Legenderry; A Steampunk Adventure #1

When I first heard about this book it piqued my interest in much the same way that the first League of Extraordinary Gentlemen did, I'm a big fan of story's that re-imagine characters placing them in different worlds and setting so Legenderry falls right in my wheel house. The concept of Legenderry is to take the characters Vampirella, Green Hornet & Kato, Steve Austin (Six Million Dollar Man), Flash Gordon and the Phantom and put them into a Steampunk world, add to that the name of Bill Willingham the writer of the fantastic Fables and you definitely have me interested.

Issue one is what I would call a slow burner not that there isn't any action but you can tell that there is a story to be told and the writer isn't rushing anything, most of the story takes place in Vampirelle's Scarlet club where Vampirelle is having dinner with an off duty Green Hornet. Unfortunately while discussing the merits and ingredients of a good Dry Martini their meal is interrupted by a young red haired girl seeking help from a group of leather clad killer, to be fair I'm surmising on the killer bit but given that they have guns and their swords are covered in blood, its a safe bet they are not collecting for Sports Relief. As the owner of the club Vampi gives protection to the young girl and offers the men a chance to leave an offer they decline (henchmen are so stupid sometimes), all hell then breaks loose as Vampirelle goes well vampire on them and as you can guess there is only one winner.

Once the dust has settled its noted that all the henchmen are identical  something the police seemed to miss during there checks of the bodies which is a worry, Vampi and a still off duty Hornet speak with the young red headed and we discover  during her flashback story why she is been targeted. The first issue ends with a reveal of at least two of the villain's and the name of the group they work for, the next issue promises Green Hornet and Kato, they had me at Green.
 

Now I'm not the biggest expert when it comes to Steampunk so I don't know if there are certain rules that have to be followed when setting story's in this type of world, or if any of those rules (if they exist) are been followed. What I do know is that this first issue has me hooked and any expectations I had about this book were matched if not eclipsed. Writer Bill Willingham is not just writing a story he is crafting a world that his story's can be told in, the artwork by Sergio Davila is simply stunning and flows beautifully especially in the battle sequences. The colour work  by Wes Hartman also deserve a mention as they have a toned down feel to them, which helps give the book a gritty Victorian feel to it.

 As first issues go this one is definitely a winner and I'm looking forward to issue 2, one last note Vampirella's costume change  in this story is one for the better and wouldn't look too out of place in her current books. As much as I enjoy the character her bathing style costume was never the most practical one for fighting in,  although I'm sure the 11 year old me who discovered Vampirella all those years ago would disagree.

 

The Random 10 interview No: 4, Lazaro Suarez

The first Random 10 interview of the year is with Lazaro Suarez, Lazaro is a writer and artist and has produced his own comic. Lazaro lives in Florida and when he's not writing or drawing he's, well for that answer check out the interview.

How did you first get into drawing and writing comics?

It was a pretty long time ago when I started to write and draw my own comic book. But I thought it came out so horrible and that no one will like it that I didnt do anything with it. Then in 2010, when I went to my first convention, I saw all the people selling their own self published comic book. I thought at that moment "I can do that". So I went to work on the book My Date with the Devil's Daughter. Who knows? I might go back and revisit that "horrible" comic I put away.

Who or what were your early influences?

As an artist, I enjoy the Kuberts, Joe, Adam, and Andy. I was also influenced by Adam Hughes. As a writer, I am influenced by supernatural horror with writings such as H. P. Lovecraft and Stephen King.

Where do you draw your ideas for stories and artwork from?

I like History and Mythology. I tend to try to put those elements in my stories. Also, movies, TV, and video games help me come up with my ideas. I try to come up with stories and artwork by answering my own "What if?" questions. 

You both write and draw, do you enjoy one over the other?

I am enjoy doing both. As long as I am creating something, I am happy. Yet, more people then to be critical with artwork rather than stories on social media.

If you could write or draw a story using any character which would you choose?

I would love to draw She Hulk. Her comics were always fun when I remembered reading them. As far as writing goes, I don't know. I fear I wont give the character much justice. I tend to go off the wall with my stories. If anything, I can only think of Dr. Strangge off the top of my head.

How do you like to relax when you’re not drawing?Watching movies, reading, and playing video as well as table top games.

You use social media to connect to people, do you consider this to be an important part of promoting your work?

It sure saves a lot of money from travel expenses to promote the books. But nothing beats going to conventions meeting people face-to-face. 

Your latest work is My Date with the Devils Daughter; can you tell us a bit about it?My Date with the Devil's Daughter takes place in a small town called Safe Haven, where our hero, Josh Allen must team up with the Devil's Daughter to retrieve an ancient relic stolen from Satan. This relic has the ability to create new dimensions (In this comic, Heaven and Hell are dimensions). In the comic, Josh is an Evocator. Evocators are humans that have the ability to fuse with the power of demons. Together they try to stop a renegade demon from creating his own Hell. 

Do you have any upcoming projects you wish to talk about?

As future projects, I have a few titles in mind, not yet developed. But I am currently working on a comic book with Brandy Green, who was a former member of Ghost Hunters International. The comic is a bit like Indiana Jones and features zombies, ghosts, and other paranormal elements. Hopefully it will come out in the beginning half of next year.

Where can you be found for anyone who wants to check either you, or your past and present work?

I have my own Facebook fan pages. One for my artwork and one for the comic book

https://www.facebook.com/MDWDD

https://www.facebook.com/pages/TeamAmazing-Art-of-Lazaro-Suarez/105678332826905?ref=hl

As well as a DeviantArt gallery.

http://teamamazing.deviantart.com/

Tumblr pages

http://graphicdlaz.tumblr.com/

http://mdwdd.tumblr.com/

and Twitter!

https://twitter.com/GraphicDLaz

I would like to thank Lazaro for taking the time to do this interview and wish him well in all his future work.

My Date with the Devils Daughter issues 1 & 2

The ancient flame of Molach has been stolen from the Devil and whoever has the power to create a new Hell provided they can get 133 souls, not having a clue who has stolen the flame the Devil sends his daughter to earth to try and retrieve it. While on earth after the death of his parents Josh Allen is returning to his home town of Safe Haven (you know by the name it wont be), it seems that Josh's parents were dabblers in the occult a practice that got them and a few others killed.

If Josh's life wasn't already turned upside down with the death of his parents its about to get a lot worse, when his world collides with demons out to kill him, the Devils daughter out to save him and help from a young woman called Faith who seems to be a bit too clingy for my liking, but we will see. With the death of his parents Josh is now the last in the line of Evocator's humans that can call and control demons putting a large target on Josh's back, throw into the mix a new town Pastor who has more to him than meets the eye and you have the makings of a very interesting story.

I had the pleasure of reading the first two issues after they were sent to me by the comics creator Lazaro Suarezs, and I have to say I was hooked from issue 1 and had to read them both back to back, my only disappointment been there isn't an issue 3 yet. The story is fast paced but not too fast that you feel like it has been rushed and you get the feeling that there is a set planed story arc been set up for this book, the  printed art is in black and white which suits the feel and tone of the book very well. I particularly like the way all the demons are drawn without pupils in their eyes, it makes them not only look creepy but also gives a sense that you don't know what they are thinking or about to do. Samantha the Devils is also well designed both in her demon appearance and when she changes to a more human look, and its good that she is written as more of a curious person rather than as a fire and brimstone type character.

 It is also a credit to Lazaro that he has produced an art style that fits this book perfectly in both style and tone, there are some tremendous splash pages particularly the one with the Devil in issue 1 which would look good on anyone's wall.

As I said earlier in the post I enjoyed the comics both story and art wise and thank Lazaro for sending them to me, he is a great talent which is shown with both his artwork and story telling and I wish him well in all his future endeavours.

Five Ghosts: The haunting of Fabian Gray (TPB)

 

 

Fabian Gray is a thief and treasure hunter who is possessed by the ghosts of five literary characters, The Archer, The Samurai, The Wizard, The Detective, and The Vampire all who’s powers he uses to become a better thief and treasure hunter . We first meet Fabian as he is breaking in to a Nazi stronghold to find and to liberate a treasure for a well to do client, a client who it seems is willing to show her appreciation with more than money after Fabian delivers the item to her. The rest of the story takes you to London, Africa and Shangri-La as Fabian searches for a cure for his comatose sister, and quickly learns that the power he now wields comes with a high price one that could end his life. It seems the five sprits are now happy with their role in life or death and will destroy Fabian rather than stay as they are, to appease the ghosts our hero must pass five tests to get them to agree to work with him rather than against him. 

The mystery of how Fabian acquired his powers and what happened to his sister are told in flashbacks, while the reason he is haunted by literary characters is explained rather cleverly during his time in Shangri-La.Throw in a subplot involving Nazi’s and what looks like dodgy business men and you have the makings of a great story, at the end of the story you have a full understanding of Fabians powers and how he will handle them going forward. However, not all the plotlines are tied up which leaves things open for more adventures to come, which is fine by me as I intend to start picking up the book monthly from now on.

My understanding is that Five Ghosts was originally going to be a 5 issue story but has now been solicited as an ongoing monthly, and deservedly so in my opinion as writer Frank Barbiere has crafted a wonderful story with a great pulp feel all backed up with some very believable characters.The art of Chris Mooneyham is suitably moody with some great splash pages that only help to enhance the whole pulp feel of the book; he also has a wonderful eye for detail as seen on the very scary giant spiders. Lauren Affe's colours also help to enhance the pulp feel of the story, and the contribution she makes should not be overlooked

I picked up this trade after a recommendation from a friend on a podcast, and was then lucky enough to meet writer Frank Barbiere and Lauren Affe at the Thought Bubble comic convention last month. Frank and Lauren were a joy to meet their book was an absolute joy to read, I highly recommended it either in trade or single issues it is well worth seeking out

Thought Bubble Comic Con 2013

Sunday 24th November my wife (Helen) and I braved the cold and ventured out to the Leeds comic con ThoughtBubble, we had decided to go on the Sunday as we hadn’t been on that day before it also fitted into our weekend plans so all was well. Unfortunately going on a Sunday it wasn’t the best decision we have ever made, and I will go into the reasons why at the end of this post.

Firstly let me say that Thought Bubble was once again a triumph the organisation was absolutely spot on, the volunteers who organise the lines, man the doors and hand out wrist bands and stuff were polite and very well informed at least the ones I meet were. Now I am sure there are other people doing lots of other important stuff that I haven’t mentioned and to you guys I apologise, but the fact that I didn’t see you means you were very good at your job. A job that I imagine is probably thankless and at times very frustrating and one I could never do, so to all the visible and not so visible but equally important people I thank you.

The day went very quickly a sign of enjoying ourselves and many things I planned to do we never got round too, however below is a brief synopsis of what we did manage to see and the people we meet.

Despite going straight to the table of  Fiona Staples the artist on the excellent Saga the queue for was very large and growing even at 10:30, none deterred by this I left Helen in the queue and headed off round the Hall to see what caught my eye. Around 20 minutes later I re-joined Helen who had moved around an inch (I kid you not), Helen decided she wanted to have a look around and promptly disappeared, by the time she returned my patience had run thin and we decided to skip the line to look at other things.

                                           
I got to meet up with Martin Gray, Martin writes the excellent blog Too Dangerous for a Girl and was instrumental in helping me set up my blog. When I was first thinking of blogging but had no idea on how to go about it, Martin gave me advice on how to go about producing a blog that hopefully people would want to read. We bumped into him and his friend Steve when we first checked in and agreed to meet later for coffee, it was a real pleasure to talk face to face with Martin after various conversations either through Facebook, email or blogs. Both Martin and Steve are the nicest people you could hope to meet and meeting them both made my weekend, hopefully we will meet up next year and if we do it will be my turn to buy the coffees.

                                                   Me, Helen, Martin and Steven

 I caught up and chatted with Steve Tanner of TimeBomb Comics mainly about the previous nights Doctor Who but also about his new comics, I picked up the graphic novel Squadron of the Screaming Damned and The Last ride of Henry Holden both of which I will be reviewing in a later post. Time Bomb have some very interesting and diverse comics and first caught my eye at Thought Bubble 2012, Steve is a great guy and the thing I love about his stall is that it has a friendly family feel to it. Steve's wife and daughter are always with him on the stall and are as friendly as he is, I recommend to anyone to check out the Time Bomb Comics website there is bound to be something that catches your interest.

I managed to talk briefly with John McCrea as he wondered around the hall, I first meet John at UKCAC in 96,and he always has time to talk to people even when he isn't sat at his table a true gent.

I managed to get Mark Buckingham to sign my issue of Doctor Who #1 then he drew a nice sketch of Matt's Doctor in my sketch book, as someone who cannot draw to save his life it always fascinates me how artists go about their work.

Mark Buckingham

 

 

Next to Mark was Jessica Martin who is probably better know for her acting, singing and dancing than her writing, Jessica was there promoting her one shot comic called IT Girl which is the story of Clara Bow. Clara was one of the  biggest starts in the early era of Hollywood but unfortunately is remembered by only a few people today, Jessica's also has a book coming out soon called Elsie Harris Picture Palace and a short story featuring that character was in this years Thought Bubble anthology. The IT Girl book was very fairly priced so I bought a copy as I have a love of all things connected with movies, Jessica was also kind enough to pose for a photo with me and Helen remarked that she looked every inch the film star she had written about, and added that her shoes were to die for (woman and their shoes).


London Horror Comics were in the Allied London Hall and I had a brief chat with writer John-Paul Kamath while picking up issue 5 of the book, LHC is an excellent anthology comic book of as you would expect horror story's, they are very well put together but not aimed at children which for me is how horror should be.

John-Paul Kamath London Horror Comics

 

 

 

Other highlights included buying a Anne Hathaway Catwoman statue that was spotted by Helen as we walked into the main hall, 2 rather nice prints one of Green Lantern and the other a black & white Batwoman and Poison Ivy from Patrick Walsh. I also picked up a very nice classic Christopher Lee Dracula print of a Dean Ormston, been a Sandman fan and all that spun out of that book I was aware of Dean's work on Lucifer. However, his classic monster paintings are new to me and they are just fantastic, I can see me getting a few more of these over time.

The last person I meet was writer of the comic book Five Ghosts Frank Barbiere this comic had been recommended on a podcast I listen too (Earth Station One), so when I saw that the writer of the book would be at TB I was determined to meet him. Frank was a genuinely nice guy and we chatted about his book and our impending trip to the states next year, I bought the trade of Five Ghosts which Frank and colourist Lauren Affe both signed, I will be checking out this on-going title in the coming months.


My one rant of the day is about a comic artist Rafael Albuquerque the artist on the excellent American Vampire, I had been looking forward to meeting Rafael as I am a big fan of the book and of the artwork in it. I was surprised that there was no one queuing for his table as I had presumed he would be a big draw, on approaching him I could see he was sketching so I waited until he stopped to hand over my hard back book and anthology comic of American Vampire. After he signed the books I asked him if he was doing sketches and was told no I'm only doing commissions, but I have prints and original art for sale if you want that. Given that the prints were Calvin & Hobbs and the original artwork while not total out of my budget were more than I could justify paying, I just thanked Rafael and took back my signed comics and left his table a little disappointed. It may be just me but I cannot understand why an artist would travel to a convention and not do any sketches for fans of their work, it also made me realise why his table had no queue.

 As I said at the start of the blog we decided to visit Thought Bubble on the Sunday rather than the Saturday and crowed wise it was a good decision, unfortunately it also meant that the buzz that is there on Saturdays was sadly lacking during the Sunday event. I believe this was due to the vastly reduced coz players on Sunday compared to what we have seen on the Saturday, for me coz players make a con so not having as many made Sunday a more sombre day. It was still a great day but personally we both prefer the hustle and bustle of the Saturday event, the decision to move to venues was also a good idea and just shows how the event is growing year on year, which can only be a good thing.

One final note we never did get to see Fiona Staples when we went back to join the line which was still rather large, we were told the line is now closed, never mind there is always next year.

Memmories of comic cons past

This weekend 23rd / 24th November sees the annual Leeds comic convention known as Thought Bubble, it’s a convention that has very quickly grown and it is fast getting a reputation of been the UK’s best comic con. It has grown from a one day convention in the local town hall attended by around 500 people, to a week long celebration of all things art which culminates with a two day comic con at the New Dock Halls and Leeds Amery’s. Last year around 10,000 people attended and numbers are expected to increase again this year, which is why they have probably added an extra convention venue which is great news for comic fans and the city of Leeds as well. The guest list is massive this year and it wouldn’t be fair to spotlight someone over someone else, although I’m looking forward to meeting Rafael Albuquerque the artist on the brilliant American Vampire. If you are interested in seeing who is there or want to attend the con then click the link at it will take you to the website: Thought Bubble Comic Convention.

Looking forward to the con and planning my time out (yes I do plan, sort of) it made me think back to other conventions I had attended, my first ever comic convention was way back in the mists of time 1993 to be exact. I was a fresh faced teenager in truth I was 32 and I had travelled to London with my son to attend the convention know as UKCAC, this of course stood for the United Kingdom Comic Art Convention and it was the biggest convention of its day. It’s hard to describe how I felt that first day as we handed our tickets over and received our convention badges, but I liken it to how Alice must have felt the first time she set eyes on Wonderland. All the big players were there Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Vertigo each with their own stands, and of course writers who were signing their books and artists who would if asked politely draw you a sketch. Now these were the days when sketches were free, yes you heard me right free, now I will admit that the ones that are done know are in most cases more detailed than the ones done back then but they were free so you didn’t complain. Now this is where the waters of time become muddy as over the years I attended all the UKCAC conventions from 93 up to 98, and I’m unsure which convention year some of my highlights took place but I do know that they happened at UKCAC. So below with no years attached are some not all I may save those for next year, are my convention highlights.

While having a rest in the bar area with my son  I was asked if the spare stool at our table was free, having said yes expecting it to be picked up and taken away the person in question sat down with us. It didn’t take me long to realise that we had comic artist Glenn Fabry sat with us, now I had heard or read not sure which that if you bought Glen a drink you had a friend for life. So yes you guessed it I finished my drink and as I got up I said “can I buy you a drink Mr Fabry I’m a big fan”, he smiled held up his glass and said “thanks and can call me Glenn”. I then had an enjoyable time talking comics with one of the great British comic artist,

I got to meet Dennis O’Neil and as a Batman fan I cannot tell you how excited I was to meet the great man himself, its just unfortunate that I was wearing a Superman t-shirt when I had my photo taken with him.

 

That's me in the cap by the way

I got to meet artist Mark Buckingham for the first time and managed to get a Death sketch from him, as a Sandman fan it was a big deal to me and the sketch sits proudly on my wall.

 

DC held the first UK showing of their new Superman TV show The Adventures of Lois & Clark which stared Dean Cain & Teri Hatcher, in a time when there was no Internet widely available and no You Tube to see this show before anyone else in the UK was a real geek out moment.

I bought my first piece of comic artwork for £35 at the end of convention comic auction; it was a sketch of Death and another character who I still don’t know to this day. Unknown to me the artist was sat behind me and thanked me for buying it, then posed for a photo holding it for me good times.

My son John bought his first collectible comic at UKCAC all by himself; he had been saving up for most of the year and was looking for something special to buy. He is a Spiderman fan so he obviously wanted something connected to Spiderman; he had eventually set his heart on the Superman Spiderman crossover comic that came out in 1976. Having asked me if he could spend his money on it I told him if that what you want then of course he could, he didn’t want me to go with him so I stood watching as he approached the seller and asked how much it was. I can’t remember the price but once he knew he had enough money he said he would buy it, the seller gave a quick glance over to me as John was sorting out his money and I just nodded. A moment later John was coming over comic in hand beaming from ear to ear saying look this is what I bought with my own money, a proud moment indeed as I realised my little boy was fast growing up into a geek.

At one convention comic auction a Captain America sketch by Jack Kirby was been sold off and bidding had got to around £50, confident that the great mans work would go well into double digits I shouted out “let make it a straight £100”. John just looked at me open mouthed and said “ do you have £100” and “you know mum will kill you if she find out”, I just smiled and told him it would be OK as it would sell for a lot more than the £100 I had bid. To my horror there were no more bids coming in and as the auctioneer began saying “if there’s no more bids I’m selling” panic began to set in, I not only didn’t want to have to tell Helen I had blow £100 on a sketch I didn’t have £100 to begin with. Just as the words sold were about to be uttered much to my relief someone from the back shouted £110, when the bid came back to me I just shook my head and dropped out of the bidding. I laugh about it now but I learnt a valuable lesson that day, don’t try to be Billy big balls if you can’t back it up.

So that’s it just a few memories from my times at UKCAK a convention that is sadly no longer with us, the last one was held in Manchester in 1998 before becoming Comic Festival and relocating to Bristol. The Manchester convention was my last one for many a year and I didn’t go to another one until Thought Bubble in 2009, I do however look back very fondly on UKCAC and the great times I had there.

Masters of the Universe vs DC #1

Now when I first saw this comic solicited I thought no way will that work but having had the same thoughts on the Star Trek Doctor Who cross over and given how good that comic was, I decided I would take a punt at this one as well which is not been the best idea I've had this year with my comic selections.

Now my background with the Masters of the Universe is the TV show from the 80’s that my son and me sat and watched religiously, well these Masters of the Universe are as far removed from that show as you could possibly get. This is not a bad thing as I understand that to be relevant things need to be shaken up and moved on, but it is a shock when you first start reading the dialogue between the characters especially between Teela and He-Man. There seems to be an underlined sexual tension between the two of them, something that never appeared in the cartoon show so I can only assume to be part of the resent Masters of the Universe comic.

At the start of the comic a mysterious woman is been chased by a group of skull headed rats in New York which sees her take refuge in the home of John Constantine, then you are thrown into what feels like the middle of the story in which Eternia has been taken over by Hordak and the Horde. An act that has now made He-Man and his team rebels which for me is one of the biggest problems with the comic, as this part of the story seemingly ties directly in to the resent Masters of the Universe run. As He-Man and his group talk they reference things that have happened in that series, so if you haven’t read it then it’s difficult to understand or know what they are talking about.

 He-Man and his team attack of a group of Robots where Evil-Lyn is found imprisoned within a high security Transom, think steel cube. Once freed Evil-Lyn explains that Skeletor who is now missing could be the person who tips the balance of the war depending on who he sides with, she knows just where to find him and as Skeletor has a thing for her (I can feel my sons childhood draining away) she can persuade him to help He-man and his group. Back in the DC world the mysterious woman is telling John Constantine and Madame Xanadu that Skeletor walks the earth, something that doesn't surprise Constantine all that much as it’s a name he knows through myth and legend. It seems that magic is a resource just like any other and its in short supply on Eternia, but with earth not having many Mages there is an abundance of magic to draw on and Skeletor wants it all. However Skeletor is not working alone he is aided by Black Alice and to some extent been controlled by what looks like an egg, I hope it’s the same one from the TV show Under the Dome, it will save me several more hours of a TV show that I know I won’t get answers to at the end but I digress.

Skeletor and Alice are holed up in the House of Mystery where Skeletor is more than a little interested in the Justice League, Alice has their images on a laptop I do hope she isn't using Windows 8 as a month in we still cant get used to using it. Skeletor is also not surprised to hear Alice mention the name Constantine, who he also knows from myth and thinks could possibly be an ally. 

Back in Constantine’s home John is telling the mysterious woman he won’t help her only to be knocked across the room for been disrespectful to the warrior queen of Eternia, and as all types of trouble begins to ensue remember the skull headed rats He-Man and his team appear shouting Mom at the woman.

As I indicated at the start of this post this is one cross-over that hasn't hooked me like I hoped it would, despite the idea of magic on Eternia and Earth been a resource that can be exhausted. The inclusion of Justice League Dark (well two of them) is a good fit for this type of story given the magic angle, but as Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman all appear on the cover it’s a little disappointing we don’t see them in the book, but as you know you should never judge a book by its cover (sorry). 

Skeletors costume change also threw me as he now wears the most impractical head gear you have ever seen, think Loki but upside down and you wont be far off the mark.

Setting the story in what I am guessing is the current Masters of the Universe storyline is also a little jarring as you are left with questions that you don’t really need for this story, I have heard good things about the Masters of the Universe book so if you have been reading that then this crossover is for you, if like me you haven’t it may be one to give a miss.