Comic Relief Podcast

Title: Spirits Destiny
Writer: Dorphise Jean
Artists: Zack Dolan (Cover)
Edwin Galmon
Saint Yak
Richard Perotta
Alexander Malyshev

Evading Destiny

Spirits Destiny is the inaugural comic of writer/creator Dorphise Jean. Set in North Miami, this tale centers around the home of a young Haitan-American woman by the name of Destiny.  She lives with her mother and her grandmother.  Destiny deals with many of the things most teenage girls deal with, boys, school, grownups and bullies. Things are about to get more complicated for her as she begins to unravel details about her parents, her past and her true destiny.

This first issue immediately introduces us to an armored intruder breaking into the family home. The intruder makes his way into the baby’s room and addresses said baby as his daughter, Destiny. Davine, destiny’s mother, is alerted to the intrusion and immediately calls the police. She confronts her ex, Brian, but not before he injects her with a mysterious serum. Tensions quickly rise and a fight breaks out between the scorned lovers.

There is more than meets the eye with this couple. They are obviously trained combatants as they trade vicious blow after blow.  Who are they really? Is her father a soldier? A mercenary? An assassin? Was her mother?  Our introduction into Destiny’s origin raises many questions but ends with the young woman suddenly waking up from a dream. Was it a dream? Or was it a vivid memory?  This opening sequence sets that pace for what is sure to be an action packed comic brimming with family drama and turmoil.

http://spiritsdestinycomics.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SpiritsDestinyComics/

We will be having some of the folks behind this creation in an upcoming podcast. We’re still trying to determine a time to record the session with them – so keep an eye – and an ear – out for that in the near future.

By Maico Moreno
Twitter and Facebook.

So I finally got approval to get this posted! Ladies and gentlemen, I want to share with you the one on one I had with Stan “The Man” Lee!

Comic Relief Podcast: What’s it like being Stan “The Man” Lee?

Stan Lee: Well, I get up every day, just like you do. Put one leg in my pants at a time.

Comic Relief Podcast: Yes, okay. But you’re Stan Lee.

Stan Lee: That’s why my ID card says! (Laughs)

Comic Relief Podcast: Do you ever tire of people asking you the same questions?

Stan Lee: Like “What’s it like being Stan ‘The Man’ Lee?”

Comic Relief Podcast: Fair enough! So let’s talk comics!

Stan Lee: I never talk comics when I do interviews! I can’t wait to see what you ask me!

Comic Relief Podcast: Always a comedian! So when you’re at conventions, people must flock to you and bombard the comic book icon with a million questions! Do you ever feel overwhelmed?

Stan Lee: I don’t. The thing is, I used to think what I did was not very important. People are building bridges and engaging in medical research and here I was doing stories about fictional people who do extraordinary, crazy things and wear costumes. But I suppose I have come to realize that entertainment is not easily dismissed. Beyond the meaning (of a work of art), it is important to people. Without it, lives can be dull. Singing a song, playing sports — anything that entertains, that takes people away from their own problems, is good. Sounds obvious, but it’s good to be reminded. I’m much happier now that I feel that way.

Comic Relief Podcast: You’re responsible for a laundry list of characters in the Marvel Universe. Is there a trick to coming up with them or their names?

Stan Lee: There was no trick. I would sit and think. It was never easy, though. Spider-Man, I wanted someone with the power of an insect, who could crawl on walls and stick to the ceiling and you wouldn’t know he was there. But Insect Man? Mosquito Man? None sounded right. Then I hit on “spider,” which sounded dramatic.

Comic Relief Podcast: How was it working on Spider-Man?

Stan Lee: First, I told Jack “The King” Kirby about it… but, Jack made him look very heroic and strong. But that isn’t the way I wanted him. I wanted him to look like a typical, thin high school kid. And he doesn’t get all the girls because of his athletic prowess. He’s just kind of a shy high school kid who’s a science major. It was no big deal. I said, “Jack, forget it. I’ll give it to someone else.” And he was busy with a dozen other books. He didn’t care. So I called Steve Ditko, and Steve gave him just the right look. And that’s how Spidey was born.

Comic Relief Podcast: I know you’re extremely busy – so I will cut this short. But since you created so many characters and have done so many things – is there one day, one event in particular that sticks out in your mind above the rest?

Stan Lee: Yes. Today.

Comic Relief Podcast: Because you spoke with us?

Stan Lee: No, because today’s April 1st, and I wonder how many people are going to believe that this really happened?

 

Title: Bedlam in Troubletown
Publisher: Grunt 1B Comics
Artist and Writer: Chad Cavanaugh

Welcome to Troubletown

Crime. Corruption. Anarchy. Bedlam.

Bedlam In Troubletown is the second title released by creator Chad Cavanaugh and Grunt 1B Comics.  Grunt 1B’s sophomore release maintains a similar black and white format to his ongoing series, The Map. Artistically these books may appear alike, but the style and feel are worlds apart.  While The Map is a post apocalyptic tale of survival set in the barren desert of New Mexico, Bedlam In Troubletown introduces us to the sprawling city of Troubeburgh.  A dark city riddled with crime, greed and corruption.

The reader is immediately introduced to the protagonist Danny, a man marked for death and on the run. Danny’s days and night are spent looking over his shoulders for hitmen sent by the corrupt Paolo Verducci.  Danny is more than capable of handling himself and seems almost at home in this environment if it were not for one little detail; a young daughter to whom he has to protect.

Bedlam In Troubletown is a fast paced comic noir story replete with action and the grit of a 1970’s detective television series.  Follow Danny as he hunts down the criminals responsible for the city’s corruption and survives the onslaught of triggermen all while being a father and protector.  Crime, corruption, anarchy…business as usual in Troubletown.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Grunt1BComics
https://www.facebook.com/bedlamintroubletown/

At WonderCon this year, DC unleashed the creative teams that will be behind DC’s latest grab at “revamping” The DC Universe and restoring it back to its glory days with REBIRTH.

• Batman – Written by Tom King with art by by David Finch and Mikel Janin
• Detective Comics – Written by James Tynion IV is set to pen with art by Eddie Barrows and Alvaro Martinez. The series sill feature Batman and Batwoman running a “Bat-Bootcamp” with Spoiler, Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain and Clayface
• Nightwing – Written by Tim Seeley with art by Javi Fernandez and Marcus To
• Batgirl – Written by Hope Larson with art by Rafael Albuquerque
• Batgirl and the Birds of Prey – Written by Julie Benson and Shawna Benson with art by Claire Roe
  • Featuring Batgirl, Black Canary, and Huntress
• All-Star Batman – Written by Scott Snyder with art by John Romita Jr., Sean Gordon Murphy, Jock, WTula Lotay and Afua Richardson
• Action Comics – Written by Dan Jurgens with art by Patrick Zircher, Tyler Kirkham and Stephen Segovia
• Superman – Written by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason with art by Gleason and Doug Mahnke
• New Superman – Written by Gene Luen Yang with art by Viktor Bogdanovic
  • The series focuses on a new character, Kenji Kong, from Shanghai who is given Superman’s Powers
• Supergirl – Written by Steve Orlando with art by Brian Ching
• Trinity – Written by Frances Manapul with art by Manapul and Clay Mann
• Superwoman – Written by Phil Jimenez with art by Jimenez and Emanuela Lupacchino
  • This series will also feature a new character
• Wonder Woman – Written by Greg Rucka with art by Nicola Scott
• Justice League – Written by Bryan Hitch with art by Tony Daniel and Fernando Pasarin
• Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps – Written by Robert Venditti with art by Ethan Van Sciver And Rafa Sandoval
• Green Lanterns – Written by Sam Humphries with art by Robson Rocha And Ardian Syaf
• The Flash – Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Carmine Di Giandomenico and Neil Googe
• Cyborg – Written by John Semper with art by Will Conad And Paul Pelletier
• Aquaman – Written by Dan Abnett and Brad Walker with art by Walker, Jesus Merino And Phil Briones
• Titans – Written by Dan Abnett with art by Brett Booth
• Suicide Squad – Written by Rob Williams,with art by Jim Lee and Philip Tan
• Harley Quinn – Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner with art by Chad Hardin and John Timms
• Green Arrow – Written by Ben Percy with art by Otto Schmidt and Juan Ferreyra
• Redhood and The Outlaws – Written by Scott Lobdell with art by Dexter Soy
  • Featuring Redhood, Artemis and Bizarro
• The Hellblazer – Written by Simon Oliver with art by Moritat
• Deathstroke – Written by Christopher Priest with art by Carlo Pagulayan, Igor Vitorina And Felie Watanebe
• Batman Beyond – Written by Dan Jurgens with art by Bernard Chang
• Blue Bettle – Written by Keith Giffen with art by Scott Kolins. The title will feature bothe Jaime Reyes AND Ted Kord as the title hero
• Teen Titans – Written by Ben Percy with art by Jonboy Meyers

Two more titles, Super Sons (described as “The Son of Superman meets son of Batman”) and JLA were also previewed, though a creative team was not revealed.

DC Rebirth is set to kick off May 25 with the DC Universe: Rebirth special, an 80-page one shot that kicks off the line-wide relaunch. Each of the titles in DC Rebirth have been priced at $2.99 with new titles set to begin rolling out this June.

I had previously written, how after 30 years of collecting Uncanny X-Men, Marvel had finally done what I never thought possible – and made the one book I grew up with, felt the most attached to, and felt like it was a part of me – and made it a stranger to me. A stranger I no longer wanted to know or care for. Marvel had successfully introduced so many mutants, that being a mutant meant nothing. They also introduced so many unusual mutants, that it had become a bad “B” movie for the cast of mutants. I felt that the Uncanny X-Men – and all the X-Books in general – had lost their focus. I can’t tell if Marvel felt that way too – and began grasping at anything and everything in order to try and save the book… Whatever the case – it finally happened, after more than 30 years, I ceased collecting Uncanny X-Men. (A shame too, because it would eventually “end” with issue #600, but I couldn’t bring myself to buy the last year or so, at full price – if I find them in a dollar bin, I may pick them up to “complete” that collection). Both the story and art – simply were not my cup of tea.

 

Anyway – fast forward to news that Cullen Bunn is going to begin writing Uncanny X-Men. Now, Cullen Bunn had all my faith in the world because he was writing an amazing Sinestro book. I really can’t even put into words how much I have been enjoying Sinestro. And the thing is, before the New 52, I was admittedly not a big DC Comics fan (because I always felt like characters like Superman were just too powerful, and Batman never really lost – I was uneducated, really, in the ways of DC Comics). However, the New 52 with it’s “clean, new continuity” made it easy for me to jump in and get a feel for these characters. I literally collected almost every single title that launched from the New 52. And while some were good, some stuck out. The recent Convergence has, admittedly shook my faith in DC Comics; but there’s titles that they’re pumping out that are just amazing – and Sinestro – a character I knew so little about – ranks right at the top. Every week that Sinestro is out – it is, without fail, the first comic I read. Because Cullen knows how to write a good story; and he’s teamed up with an amazing penciller (Brad Walker) and a team of colorists that make the book come alive!

Fast forward to the Uncanny X-Men announcement with Cullen Bunn; so now I knew he would be telling a killer story – my fear was, he was going to be teamed up with a “bad” (and I say that as in “bad” for me, not for a lack of talent) penciller or colorist that was going to overshadow any good story telling that was going to be told.

So news is released that he’s going to be teaming up with Greg Land; an artist I am very familiar with and appreciate and dig the art he dishes out. So now, I wait and see who the team will consist of. There’s certainly a thousand mutants that Cullen and Land can pull from to assemble this new team of Uncanny X-Men. I hear about how Cullen wants to make a harder edged version of the standard Uncanny X-Men. This captures my attention even more, based on how he has written Sinestro with a “harder edge” as well, as the new guardians of Earth. Then I see the team he has assembled for the book: Magneto, Sabretooth, Psylocke, M, Archangel (and Mystique). Okay. I admit, you had me at Sabretooth. So I picked up the first issue of Uncanny X-Men. You know what I did after I read it? I immediately read it again. Why? Because I could not believe it was that good. I mean, I knew it was Cullen and Land, and the cover looked amazing; but you never judge a book by its cover. I knew these two were on the book, and I figured it would be good, but my expectations of it really being a good book, were actually pretty low. (Not because of a lack of faith in them; far from that… more because… well, when it comes to Marvel and the Uncanny X-Men, by this point… well, just call me jaded, if you will). I was pleasantly surprised to see the book was so well written (again, not that I lacked faith in Cullen or Land; but they were taking over, what I considered a gigantic mess! Even the best can’t come out of that all the time!) The art is fantastic. The coloring pops. It’s no longer the flat art and colors that had existed the last few years of Uncanny X-Men. The book was alive with characters. And good characters. And good characters written well. The scene with Psylocke unleashing Archangel – I think I might have cried a little manly tear.

But it could be a fluke, right? (Again, despite how good it was, and how great the creative team was; I had spent years purchasing Uncanny X-Men more out of habit than actually caring anything what was happening in the book). So I picked up Uncanny X-Men #2 when it came out. Once again, more than happy how that issue was done. It primarily featured Mystique and her mission and what she has to do; but it also has a fantastic set of circumstances between M, Sabretooth and a healing mutant who they’re trying to save (won’t give away any spoilers) and what happens – when Sabretooth tries to save this mutant, and the mutant doesn’t listen and does exactly the opposite of what Sabretooth says! The “Aw kid, don’t you recognize a trap?” line from Sabretooth showed a more compassionate side of Sabretooth, which as an avid fan of this murderous mutant, I certainly did not mind. It shows depth of the character; that he’s more than just a killing machine (though, he has no problem showing that side of him in Uncanny X-Men either).

I am in love with the Uncanny X-Men again; and if you, like me, gave up on them at some point in recent years; might I recommend giving this new series a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised.

 

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Deadpod: Maico With The Mouth, Issue #17.Issue #17 of the Comic Relief Podcast is finally out! In this issue, we focus primarily on Deadpool. You may have heard of him? He had this beautiful, Valentine’s Day themed movie that just came out? Biggest opening for an “R” rated movie – ever? About a man’s struggle against Cancer? It’s a beautiful love story! Well, he also happens to be a smart @$$, potty mouthed, unkillable, mercenary – known as Deadpool – the Merc With The Mouth! The first half of the podcast, we recorded just before the movie came out – and we focus solely on the comic books that have featured Deadpool – the second half of the podcast, Maico discusses his thoughts about the Deadpool movie (Spoiler Alert: It’s nothing but endless raving reviews of goodness – so if you haven’t seen the movie yet – you might consider doing that now!)

Now, on to the show! You can stream it from here:

[audio:http://comicreliefpodcast.com/podcasts/Comic%20Relief%20Podcast%20-%20Issue%20%2317%20-%20Deadpod%20-%20Maico%20With%20A%20Mouth.mp3]

Or you can click here to directly download or stream the MP3 file if the above does not work: Deadpod: Maico With The Mouth.

Now on iTunes!

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So it looks like DC Comics‘ attempt to get back into the swing of things, in the comic book world, with their latest attempt to appease everyone with Rebirth has finally been revealed.

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So let’s run through some of those details about Rebirth and what they plan to do…

• DC Universe: Rebirth #1 ships Mayb 25th. It will be $2.99 and be 80 pages long.
• Other titles will follow, and begin their new numbering – at, you guessed it – #1.
• Detective Comics and Action Comics will return to their original numbering.
• There will be books that are published monthly, and others that are published twice a month.
• Every book, regardless of their publishing schedule, will be priced at $2.99.
• There will be 32 total ongoing titles; 17 twice-monthly and 15 monthly titles.
• DC will also be publishing 23 “Rebirth” one-shots ahead of these new ongoings.

Dan Didio, DC Entertainment Co-Publisher said, “At DC we believe in superheroes, and what makes them great.And, we also believe in the direct market and the core comics fan. ‘Rebirth’ is designed to bring back the best of DC’s past, embrace the stories we currently love and move the entire epic universe into the future. We are returning to the essence of the DCU. With ‘Rebirth’ we are putting the highest priority on the direct market and we will continue to create and cultivate new opportunities for retailers to thrive and prosper, grow readers, fans and customers.”

(And by “growing fans and readers” – they mean, by saying, “Look at all these #1 issues you can jump on with!” And fail to mention that there’s a ton of now – getting to be slightly convoluted – continuity to deal with).

Who are the creative teams behind these new books? That news will be revealed at WonderCon (we will be there and see if we can grab the scoop!) – though, the event will also be live-streamed on DC’s

Creative team information on DC’s new lineup is set to be revealed next month at WonderCon in Los Angeles, on Saturday, March 26. The event will be live-streamed on DC’s YouTube channel – so if you can’t go – be sure to tune in there!

So what are the titles that have been revealed so far?

June:

Rebirth Specials:

• AQUAMAN REBIRTH #1
• BATMAN REBIRTH #1
• THE FLASH REBIRTH #1
• GREEN ARROW REBIRTH #1
• GREEN LANTERNS REBIRTH #1
• SUPERMAN REBIRTH #1
• TITANS REBIRTH #1
• WONDER WOMAN REBIRTH #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping twice monthly):

• AQUAMAN #1
• BATMAN #1
• THE FLASH #1
• GREEN ARROW #1
• GREEN LANTERNS #1
• SUPERMAN #1
• WONDER WOMAN #1

New Issues (Shipping twice monthly):

• ACTION COMICS #957
• DETECTIVE COMICS #934

July

Rebirth Specials:

• BATGIRL & THE BIRDS OF PREY REBIRTH #1
• HAL JORDAN & THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS REBIRTH #1
• THE HELLBLAZER REBIRTH #1
• JUSTICE LEAGUE REBIRTH #1
• NIGHTWING REBIRTH #1
• RED HOOD & THE OUTLAWS REBIRTH #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping twice monthly):

• HAL JORDAN & THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1
• JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
• NIGHTWING #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping monthly):

• BATGIRL #1
• BATGIRL & THE BIRDS OF PREY #1
• THE HELLBLAZER #1
• RED HOOD & THE OUTLAWS #1
• THE SUPER-MAN #1
• TITANS #1

Fall

Rebirth Specials:

• BATMAN BEYOND REBIRTH #1
• BLUE BEETLE REBIRTH #1
• CYBORG REBIRTH #1
• DEATHSTROKE REBIRTH #1
• EARTH 2 REBIRTH #1
• SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH #1
• SUPERGIRL REBIRTH #1
• TEEN TITANS REBIRTH #1
• TRINITY REBIRTH #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping twice monthly):

• CYBORG #1
• DEATHSTROKE #1
• HARLEY QUINN #1
• JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #1
• SUICIDE SQUAD #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping monthly):

• BATMAN BEYOND #1
• BLUE BEETLE #1
• EARTH 2 #1
• GOTHAM ACADEMY: NEXT SEMESTER #1
• SUPERGIRL #1
• SUPERWOMAN #1
• SUPER SONS #1
• TEEN TITANS #1
• TRINITY #1

It was the best of times, it was the worse of times.

A Tale of Two Comic Giants.

The 1990’s of the Comic Book era. In hindsight, when a lot of folks look back at how comics were – some remember those days fondly, while others shudder, shake, laugh, and blame the 90’s during the comic book craze, for the near collapse of the Comic Book Industry. There is, in my opinion, no one single thing to blame. It was an era of over the top characters, more variant covers of the same comic than you could shake a buck at, tin covers, golden covers, 3D hologram covers, six page fold over covers… You name, and the 1990’s did it – to the… X-Treme… if you will. (Maico will get that reference…)

One of the biggest things to happen in the 90’s and comics was the departure of core, big names, working at Marvel – names such as Jim Lee (known then, for his work on X-Men), Marc Silvestri (known for his work on Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine), Jim Valentino (known for his work on Guardians of the Galaxy), Rob Liefeld (known for his work on New Mutants and later, X-Force), Erik Larsen (known for his work on Amazing Spider-Man), and Todd McFarelane (known for his work on Spider-Man).

Rob Liefeld launched Youngblood. While he had often been criticized for his artistic ability, Youngblood was a huge success, as comic book fans jumped at the chance to get “the next big thing.” People can say what they will about Youngblood and Rob Liefeld, but when this comic came out, it was the highest independent comic book ever published. Those sales had to come from somewhere. I am sure, people out there, like myself back then, bought several copies banking that all these new Image Comics would one day be worth what Avengers, Uncanny X-Men and Fantastic Four #1 are all worth. But still, it ranked in a lot of money for being an independent comic.

The next comic I remember reading from Image Comics was a fun, smash’em up, kind of comic – it reminded me very much of “What if Hulk had been a cop and was intelligent, funny and pretty kick @$$?” That was Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon. I remember talking to other comic book geeks about Savage Dragon, and the general feeling was that the comic book was very well loved. Savage Dragon had a different feel than Erik’s Amazing Spider-Man, and felt more aggressive. It still had that spunk that Peter Parker is known for. It was (well, is, as I believe the comic is still going and still done by Erik, himself!) a fun comic that found it’s footing and found that balance of being a smash’em up, with some story, and yet didn’t seem to take itself too seriously at the same time, and acknowledge that.

Next comes Spawn. My biggest memory – even today – is Spawn’s cloak. That thing just seemed to be everywhere and criss-crossed over panel lines and everything! Back then, Spawn had reminded me very much of Ghost Rider (more specifically Spirits of Vengeance) which I was really into. Someone who “gives ups their soul” (essentially, though in Spawn, if I remember correctly, he actually dies and comes back from Hell? Man, I need to go back and re-read these!) The chain that Spawn had only helped me to think of Ghost Rider. But really, that’s where the similarities stopped. In the case of Spawn, not only had he died, but he was completely disfigured, and had left behind a wife and child that he had tried to visit. Spawn, like Savage Dragon, is still being published currently (if I remember correctly). And that’s a pretty impressive feat!

Next came the comic that was my jam – WildC.A.T.S. This comic was my “X-Men” originally, when I picked it up. With characters like Spartan (the Cyclops of the team), Grifter (the Gambit of the team), Maul (the Colossus of the team), Warblade (the Wolverine of the team), Zealot (was the Psylocke of the team), and Voodoo – well, she was a stripper turned hero, she didn’t need to be related to any X-Men character, she was easy on the eyes, to my young, impressionable brain. Jim Lee was one of my favorite comic book artists “back in the day” (he’s still a fantastic artist!), and I loved his WildCATS – but what could make that even better? The fact that he and Marc Silvestri, another one of my favorites, worked closely together in merging WildCATS with what would become my favorite Image Comics back then – Cyberforce.

Cyberforce also reminded me of X-Men back then; with Ripclaw reminding me of Wolverine, Cyblade reminded me of Psylocke (in so many ways), Heatwave reminded me of Havok, and Impact was Colossus. Stryker was absolutely unique to me – not only did he have extra (metal!) arms; but they weren’t even even! He had three arms on one side, and one on the other! The cross over between WildCATS and Cyberforce featuring Ripclaw and Warblade with Misery (whose design I loved), was the stuff dreams were made of back then! Cyberforce also spun into a new series, with Stryker in it called Stryke Force, and that was an absolutely fun series to read.

Stryke Force was a fun read, especially when it came to reading about Anvil who was ultra dense (not as in stupid, but dense like an actual anvil; though some of his team members may have thought he was also dense, as in stupid as well).

But taking a step back, because I got caught up in how so many of these comics were connected, despite the founders of Image Comics, saying that they had their own unique universe. Another title that came out from Image Comics in the beginning was Shadowhawk. This is a comic, to me, that was way ahead of it’s time. Sure, we look on the outside of the story as a traditional hero acting like a vigilante. If you look deeper, the character focuses on Paul Johnstone, who grew up in a bad neighborhood, who did some minor theft but with guidance would eventually become a lawyer, and even a district attorney. When some gangsters leverage his brother to try and free some of their members, Paul Johnstone is injected with HIV Blood. HIV. We’re talking AIDS. And we’re talking in the 1990’s when most people were so terrified of the word HIV or AIDS. To have your main character suffering with that? Bold move. And the reason I think this comic did not, unfortunately, sell as well as it should have, because people didn’t want to read something a little too close to “realism.”

Another book from one of the founders was Wetworks. Sadly, as much as I love Whilce (he’s one of the nicest guys you can possibly meet; every year I see him at the Con, he’s always up for talking, photos, autographs!), but what I remember most about Wetworks was a delay. I remember I bought the first issue, and didn’t see the second issue come out for awhile, and suddenly one day I look and issue 3 is out, and I am frantically looking for issue 2. Despite that, it’s really difficult to beat Whilce Portacio’s art, and even the colors in these comics were so amazing (they really made that gold, look like gold!)

I remember a flood of titles in the 90’s being produced by Image Comics (just to name a few), The Maxx, Pit, Gen 13, The Darkness, Supreme, Freak Force, Stormwatch, Deathblow, Brigade, Bloodstrike, Ripclaw (Solo Series), Killrazor (one shot), Team Youngblood, Hellshock, Regulators, Battlestone, Badrock, New Men, among many others!

In hindsight, some of those titles, may be difficult to get through; the art, in many cases, was pretty amazing; but Image Comics back then, focused on art (in many cases) over writers and stories (rather than trying to find a happy marriage of both).

Today? Image Comics is now a powerhouse in the comic industry. For example, there’s this comic they publish – you might have heard of a television show based on it? – called The Walking Dead. Today, Image Comics is about diversity. And I don’t mean about having stories about a specific race, religion, or anything like that (though they have that as well). What I mean is – you can’t call Image Comics a “super hero” comic company, because that would be like saying 3.14 is the only numbers of pi. (Did I really just make a Math reference? What is wrong with me!) Image Comics has diversity, as in what kind of stories you’d find published. Whether it’s zombies (The Walking Dead), super heroes (Savage Dragon, Spawn), science fiction (Saga), and – well, let’s just say Image Comics has grown quite a bit since they first formed. They’ve done some insanely impressive things in the comic book industry.

Happy Birthday, Image Comics. Thank you for everything you’ve done and for the memories you’ve created.

 

Jim Lee recently took to twitter and posted an image of blue curtains with the words “Rebirth” across it and “DC Comics” at the bottom. (I tossed in the Batman and Joker art layers on top of it over there, for dramatic effect – art done by Jim Lee). There was initial speculation that DC Comics would be “Rebooting” the DC Universe again (after the most recent reboot being The New 52, which some folks loved, some liked, some absolutely hated… As someone who was not into DC Comics, I actually loved the New 52, because it made the Universe of heroes relatively “new” – heroes had only been around roughly five years; all continuity got a “fresh” restart (a lot of origins remained the same, some took some drastic changes). In an attempt to appease those fans that so strongly hated The New 52, DC Comics attempted to make “all previous versions of DC, Valid Again!” in their (what I consider, very chaotic) “event” called Convergence – I made no attempt to follow what was happening, and essentially, during this duration picked up no DC Comics that were involved in it. Fast forward to post Convergence, and where as the New 52 gave us a clean slate; now Convergence had made, in my opinion, a mess of things. So once again, DC Comics goes to – well, – the drawing board. It’s there that they begin to discuss ways to “fix” things – and now, here we are with this idea of “Rebirth.”

Initially thought to possibly be another reboot (DC is not the only one guilty of this; the folks at Marvel do reboots like it’s required for breathing, it feels like!) – and that The New 52 would be flushed away in favor of this Rebirth. However, now it seems that this won’t be a reboot at all, but rather a relaunch. And that is, continuity (for what it is, post Convergence) will remain intact – however, books will be “rebooted” with #1’s again. And this time, the focus will be on books that have existing Television shows (Flash, Arrow, for example), movies (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, for example) and/or cartoons (Teen Titans – but rumor has it, sans the “Teen” part in the title).

Will this be a good move? Time will tell.

Now, I will be the first to admit, my trust in Marvel these days is a little more than shaky, to say the least. I see comics and characters, that I grew up with, rather than become closer, become absolute strangers to me. The two biggest influences on me, in regards to comics, were, without a doubt Uncanny X-Men and Avengers. Somewhere, in the early 2000’s, both of those titles became less than desirable for me. Perhaps, because I was growing older, and I wasn’t their target audience anymore. I am not sure. But before those dark years, there were quite a few comics that I sincerely enjoyed a step above the rest – because they did a fantastic job of juggling: action, telling a good story, focusing on characters and developing them. One of those titles was New Warriors. The other title was Thunderbolts. Both were a pleasant surprise, because The New Warriors took a bunch of no-name characters and developed them into relatable characters. Thunderbolts did the same thing; with a twist. It took a bunch of second rate villains, had them pose as heroes in a world that had just had the majority of heroes vanish (due to the events of Heroes Reborn, or whatever that horrid thing was called). Not only did we get to see these villains so excellently developed by two of the greatest writers in Marvel (at the time – and really, still now) – Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza! We even got Mark Bagley (who also was on The New Warriors) as the artist in the beginning!

While you had one really known character (Baron Zemo) posing as Citizen V, the rest included Fixer as Techno, Beetle became Mach I, Screaming Mimi became Songbird (probably the biggest hit out of the series), Goliath became Atlas, Moonstone became Meteorite. This was the core of the team; they would eventually get a new member (pretty early on) named Jolt (who had no criminal history as a villain) and another character named Charcoal (which was a character introduced through a contest Marvel/Wizard Magazine had; and eventually killed because the winner of the contest was feeling under appreciated and tried to win legal rights to the character – so Fabian – er, Graviton put an end to that real quick).

But the glory and wonderfulness of the Thunderbolts didn’t last too long. You see, someone at Marvel decided it would be a good idea to turn the Thunderbolts into an underground wrestling thing.

I wish I were kidding. I really do. But I’m not.

Eventually, somehow, someone at Marvel came to their senses and realized that this perhaps was not the best thing to do. So they huddled around, started talking – and got Fabian to come back to the Thunderbolts and finish off his run.

Eventually, the Thunderbolts comic was rebooted (because everything at Marvel is), but this time it came with a much, much, much darker tone and focused more on “look how awesome, evil and destructive these villains are!” rather than making any attempt to tell a good story, or even develop the characters that they had in their roster. During these dark days, the Thunderbolts consisted of: Norman Osborn (Leader), Moonstone (Field leader), Bullseye, Penance (formerly Speedball; not to be confused with Penance from Generation X), Radioactive Man, Songbird, Swordsman and Venom. This series was being written by Warren Ellis. And I get a lot of people like Warren Ellis.

Needless to say, I didn’t last long collecting Thunderbolts into Warren’s run. But now, it seems that Marvel is once again – teasing that a new Thunderbolts comic is on the horizon. Will it be any good? Time will tell.

UPDATE: It would appear that Marvel is, indeed, doing a new Thunderbolts comics.

I am not familiar with the “ghost” child is – but the rest appears to be Mach-I (or whatever version he goes by these days), Atlas (formerly Goliath), Meteorite (formerly Moonstone),  Techno (formerly Fixer), and Winter Soldier (formerly, well, I suppose you could say he was formerly either Bucky or Captain America {however brief}).

I admit, I am interested. I also admit, my expectations are pretty high; because this book had some of the greatest Marvel writers and they delivered some unbelievably fantastic stories; and the art was also amazing throughout the series. So here is hoping, whoever is taking over the writing duties can deliver a story like Kurt and Fabian did; and that the artist can deliver the unique look that Bagley gave us.