The Slave Hunter - The Sword Is My Lady #1

The Slave Hunter by Malik Shabazz Takes Us On Our First Trip Into the World of Altaire...

The Slave Hunter is just the first piece of a bigger picture known as "The Sword Is My Lady,  The Lady Is My Sword." At first, the book may come across as unassuming. Then, you open it up... and you immediately learn that this ENTIRE BOOK was created by one man. That fact, in itself, is an amazing undertaking, but once you actually delve into the world of Altaire and the story of "Mad" Maddie Grimoire, it's easy to see that this book is the result of a creator who revels in hard work.

The story arc does a good job of hooking the reader in and then twisting things on us, more than once even. While this issue does a good job of drawing us into the world of Altaire, it still leaves quiet a bit unanswered about the larger plot at hand. We see the story open with a brief history or Altaire and its warring races. Three races populate this planet, Humans, and then two Majik-wielding races, the Majin and the Thessans. Each race has its own unique relationship to Altaire's life force, Majik, but we don't get to learn an enormous amount about that in this issue. The opening scenes cut off quickly with what seems to be the set-up for this entire series. The Majin and The Thessans say "peace out" to the humans and their non-majik wielding asses. The Majik-wielding races build a barrier, leaving the humans out in the cold and thus the world has peace. (Imagine that, getting rid of all humans is the only way to achieve world peace.)  We're then launched into the more character driven part of the story with a foreboding message that "peace is not everlasting."



Enter Maddie Grimoire, the slave hunter and namesake for this issue. Presumably, Maddie is just one of three or maybe even four main characters (judging by either the placard on the cover or the teaser at the end of this issue). We catch her mid-hunt and a beautiful hunt it is. One multi-page spread in the midst of the hunt is just down-right gorgeous. As you might expect, Maddie gets her man and delivers the only remaining piece of him to collect her bounty. And then there's a great twist. I don't want to spoil it for you here, because I want to urge you to go get this book.



The story unfolds quite unexpectedly for our Slave Hunter, and it seems that the following events are only the beginning of bigger things to come. The last page teases the story for the next book, "The Baddest Warrior There Ever Was." From the page previews that Malik, aka Night M.A.I.R.S., shares on his Facebook page, the next book really looks like a doozy.

Aside from the narrative itself, the thematic elements of the story are also exceptional. Malik has lovingly crafted a world with a diverse population. This is important because it creates a setting where the race and gender issues that we face in our own world are still present in the undertones of Altaire. At one point, we see a female human who has put out a hit on a Majin slave surprisingly break down in tears at the news when Maddie comes to collect the bounty. When asked why, the woman replies that we're more alike than we admit, and that "sometimes being a woman can feel like being a slave." This is powerful stuff that is often rare in the comic book medium. I, for one, salute Malik for taking the visual storytelling forum to a deeper and more meaningful place while still showing and telling us a fascinating tale.

To give a brief critique, I think the writing and the art, from illustration through to the color, are excellent. And then, once you factor in that all of this is a one-man show, it's truly extraordinary. The only underwhelming parts of this book are the cover and then some small issues with the lettering. The art for the cover is not bad, but it doesn't portray the depth and girth of the pages within. This is unfortunate because it does a disservice to the rest of the book. I wish that Night M.A.I.R.S. would have collaborated with another artist to possibly capture the entirety of the book in a single breath-taking image versus just the character art that we see as is it. On the lettering front, there are no large complaints there, only that the bubbles feel crowded and the way the bubbles are arranged doesn't always lead the eye across the page in the proper reading order. These are all minor issues that could be easily solved in future issues.  I think the future of this franchise is very bright.

Overall, The Slave Hunter is a behemoth of a book. On top of that, it's just the first phase of a story with a greater narrative to come (presumably). Night M.A.I.R.S. has revealed that he will be doing three issues leading up to a graphic novel Kickstarter campaign. We'll keep you posted on when all that starts to happen, but until then you can go pick up your own copy here at IndyPlanet: http://www.indyplanet.com/front/product/113652/ - The book is now on special for a very limited time at the price of $3.99. This is a steal for an indie comic of this nature, don't sleep on this. Go support your independent (and when I say independent, in this case I really mean it) comic book creators!

 

Buffy Gets A New Animated Adventure

Into every generation a slayer is born ...

I’m a fan of opening credits and miss the days that shows had them, instead viewers are now stuck with a four-second bumper with the title of the show they are currently watching. Only a few shows on cable TV networks such as AMC, FX, HBO, and Showtime still have opening credits. It’s fun to watch those intros and Stephen Byrne, a talented illustrator, created an awesome opening that continues Buffy’s adventures of slaying the undead.



Back in 2002, we almost got an animated version of the slayer that was going to take place during the show’s first season. Unfortunately that project didn’t move forward. Thanks to Byrne, we can see another animated version of our favorite slayer titled “The Animated Adventures of Buffy.” He’s gone above and beyond by adding many Easter eggs from the seven years it was on air and adds elements from it’s comic book continuation from Dark Horse comics. Check out the opening below and to see more of his artwork, including another animated video with Doctor Who, check out Stephen’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ArtworkOfStephenByrne.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bnbxP6HHMY

Writer Blocks - Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

If you were to pierce the fabric of spacetime and ask eleven year old me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would answer “Frank Miller.”  Go back a little further to Coles Books at the Seaview Square Mall just before Christmas in 1986 and you’ll know why - there, in the science fiction section, stands a wide-eyed boy reading a book unlike anything, ever.  That boy was me. This is the book:



Batman: The Dark Knight Returns made me want to create.  This was a classic superhero presented in a manner that was bold and new.  I was too young to truly appreciate everything Miller was doing, and there are plenty of resources available that deconstruct the work, but upon reading it again, for the first time in about 20 years, I can see how it made its way into the pages I write.  My penchant for “talking heads” scenes is a direct correlation to the repeated television screens used throughout Dark Knight Returns, only without the subtext that the newscasters, experts and pundits bring to Miller’s work.  Early in my writing I tried to jam as many panels onto a page as possible, subliminally borrowing from the 16 panel grid layout Miller used to heighten the sense of a claustrophobic Gotham City.  I just didn’t know how to tell a story.

As a kid, the grand vision of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns was lost on me.  What wasn’t lost on me were the images - iconic and beautiful.

Like this, the Dark Knight ready for battle:



Or the Dynamic Duo leaping through the night:



And of course the simple cover from Issue #1:



But the image that stuck with me the most was this page, and what Bruce says before dying:



Followed by Superman cradling the body of his fallen friend, telling the soldiers “Don’t touch him.”

This is the type of book I wanted, and still want, to create, and every time I sit in front of another blank page, eleven year old me appears as a reminder that I will never be able to “touch” this masterwork from Frank Miller.

Next week - Batman: Year One

Spider Gwen... I Heart You!!!

So, How Would A Guy Go About Getting An Upside Down Kiss From Spider Gwen?

Edge of Spider-Verse continues, and so far it's only getting better. Personally, I don't think I was looking forward to any character more than Gwen Stacy: Spider-Woman or as the Internet has taken to calling her, Spider Gwen.



Spider Gwen feels like the freshest breath of air for the Spider-man concept in a long time. I have so many things to love about this comic that I'll just do my best to keep the gushing to a minimum. One thing I'd like to touch on that I have a unique perspective on as a letterer was the bubble styling on this book. It's not the first time I've seen this style, but it is only the second. I thought it was simply a fluke or a gimmick when I first saw this particular bubbling style in Marvel's 100th Anniversary Spider-Man issue, but now I've caught on to VC's Clayton Cowles. As a letterer, it seems to be a style that he has been using for some time, but I can't say I've seen it often before now. I think as a style it could catch on as a trend, so I'll be keeping an eye out for Clayton. (Although I'm sure some of you might be able to point me to a few things I should have seen already. Please leave any suggestions in the comments!) I also thoroughly enjoyed Clayton's style with the action words having a hand brushed look and gradient overlays. It has a very visceral feel that I think really goes well with feel of the characters.

Staying on the art tip for this issue, I also fully enjoyed the simplicity of the colorist Rico Renzi, keeping with the color immersion trend, and the detail of Robbi Rodriguez on digital illustration. Everything about the style of this book feels young. I think that's quite an accomplishment in the Marvel realm as a lot of the teams based around younger characters have just been garbage (IMHO). As some of you may have read in my previous articles, the All-New Ultimates has been a major disappointment. I loved the initial volume of Young Avengers, but the current books have just fallen flat and I lost interest in that run pretty quickly. The art of this book is crisp and fresh and feels hip. It makes me want to care about younger characters. Whereas a lot of youth oriented books either make me feel old, (like, "Is this actually GOOD to young people, and that's why I don't like it?") or just guilty for reading the books and then hating them.

I could continue to gush about the art, but I think that the writing must be appreciated here as well. I think that for a one-off this is a very bold story arc. I only say this because of the final twist at the end of the issue, which you should just go and read for yourself. The major guts of the story are not that unique in all honesty. We see a super fast set-up of the premise for this book. Then enter bad guy, bad guys loses, enter Captain Stacy. Enough about that though. More specifically, I love the dialogue in this book. The writing is believable and funny. It's so easy get the voice of young characters wrong. I feel that often times the dialogue is just trying too hard to come off as believable, but once again, this book just plain works. Spider Gwen is probably one of my favorite new concepts in Marvel comics and I hope that they consider creating an on-going series out of this concept once Spider-verse is done.

I've see lots of buzz on the Internet for Spider Gwen and even some rumors to take with a grain of salt that all this interest has really been noticed at the creative offices of Marvel. With all that being said, I'll encourage you to go check it out for yourself. And as is abundantly clear here, I HEART SPIDER GWEN!

 

 

 

Spider-Verse, Here I Come!!!

Send me straight to the Spider-Verse, no stops along the way!!!

The Edge of Spider-Verse event has officially begun and I couldn't be more thrilled. With the return of Spider-Man Noir in issue one, Marvel has set us up for a heck of a ride through "every Spider-Man ever." While I can't say this was the alternate Spidey I was looking forward to the most, I thought issue one was a lot of fun. The alternate version of Mysterio was clever and worked as a good one-off antagonist.

I've personally been pretty bored with the big events going on in both the DC (*cough* Future's End *cough*) and Marvel universes, but I really want to believe this one will be good. Personally I am a sucker for alternate universes and timelines, so maybe I should just reserve my judgement for another month or so... With that being said, let's talk more about Edge of Spider-Verse #1.

The best thing about this issue (and hopefully the whole event) is that it's basically a series of one-offs. While, yes, it's planned to lead into something with a slightly more continuity, you don't have to care about that right now. The story opens and throws us right back into the world of Spider-Man Noir. Without touching on spoiler territory, some time has passed and Spider-man hasn't been seen in sometime. While there is a good bit of exposure that feels slightly slow to develop at first, once the main plot kicks in, everything moves real fast.

I won't talk plot anymore because this book is just too quick to get into it without spoiling things. What I can talk about is what I feel this book did right. Within just 24 pages, you get to see plenty of noir versions of your favorite Spidey characters. The elements of this story run their course very quickly and lead into the bigger plot of Edge of Spider-Verse without missing a beat.

The art of Richard Isanove is crisp and believable and sucks you into the past. And then immediately leads you into the far future. If you've kept up with the latest unexpected issue of Superior Spider-Man, then you already know what's going on here. If not, I urge you to jump on board before you miss another installment of this extra-dimensional spider-tale.

I, for one, can't wait to see Gwen Stacy and Spider-Woman in #2!

Superhero Selfies? Good or Bad?

Is the upcoming run of DC's superhero selfies themed variants seen as playful fun or shameless catering to our social media driven lifestyle?

[caption id="attachment_158" align="alignleft" width="300"] ONE OF THE FIRST SELFIE IMAGES RELEASED.[/caption]

In DC's upcoming run of themed variants we will see "selfies". Many see this as harmless fun, while others see it as a violation of beloved characters. I think as a male I can understand the anger behind it, "selfies" are seen on FB day in and day out, duck-faced, hipster-filtered, hashtagged "selfies". I can understand that we want so escape this everyday humdrum when reading an epic comic, so for them to break the 4th wall in such a way is frustrating. Also the whole idea that superheroes have cellphones is a perplexing idea. To think batman using his Samsung Galaxy to upload crime scene evidence back to batcave for analysis is pretty ludacris, and even further on that thought the biggest enemy would be bad cell service. "Well the joker made a daring escape and killed hundreds, because I couldn't get enough signal to call the Batwing." Suddenly the Verizon wireless "Can you hear me now?" guy will be the most sought out sidekick due to his epic cell boost. For me I think this fad really originated in the comic world after the Man of Steel poster was released, which straight up looked like supes was doing a selfie over a cornfield. No matter what DC has been making some questionable decisions, but after the bombshell variants I guess I can't be too mad if they do something a lil' silly. Click here to see more of the released superhero selfies.

[caption id="attachment_169" align="alignnone" width="621"] Supergirl poses with the crew for a "groupfie" - Superhero Selfies[/caption]

Marvel Ultimate Universe on Life Support?

The Marvel Ultimate Universe looks like it's on a downward spiral and most people say its long past due. What happened to this imprint and why couldn't Marvel get it together?

With the recent reduction to only 3 books, and now the cancellation of Ultimate FF, the Marvel Ultimate Universe is in dire straights. While this alternate universe imprint was originally meant to breath a new energy into the existing Marvel characters, for some reason, they just can't get it right anymore.

I've read again and again over the years how Spider-man is the only real reason to keep the Marvel Ultimate Universe alive. Nowadays, frankly, I have to agree. With Ultimate FF gone after only 6 issues and the All-New Ultimates sucking more and more each issue, Miles Morales is really the only book worth looking forward to each week from the Ultimate line-up. Not only does the Marvel Ultimate Universe only have one good character to depend on these days, there are constant rumors that Miles Morales will find his way into the 616 universe. And that would be putting the final nail in the Ultimate U coffin.

I think many readers have had little faith in the Marvel Ultimate Universe for a while now. Yet it should be at least somewhat important to current day comic book fans because the Ultimate U has had a surprisingly strong influence on the pop culture translations of our favorite comic books. Look to the most recent Amazing Spider-man reboot. This representation of Spider-man and the villains are much more similar to the Ultimate U than the 616 universe. And it looks like we may be seeing that same trend in the latest Fantastic Four reboot as well. Not to mention Nick Fury in the MCU.

The Marvel Ultimate Universe is often compared to DC's New 52 as a forerunner of this now commonplace rebooting of characters. I think it's fun to see characters get a new life, but what's the point if the publisher can't get great talent to continue the work? I personally enjoy the work that Bendis does and has done, but many people don't. On top of that, the books not under Bendis are getting terrible reviews both critically and from the fans. See All-New Ultimate #2 review at IGN.com. This book has never broken a 7 out of 10 on IGN. Also, here's a short but dismal review of issue #3 from Inside Pulse. Personally, I was very excited to see this young team get its own on-going book. Also, there was much excitement for Michael Fiffe to make his Marvel writing debut. But ever since it started, I have been very disappointed. The greatest offense in this on-going is the change of Jessica Jones from Spider-woman to Black Widow. Needlessly confusing and pointless in the narrative, this change is nothing but frustrating. On top of that, they took the sleek and sexy Spider-woman costume and replaced it with a grunge-inspired garbage excuse for a superhero costume.



While Ultimate FF had a great concept (IMHO) it lacked in execution BIGTIME. More than that, no one cared about this line-up. How do you get FF fans on board with a team that has only one member of the Fantastic Four. Yes, I know FF is not strictly meant to be the Fantastic Four. But, come on, Falcon and Machine Man? These are not heavy hitters. If we're talking about a one in three chance of hitting a home run for the Marvel Ultimate Universe, I don't think I would have picked this line-up. I thought the concept of a special, Stark-funded team meant to track down and eliminate reality-destroying anomalies was actually a concept with some legs. Maybe it was, or maybe I was totally wrong. But either way, this creative team and this superhero line-up choked at the plate. The rest is history...

Finally, we are left with the most recent rendition of Ultimate Spider-man, aptly titled Miles Morales: the Ultimate Spider-man. I'm not sure how many more variations on that title they can come up with for new volumes of Ultimate Spider-man. This current title is quite a mouthful, but at least it is slightly more distinctive than previous volumes that were very easy to mix up. Trust me. When I first went back to catch up on all the Miles Morales story lines, it was difficult to keep them separate from the Peter Parker stories. (Side note: I have a subscription to Marvel Unlimited, which I highly recommend for these binge catch-up sessions.) Miles Morales is still going strong because it's still in the hand of Bendis and Marquez. This was the creative team who wrapped up the last volume of Ultimate Spidey and really laid the ground work for the All-New, young Ultimates. As I read the final issues of those books, I was enthralled and truly drawn to this young team. The build up to them becoming a team wasn't exactly subtle, but it worked. And while Cataclysm, and then Survive, really failed to capitalize on this build up, I still had high hopes. My hopes for the young Ultimates have been dashed and the recent developments for Miles Morales have me on pins and needles as well. See the image below:



At first, many people thought this might be a joke, but recent September solicitations from Marvel have confirmed it's real. What does this mean, you ask? At first, I thought it was a solid indication that Miles was moving over to 616. But with the recent confirmation of this crossover, it was also revealed that, in fact, the All-New X-men were actually the ones doing the universe hopping. At this point, I have no idea what in the heck this development means for the Marvel Ultimate Universe, but I'm hopeful, and here's why:

The All-New X-men is another brainchild of Bendis and honestly, they need a new home. Time displaced from the past and unable to return, the All-New X-men are beginning to flounder. With a quick visit to 1610, the team may get the boost they need to stay relevant. On top of that, we're seeing the infusion of some excellent talent with more stories from Bendis coming into the Ultimate Universe fray and Stuart Immonen on pencils with his always crisp and graphic renderings in the mix.

Hopefully, the development within the Marvel Ultimate Universe over the second half of 2014 can help to revitalize this imprint. Otherwise, I hope they stop kicking this dead horse. We've seen the Ultimate imprint die and be revive numerous times, but it hasn't had the same "umph" that it had in the beginning for a long time. Miles Morales is the pillar that carries the entire weight of the 1610 universe, and it's about time he got some back-up.

What are your thoughts on the Marvel Ultimate Universe? Please share in the comments!