30 Day Comic Challenge Day 05

Day 05 - Comic character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).

This guy isn't technically a super-hero, but he's pretty heroic in a lot of ways. My choice is Aoki-Sensei from Keiko Tobe's manga With the Light: Raising An Autistic Child (published in the US by Yen Press).






As a teacher myself, I see the dedication and the innovation that Aoki puts into working with special needs kids and it reminds me of the challenges and the rewards of my profession. It's a great portrayal of the good that a teacher can do.

With the Light is one of the best books I've read about parenting. My review of the second volume is here.

From My Creations

I don't write characters based on myself. It's never really been something I'm interested in. This is also why I'm not into roleplaying games where the players play versions of themselves transported to some fantasy world or faced with some bizarre circumstance. I want to read about the adventures of people who are more heroic than me.

That being said, like any writer I put aspects of my personality into all the characters I write.

The character that strikes me as resembling me most is Brother Petrus from Perils of Picorna.



Petrus isn't a kid who grew up on the streets like Picorna is. He come from a good home, and he's not out looking for trouble or even for adventure. He's a guy who loves books and learning, a guy with good intentions and some courage when he needs it. He's not concerned about being shown up by a girl or with proving anything. I didn't design him to be myself as a teenager (and he's not in a lot of ways), but he does carry a lot of my personality traits and attitudes.

The 30 Day Comic Challenge Page on Facebook is here. Here is the complete list of daily topics:

30 Day Comic Challenge
Day 01 - Your first comic book.
Day 02 - Your favorite character.
Day 03 - A comic that is underrated.
Day 04 - Your guilty pleasure comic or character.
Day 05 - Comic character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 06 - Most annoying character.
Day 07 - Favorite comic couple.
Day 08 - Best series being published right now.
Day 09 - Most touching comic book/comic book scene.
Day 10 - Dream versus match.
Day 11 - Favorite comic book cartoon series.
Day 12 - A comic everyone should read.
Day 13 - A book you’ve read more than five times.
Day 14 – Most awesome single comic book image
Day 15 - A Picture from the comic you’re reading right now.
Day 16 - Funniest comic book/comic book scene.
Day 17 - Most useless Villain.
Day 18 - Favorite B-list character.
Day 19 - Comic book city/universe you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite super power or skill.
Day 21 - Favorite writer.
Day 22 - A series that you liked but stopped reading
Day 23 - Your favorite artist.
Day 24 - Dream character team up.
Day 25 - A book you plan on reading.
Day 26 - A comic you wish they would make into a movie.
Day 27 - Favorite comic book movie.
Day 28 - Favorite comic publisher.
Day 29 - A comic you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite run or series of all time.

Anita Blake Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures #1 2007 Convention Exclusive

This was another piece of my 2011 Free Comic Book Day haul. It's another leftover, a convention promo freebie from 2007.

Title: Anita Blake Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures
Issue: #1 (2007 Convention Exclusive)
Date: 2007
Publisher: Marvel Comics, Dabel Brothers
Writer: Laurell K. Hamilton, Stacie M. Ritchie
Artist: Brett Booth
Colorist: Arif Priyanto
Letterer: Bill Tortolini
Editor: Sean J. Jordan

Writer Stacie M. Ritchie adapts Laurell K. Hamilton's first Anita Blake Vampire Hunter novel, Guilty Pleasures. This particular edition was a convention freebie with a sketch cover.

Adaptations are always tough. I thought that artist Brett Booth did a great job with the look of Anita. The artwork depicts a dynamic mix of strength and vulnerability that matches what comes across in the writing. This first issue does a decent job of introducing the world of Anita Blake, a world where vampires and other supernatural creatures are a known part of life in America. The comic is heavy on dialogue and narration, as might be expected from an adaptation of a novel. Sometimes it works well, but it breaks down a bit when it gets into the mental/telepathic struggles for domination that occur between Anita and the various vampires she encounters. Hamilton places a very heavy emphasis on this aspect of the vampire myth, and it's the type of thing that is just more suited to prose that really gets inside the character's head in detail rather than abbreviated captions on top of visuals.

I like the fact that the vampires are a threat to be taken very seriously, and I enjoyed the portrayal of Anita herself. This was better than I went in expecting, but it still feels like it was forced into the comic format.

Rating: 6.5/10

30 Day Comic Challenge Day 04

Day 04 - Your Guilty Pleasure Comic or Character

Yes, I know the artwork got more and more rushed and sloppy as the series went on. Yes, I do realize that the comic was thinly disguised erotica. Heck, it wasn't even all that thinly disguised...

I still read every single issue of Elflord in the 1980s.














And you know what? At its best moments, it was a really good character-driven sword & sorcery story with some great dialogue, some interesting characters, and some good swashbuckling action. Barry Blair and Aircel were also innovators in digital coloring and produced some really eye-catching covers and vivid interior art.

Doing the research for this, I found out the creator passed away last year. Rest in peace, Barry Blair.

From My Creations

I can't really name one of my own comics as a guilty pleasure, but I will describe a guilty pleasure when it comes to my writing.

Puns.

Especially when they come in cringe-worthy series like on the last page of Zephyr & Reginald: Minions for Hire #1:




The 30 Day Comic Challenge Page on Facebook is here. Here is the complete list of daily topics:

30 Day Comic Challenge
Day 01 - Your first comic book.
Day 02 - Your favorite character.
Day 03 - A comic that is underrated.
Day 04 - Your guilty pleasure comic or character.
Day 05 - Comic character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 06 - Most annoying character.
Day 07 - Favorite comic couple.
Day 08 - Best series being published right now.
Day 09 - Most touching comic book/comic book scene.
Day 10 - Dream versus match.
Day 11 - Favorite comic book cartoon series.
Day 12 - A comic everyone should read.
Day 13 - A book you’ve read more than five times.
Day 14 – Most awesome single comic book image
Day 15 - A Picture from the comic you’re reading right now.
Day 16 - Funniest comic book/comic book scene.
Day 17 - Most useless Villain.
Day 18 - Favorite B-list character.
Day 19 - Comic book city/universe you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite super power or skill.
Day 21 - Favorite writer.
Day 22 - A series that you liked but stopped reading
Day 23 - Your favorite artist.
Day 24 - Dream character team up.
Day 25 - A book you plan on reading.
Day 26 - A comic you wish they would make into a movie.
Day 27 - Favorite comic book movie.
Day 28 - Favorite comic publisher.
Day 29 - A comic you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite run or series of all time.

Fractured Fables Free Comic Book Day Edition

This was a 2010 FCBD offering that I missed last year but picked up this year.

Title: Fractured Fables Free Comic Book Day Edition
Date: 2010
Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Bryan Talbot, Doug TenNapel, Alexander Grecian, Derek McColloch, Ted McKeever
Artist: Camilla d'Errico, Doug TenNapel, Christian Ward, Anthony Peruzzo, Ted McKeever
Letterer: Ed Brisson, Doug TenNapel, Alexander Grecian, Anthony Peruzzo
Colorist: Edison Yan
Cover: Michael Allred, Laura Allred, Tim Daniel, Jim Valentino
Editor: Jim Valentino, Kristen K. Simon

This is a collection of "fractured" fairy tales and fairy tale variants. There are five stories in this sampler. I found it a bit of a mixed bag.

The opening "Red Riding Hood" was pretty run-of-the-mill, although the ending punch line was visually cute.

Doug TenNapel's take on Rumplestiltskin was juvenile and not all that funny.

Things got better with Alexander Grecian's "The Real Princess", a mash-up of different tales including Jack and the Beanstalk and the Princess and the Pea. Christian Ward's painted artwork was beautiful, but the ending came out of left field. It wasn't a terrible way to end the story, it just wasn't completely satisfying.

Raponsel was funnier than the first two stories, but had the same problem of fumbling around with some not-quite-good jokes before it got going.

The best piece in the book was the final one, a very clever wordless interpretation of the Mother Goose rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle adapted by Ted McKeever.

With the rich history and symbolism of faerie tales, I feel like this could have been a lot better.

Rating: 6.5/10

30 Day Comic Challenge Day 03

Day 03 - A Comic That Is Underrated

I'm sure different people who do this meme are going to come up with different meanings for "underrated". My choice is a book that had a huge influence on independent comics in the 1980s, a book that ran over 150 issues, and featured numerous iconic creators and characters from that era, but probably gets overlooked when we think back on the b/w independent comics boom because of its format.

My choice is Dark Horse Presents.















For those who weren't reading/collecting in the late 80s and early 90s or might not be familiar with DHP, let me mention a few things that you might be more familiar with:

Hellboy
The Mask
Sin City
Aliens vs. Predator

All of these titles had their debuts or early appearances in the pages of DHP. The Dark Horse anthology title made good use of licensed properties including Alien, Predator, Terminator, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Dirty Pair.

It also routinely took risks and introduced new creators and concepts. Some of the best known original comics to come out of DHP were Paul Chadwick's Concrete, Frank Miller's Sin City, and John Byrne's Next Men. Mike Mignola's Hellboy was a recurring feature, and there was a run of Kings in Disguise by Jim Vance and Dan Burr. I also really enjoyed less-known serials like Gary Davis' Celia & Delia and Paleolove, Leo Durañona's Race of Scorpions, and Eddie Campbell's Bacchus.

The full list of creators who appeared in the pages of DHP is very impressive and includes some of the biggest names in that era and today.

The anthology format meant you were in for a mixed bag every issue, but that allowed for some great surprises like one-shot stories and guest appearances by characters and series published by other companies.

When people look back on the b/w boom of the 1980s, they usually look fondly on specific characters or creative teams, but Dark Horse deserves a lot of credit for creating a long-running venue to introduce new creators and their stories to readers. DHP was a huge part of the growth of independent comics.

From My Creations

In addition to the four comic title I publish with Dandelion Studios, my wife and I also make minicomics. We've got a couple of pretty popular minicomic titles as well as some titles that tend to sell a copy or two here or there. One such book is The Bittersweet Battle Book, a gardening/ecology mini that my wife, Gynn Stella, did as a solo project.











Now admittedly, a comic about the challenges of invasive weeds in the yard may not be what the typical big-two fanboy is looking for, but The Bittersweet Battle Book is a fun little autobiographical piece that contains some helpful advice. And at most (but not all!) conventions we attend, it's the only gardening comic in the entire dealers' hall!

The 30 Day Comic Challenge Page on Facebook is here. Here is the complete list of daily topics:

30 Day Comic Challenge
Day 01 - Your first comic book.
Day 02 - Your favorite character.
Day 03 - A comic that is underrated.
Day 04 - Your guilty pleasure comic or character.
Day 05 - Comic character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 06 - Most annoying character.
Day 07 - Favorite comic couple.
Day 08 - Best series being published right now.
Day 09 - Most touching comic book/comic book scene.
Day 10 - Dream versus match.
Day 11 - Favorite comic book cartoon series.
Day 12 - A comic everyone should read.
Day 13 - A book you’ve read more than five times.
Day 14 – Most awesome single comic book image
Day 15 - A Picture from the comic you’re reading right now.
Day 16 - Funniest comic book/comic book scene.
Day 17 - Most useless Villain.
Day 18 - Favorite B-list character.
Day 19 - Comic book city/universe you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite super power or skill.
Day 21 - Favorite writer.
Day 22 - A series that you liked but stopped reading
Day 23 - Your favorite artist.
Day 24 - Dream character team up.
Day 25 - A book you plan on reading.
Day 26 - A comic you wish they would make into a movie.
Day 27 - Favorite comic book movie.
Day 28 - Favorite comic publisher.
Day 29 - A comic you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite run or series of all time.

The Mis-Adventures of Adam West / Things To Come

Title: The Mis-Adventures of Adam West / Things To Come
Date: 2011
Publisher: Blue Water Comics
Writer: Walter Koenig, Adam West, Darren G. Davis, Russell Dautermen
Penciler: J.C. Baez, Reed Lackey
Colorist: Jon Lyons, Kamui Ayami
Letterer: Bernie Lee, Jaymes Reed
Cover: Matt Bellisle
Editor: Scott Davis

Flip book for 2011 Free Comic Book Day. Actor Walter Koenig scripts Things To Come, a post-apocalyptic tale of humans living in caves for generations after fleeing the polluted and uninhabitable surface of the earth. The story opens with several pages of vampire imagery which appear to be a dream sequence and a hint of things to come. The art is striking and gritty, and works well for the "new stone age" setting. This teaser ends with humanity about to venture out to the surface for the first time in centuries, so there seems to be plenty of story potential here.

Flip the book over for The Mis-Adventures of Adam West, featuring actor Adam West bemoaning the lack of real heroes on today's media while his agent tries to convince him to abandon his principles to take some paying work. Things get stranger soon thereafter, and it appears that this time Mr. West won't just be playing a hero on TV. I must admit that I cringed a bit when I saw the cover to this, but I was pleasantly surprised to find well-written dialogue, a genuine and honest discussion of the nature of heroes, and an enjoyable, fast-paced story. Holy priceless collection of Etruscan swords! This was way better than it had any right to be.

Rating: 7.5/10

30 Day Comic Challenge Day 02

Day 02: Your Favorite Character

This is really a tough one, with so many iconic or just plain fascinating characters in comics. I decided to go with a character that I've always liked, one whose adventures I read as a kid and a character who has had some really quality writing that I appreciate to this day.

This is what happened when the great Stan Lee wondered what you would get when the emphasis wasn't on the superhero's power, but on the character's defining weakness.

You get a blind man who's a superhero. You get Daredevil, the Man Without Fear.

I remember reading the Daredevil vs. Namor story that was reprinted in Marvel's Greatest Superhero Battles when I was around 10 years old, and even then appreciating the story of a guy who's pretty hopelessly outmatched in a fight and just refuses to quit. I went back an found the reprint of Daredevil's origin story and read some of the early adventures of the blind superhero.

Then in the 1980s, I rediscovered the character as scripted by Frank Miller in stories that are as intense as anything that's been done in comics.

Around the two Miller runs were great story arcs by Denny O'Neil and Anne Nocenti. Sure, it would occasionally degenerate into crossover silliness, but much like Batman, Daredevil is one of those characters where you can pick up a random issue and have an above-average chance that any story involving him will be good. And when it's at its best, it's among my favorite comics of all time.

From My Creations

Picking my favorite character in comics was a pretty tough choice. Picking my favorite of my own comic characters is even tougher.

It comes down to Donna Stone from Stone and Kaeli from Kaeli & Rebecca. I'm going to go with Kaeli because I've thought about her longer and because she's often the more challenging character to write.
















Kaeli is my flower-child. She's the character who (back when she had her beginnings as a roleplaying character) objected to a plan to torment a demon for information with a simple "You're not going to hurt it, are you?"

And she's my death-priestess. Kaeli understands exactly what she is doing, and she faces the dangers of being a pacifist in a hostile world with the kind of insane bravery usually relegated to warriors who charge in against impossible odds.

Kaeli is a character who thinks about the consequences of her actions because she has to. She doesn't have the option of grabbing a weapon and fighting her way out when things go against her.

The 30 Day Comic Challenge Page on Facebook is here. Here is the complete list of daily topics:

30 Day Comic Challenge
Day 01 - Your first comic book.
Day 02 - Your favorite character.
Day 03 - A comic that is underrated.
Day 04 - Your guilty pleasure comic or character.
Day 05 - Comic character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 06 - Most annoying character.
Day 07 - Favorite comic couple.
Day 08 - Best series being published right now.
Day 09 - Most touching comic book/comic book scene.
Day 10 - Dream versus match.
Day 11 - Favorite comic book cartoon series.
Day 12 - A comic everyone should read.
Day 13 - A book you’ve read more than five times.
Day 14 – Most awesome single comic book image
Day 15 - A Picture from the comic you’re reading right now.
Day 16 - Funniest comic book/comic book scene.
Day 17 - Most useless Villain.
Day 18 - Favorite B-list character.
Day 19 - Comic book city/universe you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite super power or skill.
Day 21 - Favorite writer.
Day 22 - A series that you liked but stopped reading
Day 23 - Your favorite artist.
Day 24 - Dream character team up.
Day 25 - A book you plan on reading.
Day 26 - A comic you wish they would make into a movie.
Day 27 - Favorite comic book movie.
Day 28 - Favorite comic publisher.
Day 29 - A comic you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite run or series of all time.

Worlds of Aspen 2011

Title: Worlds of Aspen 2011
Date: 2011
Publisher: Aspen Comics
Writer: J.T. Krul, Vince Hernandez, Joe Benitez
Penciler: Jason Fabok, Khary Randolph, Joe Benitez
Colorist: John Starr, Emilio Lopez, Peter Steigerwald

Aspen's offering for Free Comic Book Day 2011 previews six titles, although only three of these actually get to show off completed pages. The opening story, Soulfire, is visually impressive, but looks complicated enough to be potentially off-putting to new readers. There was a fight between two winged women with not a whole lot of rhyme, reason, or explanation. I wasn't sure who was the good girl and who was the bad girl by the end of it, or even if there was supposed to be definite good and bad sides to the conflict.

Charismagic had an intriguing concept: a Vegas stage magician swept into the world of real sorcery. I liked what I saw of the story, but it was a very short piece that barely introduced the lead character.

The latest incarnation of Fathom only got a pinup page. Fathom is pretty, but uninteresting with a generic comic-book body in a generic bikini. I know the character has been used in interesting ways in the past, but I can only judge by what I got here, which was basically just cheesecake of the sort you'd find in better quality fanart.

Next up is Lady Mechanika, and we finally get something interesting. The genre is all-out steampunk, and there is a reasonable amount of plot in the five-page preview, along with the introduction of a pretty diverse cast of characters and the beginnings of a mystery. Easily the best preview in this book.

Last up was Executive Assistant Iris, which features a succession of female assassins who double as mild ethnic stereotypes when they're not being sex objects. All we get are some character profiles. If you're into women with weapons I suppose this might be your thing. It wasn't mine.

Loved Lady Mechanika. Nothing else in the book had me interested in reading further.

Rating: 5.5/10

30 Day Comic Challenge Day 01

This meme seemed like a good fit for this blog. Keeping up with this will be a second priority to daily reviews, but I'm going to give it a shot.

Day 01: Your First Comic Book















This may be a bit off, but this is definitely among the first comic books I ever owned. Avengers #169 came out in 1978. I was 9 years old and I would spend several weeks each summer with my grandparents in Newport RI. My brother and I would walk to the newspaper store a few blocks down Broadway (that store was located two doors down from the current location of Annex Comics!). I'm not sure how we reached the decision, but we were both firmly in the "Make mine Marvel!" camp. We wouldn't even look at a comic by the "Distinguished Competition".

This particular issues was a self-contained story about a dying man who has planted nuclear bombs in various locations triggered to go off when his heart stops beating. The Avengers split up to locate and disarm the bombs. It's essentially a set of solo stories for Cap, Iron Man, and T'Challa. The issue had a very Cold War feel to it.

From My Creations

Interpreting the meme to apply to the comics I've written, rather than the comics I've collected/read.

My first comic work to see print was the first installment of Exiles, which ran in Kinships magazine in the late 1990s. At the time Marvel had a new comic called Exiles, but I figured it would get canceled in a few issues. No such luck. After Kinships ceased publication, I changed the title of my Exiles to simply the names of the lead characters. It's now the third title in Dandelion Studios' Quarterstaff Comics line under the title Kaeli & Rebecca.

Here's the original intro page as well as the cover of the first issue of Kinships.

























The 30 Day Comic Challenge Page on Facebook is here. Here is the complete list of daily topics:

30 Day Comic Challenge
Day 01 - Your first comic book.
Day 02 - Your favorite character.
Day 03 - A comic that is underrated.
Day 04 - Your guilty pleasure comic or character.
Day 05 - Comic character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 06 - Most annoying character.
Day 07 - Favorite comic couple.
Day 08 - Best series being published right now.
Day 09 - Most touching comic book/comic book scene.
Day 10 - Dream versus match.
Day 11 - Favorite comic book cartoon series.
Day 12 - A comic everyone should read.
Day 13 - A book you’ve read more than five times.
Day 14 – Most awesome single comic book image
Day 15 - A Picture from the comic you’re reading right now.
Day 16 - Funniest comic book/comic book scene.
Day 17 - Most useless Villain.
Day 18 - Favorite B-list character.
Day 19 - Comic book city/universe you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite super power or skill.
Day 21 - Favorite writer.
Day 22 - A series that you liked but stopped reading
Day 23 - Your favorite artist.
Day 24 - Dream character team up.
Day 25 - A book you plan on reading.
Day 26 - A comic you wish they would make into a movie.
Day 27 - Favorite comic book movie.
Day 28 - Favorite comic publisher.
Day 29 - A comic you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite run or series of all time.

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #2

I was at a writers group meeting at the Independence Mall in Kingston MA and picked this up at the Newbury Comics store there.

Title: Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters
Issue: #2
Date: 2011
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Eric Powell, Tracy Marsh
Penciler: Phil Hester
Inker: Bruce McCorkindale
Colorist: Ronda Pattison
Letterer: Chris Mowry
Editor: Chris Ryall

Anguiras and Rodan get added to the mix as Godzilla continues his march of destruction through Tokyo. There's plenty of mayhem to be had here, and a surprising amount of comedy as well. Political satire abounds in the portrayals of President Obama (remamed to President Ogden, but very obviously Obama to the point where I wondered why they bothered with the fictional name) and the governor of Texas, who's building a wall (made of "100% pure American steel"; does such a thing even exist anymore?) to prevent illegal monster immigration across the Mexican border. You can probably guess how well that plan works.

Actually the best bit of satire was a line by the President: "What do you want me to do? Drop another nuke? It could start shooting lasers out of its eyes!" Ha! Godzilla cartoon for the win! Now all we need is an appearance by Godzookie!

Unfortunately, this book had the same problem as the first issue: No likable human characters. In fact, the character that was the focus for most of this issue is pretty thoroughly dead by time we reach the end, leaving me still wondering who the non-monster and non-politician main characters are.

Rating: 6.5/10