because it had nothing to do with my job, it was the best decision I've ever made. I called Harvey, and he was the nicest guy in the world: humble, smart, interesting, and willing to take my calls! I talked to him many, many times. He would even listen to my problems; give me advice, a true mentor! I even contacted the English department and got him to speak at Ball State University. He even wrote a couple of comics about his visit. Regretfully I couldn't physically be there because I was in Asia at the time. Either why, I had added a small chapter to the Pekar mythos, and that made me proud.

One unceremonious day when I was in Korea he died, and I woke up to a text about it from my friend, a TEXT! It was fucking terrible, one of the worst moments of my life. My hero was dead and I read about it in a text message almost as soon as I opened my eyes. 

After Maus I found out more about comics as American mythology, the stories behind companies and creators, the history of sequential art, and all of that other stuff that keeps fanboys like me awake at night. 

Maus started me back into comics, American Splendor and Harvey Pekar cemented my lifelong love of comics, and then I bought a bunch of superhero books off of my buddy for barely any money at all and started to re-read them in a different way. The rest is history.

The medium today suffers from a stigma that's been attached to it for years. People who only read one Wolverine book or see some sub-par cartoon might go: "This sucks." And just not look at it again. It is, and was, for many years marketed to children, so a lot of people just haven't seen the good stuff yet. I truly think I could get anyone to like comics, they just have to choose the right ones. Take a book like the aforementioned Maus, it's a holocaust survivor's tale, also a book about family, and a perfect use of the strengths of sequential art (Cats/ Nazis and Mice/Jews). It won the Pulitzer Prize! There are comics about every subject and genre, therefore there are comics for everyone.

It's all about what you like. People might only know Spider-man or Captain America, but even this is starting to change. Acceptance is slowly growing. I've read a ton of comics at this point. Reviewing and interviewing makes that a necessity in my life. I can almost tell how deep a person's got within the first couple sentences. They start with something like Maus or superhero books and then maybe pick up Watchmen, then they segue into something else. Everyone's path is a little different. 

Have you ever seen High Fidelity? There's that scene where John Cusak is organizing his records and his worker comes in and says: "How are you doing it?" Cusak smugly answers: "Autobiographically. I can tell you how I got from Deep Purple to Howling Wolf in seven steps." Comics are like that as well. Real fanboys are really quick to call a person out and are very proud of knowing minutia. It's not an easy hobby to get into. As much as "Comic Book Guy" from the Simpsons is a stereotype, he's a very hilarious one because there's a lot of truth to the character. I hated my professors so much. They were so arrogant. I remember one smug asshole: "I know a ton about comics. I read Persepolis." Great book, but I found myself thinking: "What a fucking douche bag." I think at least part of that has to do with, I'm one of those comic book guys! 

Thanks for taking a minute to stroll down memory lane with me faithful readers. Starting from nothing and growing the HCB into the most polarizing comic book related website on the internet has been one wild ride. Our critics are many, but so are our supporters. Protecting the medium of sequential art is a duty that we have all sworn to undertake. The hacks and hackettes out there will ruin it for profit , strangle everything we love about it, and leave it to die if we refuse to confront companies that are trying to feed us sub-par content on a weekly basis. At the same time, there are so many creators out there doing wonderful things that are going largely unnoticed. We're going to make sure they get credit for their amazing contributions. 

At the end of the day it is all about integrity, creativity, and fun at The Hammond Comics Blog. We take what we do here seriously. What some have called in the past "fan boy rage", I call passion. How can you truly say you love something and be void of passion? We're still having a blast writing and talking about comic books, so keep yourself tuned in to The Hammond Comics Blog for weekly reviews and interviews by writers who are here to protect and defend one of the last great American art forms. Here's to many more years of angry comments and emails. We couldn't be happier to receive your feedback and keep the conversation going.

PREVIEW: Mandala

Created by: The Thirteen

Written by: Stuart Moore

Artwork by: Bruce Zick

Published: Dark Horse

Review by: Art Bee

“The seed of revolution is repression.” - Woodrow Wilson

“Do you want to change the world?
Then change yourself first.” - Sri Chinmoy

Throughout world history, revolutions have shaped nations and toppled governments, but some of the greatest revolutions have taken place in movies and literature. Probably the most famous and beloved revolutions of all time has occurred on the silver screen with George Lucas' Star Wars, where his seminal work took us to “a galaxy far, far away”. Another well known revolution, from the film industry, took place within the bounds of our own world in The Matrix. In literature, Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, Dune, took us to a desert planet in which the Kwisatz Haderach leads the Fremen nation of Arrakis in a revolution against Emporer Shaddam IV and the Harkonnens. These are only a few examples, but in May 2014, there is a new one coming in Mandala.

I have had the pleasure to preview a sample of Mandala that will be contained in the 256 page trade paperback graphic novel. The story is phenomenal, well conceived, and well plotted. Bring on Mandala.

Stuart Moore and The Thirteen introduce us to a future in which the human race is reduced to a fraction of its former glory. It all begins with our governments. A covert surveillance system is launched to control and repress the entire human population. Biochips are secretly implanted into the head of each person through a vaccine, which everyone is willing to get to protect themselves. These biochips allow the masses to be controlled by a global network surveillance system known as GRID. Unfortunately this system is humanity's downfall. A race known as Serpents come and use GRID to enslave all humans, whom are used for cruel sport and food. The Serpents are lead by a god-like leader named, Natasmia.

In this dystopian background, there is a revolution rising up against the Serpents, and they are led by an elite group of people known as “The Thirteen.” Each one of these leaders is the head of a clan, and each clan has its own animal totem and philosophy of changing the world.

The story is centered on Michael Morningstar, one of the leaders of the revolution, and Mary Lozen Many Colors, whom has “an eerie knack for survival”. Michael and Mary both possess an awakened higher form that allows them to do incredible things. Even though the preview did not reveal much of anything about Mary's higher form, Michael Morningstar morphs into a six-armed, winged half-demon capable of dealing out punishment on an epic level with a wicked looking sword that seems to come to him with his change. Michael and Mary are described in the preview as destined to be together, because their paths continually cross.

At the beginning of the preview, Michael is being interrogated and tortured by a man named Kane, who is trying to learn the identities of the other twelve rebel leaders. The torture allows Michael's higher form to manifest, which ends very badly for Kane and his crew. Michael escapes, flying away on his new-found wings, but his higher form dissipates allowing him to fall into the ocean. Mary Lozen finds and fishes Michael out of the water, and they head to the Hopi Reservation in Arizona. Once there, they are sent back in time by Mary's grandfather, Charlie Many Colors, to instigate change by finding “The Thirteen” and starting the revolution in the past to bring down GRID. They need “The Thirteen” to be awakened.

I absolutely love the science fiction feel of this story, and I wish I had more of it to read right now. Unfortunately, I have to wait until the graphic novel comes out like everyone else. Stuart Moore has done a really fantastic job on his presentation of the story-line in this preview, and I would expect that the finished product will be absolutely exquisite. Just with the little bit I have read, the massive back-story and ideology can easily be felt. Star Wars would never have been popular if Lucas had not designed the backdrop of races, worlds, governments, religions, and social circles. It is the minutia of a story’s Universe that is addicting, not the story itself many times.

The artwork of this story is very different to what I am used to seeing, and I am still fighting with myself about whether I like it or not. Bruce Zick uses an incredible style in his use of color in setting the mood of the panels and pages, and his palate is absolutely gorgeous. Zick incorporates great detail in many of his backgrounds leading the reader to realize that the setting is almost as important as the story. The artwork does seem to get sloppy in some panels, and one of my biggest peeves in comic books is inconsistency. Overall, I would have to say that the artwork has both its strengths and weaknesses.

The two details I loved the most of what I saw in this preview book were the use of Native American culture and the FBI posters. My admiration of the Native Americans has always fueled my curiosity about them, and it is nice that elements of their culture is used throughout this piece. For instance, Charlie Many Colors resides on the Hopi Indian Reservation, where he meets with Michael and Mary before sending them back in time. Totems and other Native American objects are incorporated as well as other cultural images. The FBI wanted posters at the center of the preview depict Michael and Mary and provide some great information about them as well as paint them with some realism. Both are being sought due to their connections with the “terrorist group known as The Thirteen”. The sketches on the wanted posters are very well detailed, and I would almost believe these were real if they were not in a comic book.

Hands down this should be something that should be bought by anyone interested in revolutionary stories like Star Wars, The Matrix, V for Vendetta, Dune, etc. You can find their facebook page at www.facebook.com/enterthemandala. They also have a website set up to join for discussions about the clans and other topics at www.enterthemandala.com. The book is not as pricey as others at $24.99, but I am thinking it will be worth it. Dark Horse seems to have a winner in Mandala. I know I am waking up. Are you awake?

Sri Chakra represents the holographic nature of you and the world.