Q&A with Archie Comics about the Red Circle Comic Book App

Reblogging my Interview (as Prof. Challenger) with the Team behind ARCHIE's new RED CIRCLE Line of Super-Heroes.

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Q’s by Prof Challenger!

@’s by the Team Behind ARCHIE’S
New Red Circle Line!!!

Professor Challenger here and I had the opportunity recently to talk to the guys behind the new redesign and relaunch of the classic MIGHTY CRUSADERS characters from Archie Comics Publications. Ian Flynn is the writer on this project, Alex Segura is the Executive Director of Publicity and Marketing, and Paul Kaminski is the Executive Director of Editorial.

I'm glad to see someone tackling the Red Circle characters again...and without licensing them out to another publisher. In my younger days, I was a fan Rich Buckler's attempt at getting the CRUSADERS back into the marketplace. I enjoyed the IMPACT line (especially the late Mike Parobeck's work on THE FLY). I found the recent DC attempt to be a well-intentioned effort that inexplicably just disappeared.

However, from what I can gather here, Archie Comics smartly picked the characters back up immediately and started this project to not only modernize the characters but do something new and progressive in the process. Do I have that right?

IAN FLYNN (IF): That's a good way to sum it up.

PROF CHALLENGER (PROF): Ian, how did you get involved with this project?

IF: It was somewhere between San Diego Comic Con and New York Comic Con last year when Executive Director of Editorial Paul Kaminski sent me the series proposal he'd been working on with Executive Director of Publicity and Marketing Alex Segura said "I want you to write this." I grew up on super hero books, so I jumped at the chance. At NYCC, we had a big brain-storming session with President Mike Pellerito, hashed out the first season of the book, and that was that.

PROF: Can you explain how this "weekly app" is different than simply a weekly digital comic?

IF: The weekly app gives you six pages of the current comic every Wednesday should you be currently subscribed to the App. So instead of waiting a month between releases, as you'll have to for the printed edition, you'll be getting a steady stream of content week after week along with updates of the older Mighty Crusaders material from the 30’s all the way through to now!

PROF: Does the app have aspects to it that allow users to follow other users and interact with comments or crosspost onto social media like Facebook and Twitter?

>PAUL KAMINSKI (PK): The iVerse team I pretty incredible at what they do – and what they do is innovate and connect! Social media will play a role in the App as it continues to grow and expand, and if you want to start posting and tweeting New Crusaders news, check out RedCircleComics.com!

PROF: Does the app focus on the team only or is it something that combines multiple titles or storylines within a shared universe?

PK: The App has 2 components, which each serve to enhance the other. The first component is the new material, which is the New Crusaders on-going series. New Crusaders is a direct sequel to the second component of the App, which is the classic Red Circle books, dating all the way back to 1939. Readers will be able to read an ever-growing range of the old material, which often will have a direct connection to what’s going on in New Crusaders. Comic collectors like myself tend to save, catalogue, and contextualize every event in a comic series. Most comic collectors don’t really know all that much about Red Circle as it stands right now. We’re implanting that type of collection into an App and doing the contextualizing for you!

PROF: Is this Red Circle universe going to co-exist with the mainstream Archie universe or are you going to keep them functionally separate?

PK: Red Circle is completely separate from the Archie Universe in style, tone, and presentation. Though technically speaking, Riverdale and the town of Red Circle are on the same map.

PROF: In terms of characters, who are the primary characters?

IF: The main cast are the New Crusaders - Joe Higgins, a.k.a. The Shield, is the veteran hero who's been in service since the 1940s. When disaster strikes, he has to take in the teens/heirs to the original Mighty Crusaders and introduce the new blood to the world of super heroics. Six young adults under one roof, traumatize and given super powers. Yeah, it'll go about as well as you'd expect.

PROF: So, you will be incorporating at least some past continuity with these characters?

IF: Everything under the old Archie labels - MLJ to present P is canon. We'll be tweaking things here and there where it's needed to make it all flow and make sense, but we're treating all the books as fair game. We won't be mired in that backstory, though. It'll serve as the foundation for our new characters and new adventures to take off from.

PROF: Along the same lines, will there be any recognition of the work that was published under the Red Circle line, Impact line, or the DC proper books?

IF: The Red Circle line, which eventually adopted the “Archie Adventure Series” banner again in the later issues, is the series that direct precedes ours. We won't be using the out-sourced material, but we're not ignoring it completely either. We'll get into that later in the season.

PROF: Is there a longterm goal in mind or just a plan to keep telling stories?

IF: We have the first season - or twenty-four episodes (issues) - already mapped out. We've got a log of ideas on how we want to branch out and expand. The Red Circle imprint is primed to be huge.

PROF: How do you foresee expanding this app and the world of the CRUSADERS?

ALEX SEGURA (AS): The app is going to be an immersive experience – it’s not just a standard comic app that shows you a bunch of books and lets you decide what to buy. This is like a ticket into the world of NEW CRUSADERS – past, present and future. Not only do you get to enjoy the new, never-before-seen adventures of this team, but you get to see the books that shape that narrative, as chosen by the people directly involved in the creation. Paul and his team have done a great job partnering with iVerse to really curate this app. So, each week, there’s not only new story content, but never-before-digitized books that thematically tie into the new stories. It’s amazing.

As far as expanding – once we get the main app off the ground, we’ll be slowly peeling things back and showing new corners of Red Circle and the Red Circle Comics universe. Stay tuned for news on that.

PROF: Other than Ian, who are the talent involved in delivering the stories and driving the characters and their worlds?

IF: I'm on writing duties with Ben Bates (penciler), Gary Martin (inker), Matt Herms (colorist) and John Workman (letterer) on the art team. I've worked with all of them in the past, and they're all amazingly talented people.

PROF: What level of marketing and licensing can we expect?

AS: We’ve got a pretty focused marketing and PR campaign geared at not only the comic fan sites, but pop culture venues like AICN and more tech-centric outlets. Because the story isn’t just that these characters are back – it’s HOW they’re back. This is the first superhero universe launched digitally. Red Circle Comics is looking to become a leader in digital, and the reality is, no one in comics is doing something even close to this. It’s an exciting time to be here.

PROF: As with the other ARCHIE titles, is THE CRUSADERS app intended to be something that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages?

IF: Yes, although I'm calling it "all-ages with an edge." We're going to be a little more adult with the language and the violence than your typical Archie book, but at the same time it's nothing you wouldn't see on TV (probably less-so).

PROF: How in the heck do readers of this interview get in on the ground floor of this project?

AS: Go to www.RedCircleComics.com, download the app, and get ready to rock on May 16th. In the meantime, people can go to the website for more info and character bios!

PROF: Is the App for Apple iPhone/iPad exclusively or is it available freestanding for the Android market or PC without having to go through iTunes?

AS: As of now, the Red Circle app will be available via iTunes and on other platforms via Archie's digital comics storefront: digital.archiecomics.com.

PROF: Do you see this type of project as groundbreaking and setting the stage for others to follow?

IF: A lot of other super hero books will use some major event to revamp their properties to be something "new" and "fresh." That's nothing new - we've seen it constantly throughout the 90s til now. What New Crusaders is doing is taking the classic material, utilizing it, but moving forward. We have new heroes that grow from and contribute to the original material, not just give it a new coat of paint.

PROF: What's your "Hollywood Pitch" for this project; that is, what's the one- or two-line description that will sell this to our readers?

IF: New Crusaders is a fun, exciting super hero book without the baggage and angst of a lot of other super hero books. Y'know how you can go to these recent super hero movies, sit down, and have a good time? That's New Crusaders in a nutshell.

PROF: Thanks for the conversation, guys, and good luck!

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Editing, compiling, imaging, coding, logos & cat-wrangling by Ambush Bug
Proofs, co-edits & common sense provided by Sleazy G

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EARTH 2 Reviewed

EARTH 2 #1
Writer: James Robinson
Artist: Nicola Scott (pencils) & Trevor Scott (inks)
Publisher: DC Comics


“Looking back on that day five years ago, I wonder if they knew, maybe deep down in their hearts...if they sensed it.  After all their amazing exploits...after all they'd done so far...if Superman...Wonder Woman...Batman, of course...if they knew that here in ravaged Metropolis would be their last adventure.” -- Alan Scott

Longtime readers of my words both on my blog and on AICN know that I've been very outspoken in my disappointment at the way the DCU reboot was handled.  The characters of DC's “Earth 2” (the golden age heroes) almost always get the shaft when DC does a continuity wipe or rewrite.  And it appeared like they had once again gotten screwed by the slapdash manner in which the linewide reboot happened.

However, I have to say, I take back every single negative thing I ever said about this new EARTH 2 book in the lead-up to its release last week.  Encapsulated in this single comic book are steps that nearly take full advantage of the freedom that a reboot really provides.    This approach is bold, takes chances, makes real and substantive changes, and does it all with a sense of a real cohesive vision.  I am sure that it helps to have it basically limited to a single title (with a side connection to WORLDS' FINEST)  rather than 51 other continuity titles.

James Robinson's writing has no groaner moments or wasted scenes.  He packed this single issue with everything we need to know to set up the world, the differences, and the future. Nicola Scott knocked this out of the park with her art.  She has leapt immediately up to the top tier of my favorite artists working today.  Watch out Amanda Conner, George Perez, and Ivan Reis.  You've got competition.


Here's the background we get from EARTH 2 #1:  This Earth has not experienced a glut of super-heroes like the regular DCU over the years since Superman appeared.  In the flashback sequence of 5 years ago, we have an older Superman (with adult cousin Supergirl) along with an older Batman (with adult daughter, Robin) and a Wonder Woman who has also obviously been around for awhile.  They are the trinity of heroes of this Earth.  Without the rest of what would become the Justice League on our Earth, they are overcome by the attack by the hordes of Parademons (presumably sent by this world's version of Darkseid).  The heroes are killed, but Batman's sacrifice also saves the Earth from total destruction and defeats the Parademons.  Supergirl and Robin chase a figure through a boomtube and wind up stranded on Earth 1 and their story continues in WORLDS' FINEST.

Cut to present-day. A world without super-heroes but with a collective memory of that tragic day.  It is a world-wide tragic moment for the entire world.

Set up for the future:  Robinson introduced Al Pratt and Jim Harper as soldiers during the 5-years-ago flashback.  The stage is set for new versions of Earth 2's Atom and Guardian.  In the present-day, Robinson introduces us to young, rich, broadcaster Alan Scott and even younger Jay Garrick – struggling to find purpose and direction until he comes face to face with the Roman god, Mercury.

On to the next issue.

What I love about the approach here is that Robinson is approaching EARTH 2 as if the types of events that happen(ed) on Earth 1 simply don't happen quite as often or as easily.  So, without random science experiments and accidents, how do you get a group of heroes who can equal Earth 1's Justice League and beyond?  Robinson appears to be making the new EARTH 2 heroes essentially avatars (or power-receivers) of the Roman Gods.  The Flash of Earth 2 is gaining his powers from Mercury.  I don't know this for sure, but I suspect the Green Lantern will be receiving his powers from Jupiter, Vulcan, or one of the other gods and so on.

When Grant Morrison took on the JUSTICE LEAGUE comic years ago, he specifically set up the characters as Earthly counterparts of the Greek pantheon.  Here, it appears from dialogue between Mercury and Wonder Woman, that Robinson is going so far as to making our new heroes, inspired by the self-sacrifice of the original Trinity of heroes, literally the Roman pantheon on Earth.  Heroes powered by the gods rather than scientific mumbo-jumbo.

I honestly can't find anything to criticize here.  It all was simply brilliant, flowed perfectly, intrigued me and hooked me instantly.

EARTH 2 is everything “The New 52” should be.

Comics Industry 2011 In Memoriam

Prepared by Keith Howell for AICN Comics @ aintitcool.com  

GREEN LANTERN (New 52) #1 Reviewed!

GREEN LANTERN #1
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Doug Mahnke (pencils) & Christian Alamy (inks)
Publisher: DC Comics

“This ring chose you to once again become a member of the Green Lantern Corps.  After your betrayal, most would call that act heresy.  But we do not.  We see this for what it truly is.  A chance at redemption.” – Guardian to Sinestro

I really wanted to like this one.  For years, Geoff Johns was the guy I could depend on to resonate with me as a reader.  He really “got” Hal and Green Lantern as far as I was concerned. I was not only on board with his introduction of the other colored lanterns, I thought (and still do) it was simplistically brilliant and opened up avenues for stories in the longterm. However...somewhere between the “Blackest Night” event and now, he lost me. By the time of the “War of the Lanterns” storyline, I realized I had no idea what was even going on anymore with the Lanterns, or Hal, and worst of all...I didn't care anymore.

And I stopped buying GREEN LANTERN.

Yes...I stopped buying GREEN LANTERN.


I've been pretty vocal in my cynical distaste over the reboot-that's-not-really-a-reboot of the DC line, but I've really tried to keep my criticism focused on the editorial and corporate side and give the creative talent their due.  I never want to just crap wholesale on talent who are working, earning a living, and giving their best to try and produce quality stories within the confines of the editorial constraints.  Lots of people are really enjoying the new DC books overall.  At this point, I've only read 2 of them, the JUSTICE LEAGUE and GREEN LANTERN.  Both of them written by Geoff Johns. 
GREEN LANTERN is a better single issue comic book than Johns' JUSTICE LEAGUE.

I can at least say that much.  It doesn't feel like the first issue of a comic, it just feels like the first part of a story in an already ongoing series.  So, I would expect that any newbies who come along will feel mildly out of the loop, but I expect that most longtime comics readers understand how the game is played and will feel like they get all they need to know to follow the story.
Sinestro has become the most interesting character in the entire library of GREEN LANTERN characters...including Hal Jordan himself, so the idea of having Sinestro forced against his will to become the Green Lantern for our Space Sector again and stripping Hal of the ring is actually a welcome change.  Most especially welcome given the fact that some sort of brain aneurysm has apparently occurred in Hal somewhere between GL: REBIRTH, the previous GL #1 and this GL #1 (and we might as well throw JL #1 in there too) and given him brain damage.  The Hal in this comic book is a total idiot. 

No.  I take that back. 

What is stupider than an idiot, but not quite to the level of actually being mentally challenged?  Sub-moronic perhaps? 

I won't even go into it in this review, but the “action” sequence that Johns puts Hal through is just unbearably stupid.  I think it's intended to be funny, but it's really just stupid and paints our “hero” in an especially....stupid (God, I wish I could come up with a better word) light.  Then the exchange between Hal and Carol where he is so incredibly dense and uncouth that even an uncouth lout would be embarrassed?  I really cannot believe what I'm reading.  But, thankfully, we don't get a full-on Trademarked Johns “decapitation”...but we do get a NEAR decapitation of a Sinestro Corps member by Sinestro himself.  I guess that satisfies our decapitation quota for this GL comic. 

The art is competent, but not dynamic.  There's a stiffness to Mahnke's work on GL that has just never rung my bell like, say, the exciting work of Ivan Reis or Carlos Pacheco.  Because of that, the art unfortunately doesn't step in and win me over when the writing is lacking.  I'm starting to think that top-tier artistic storytellers collaborate with Johns to create great works, but when Johns is paired with a merely good, but lackluster, artist that the flaws in his writing start to weigh it down.

On its own, this is not necessarily a bad comic.  When Sinestro is on the scene, I'd give it a B+.  Every time Hal shows up, however, it stinks down into the C- and D range.  If you are a Sinestro fan and you hate Hal Jordan, this is the book for you.  I hope they keep Sinestro as Green Lantern and forget about Hal at this rate.

Look for this and other reviews tomorrow @AICN Comics!

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1 (New) Reviewed

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Sara Pichelli
Publisher: Marvel Comics

“We had to fight.  Boys shouldn't have to fight the way we had to.  You shouldn't have to see half the stuff we did.  You—you learn. You study. And you make the world the way you want it to be, not the way it is.” -- Uncle Aaron

The media blitz over the “New” Spider-Man was something that caught my attention and made me interested in trying out this series.  The thing about “reboots” and “alternate worlds” that appeals to me is that the conceptual rules should be able to be thrown out the window.  When the Ultimate Comics line was first announced, I didn't like it because with the SPIDER-MAN book that kicked it off, there was not much changed in any substantive way as far as I could tell.  In other words, from my point of view, it became a pointless appendage to the other SPIDER-MAN titles.  If Peter Parker is essentially going to be the same person he is in the regular Marvel titles except that he's a little younger, I don't see the justification for the ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN comic book.  At least when THE ULTIMATES #1 was published, I began to get a better sense of Marvel accomplishing what they claimed to be doing with the Ultimate line of titles.  But ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN's appeal continued to elude me throughout the years.   It took them 10 years to get to a point with the ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN title to pique my interest and that was the death of Peter Parker and now the relaunch of the title with a new youngster, Miles Morales, taking up the mantle of Spider-Man in the Ultimate Universe.

Finally, they are taking the bull by the balls and doing something that takes full advantage of the freedom inherent in an “alternate” universe and I am here to read it and fully expecting to enjoy it.

I've read it. Now, let's talk about it for a little bit.

Right off the bat, let me state, Brian Bendis is clearly a talented writer and Sara Pichelli is a good artist and visual storyteller. However, I just have to say I can not seem to muster any appreciation for the way that Bendis structures and paces his stories. I've noted it before with other comics, but I find every Bendis comic I've read to be a ponderous chore to sit through. So, as a general rule, I tend to avoid them. Here, though, I was hoping that there would be an enthusiasm on his part in introducing his new character to the world that would be infectious and pull me in. There are some positive things about the comic, but overall I was underwhelmed and disappointed.

The basic gist of what happens, for those who want the spoilers, is the cover showcases the “new” Spider-Man costume.  You open the comic to a scene from 11 months ago to show how genetically modified spider #42 got loose from its box in Norman Osborn's laboratory.  Jump to current day and, someone I assume from his costume to be, the “Ultimate” Prowler is breaking into a vault at the abandoned Osborn lab to steal money and valuables when spider #42 hitches a ride in his bag.  Jump to Brooklyn and meet middle school student, Miles Morales, who is waiting with his parents to see if his lottery number, 42 (naturally), gets pulled granting him entry into a fancy, schmancy charter school.  I'll let you just take a guess about whether his number got pulled.  Miles heads over to his ne'er-do-well Uncle Aaron's apartment to hang out.  Aaron is apparently also the “Ultimate” Prowler and Miles goes snooping through his goody bag and gets bitten by spider #42, has a seizure, and passes out.  Miles' dad comes over and lays in to Aaron, blaming him for whatever just happened to his son.  Miles runs out of the apartment and then finds himself on the last pages standing outside but his body is, sort of, camouflaging itself against the concrete and graffiti and he looks at himself and says “Whoa.” 

To be continued...

That's it in a nutshell.  It ends rather abruptly.  Almost like you're watching a tv-show or movie and the power goes out right in the middle of it.  It didn't make any structural sense to end it like that and made me immediately go back and count the number of pages because I thought I must have missed something.  Nope.  20 pages of story at $3.99 and cut it off right in the middle of the story.  Now I understand why they wrapped the comic in plastic – so nobody could thumb through it and, y'know, know what they were buying. The rest of the comic was a 9/11 reprint.

That was a burn that makes it highly unlikely I will be picking up the next issue because not enough happened in this comic to make me actually give a damn about Miles Morales.  In AMAZING FANTASY #15, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko pulled in the reader in 11 pages and made them care enough about Peter Parker to justify spinning the character off into his own title and now he is one of the most famous fictional characters in history.  At the laborious Bendis-pace, there's no telling when we might come to care about Miles.

The art by Pichelli, is good for what it is.  Unfortunately, it's that dull, static, storyboard-style storytelling that Bendis seems to demand of his artists and I think this artist has the ability and the talent to really take this story up a notch in terms of drama and excitement if she wasn't so bound by these thick black rectangular borders that are restraining the action.

I'm not hating on it in general.  Conceptually, I think the idea of a poor brilliant Brooklyn kid with an uncle who's a thief with a heart of gold, is a good foundation for building a new twist on the Spider-Man legend.  I didn't care for how it unfolded.  I also thought the manner in which the spider escaped and got to Miles in the first place was especially hackneyed.  I would've liked to have seen some better connection to Peter Parker than an Osborn spider that just happened to sneak out of a box because a scientist was distracted.  I was imagining something more along the lines of a kid a bit older than Miles in this comic perhaps hacking his way into an online folder where Parker had kept an encrypted file with details about his biological transformation, blood details, formula for webbing, etc.  Then watch this kid get to work and break the encryption and yada yada yada, driven by some plot device (family in danger, or something like that) to subject himself to, oh, maybe an untested spider-serum or something.

No such luck.  Instead we get what we got.  Maybe it all reads better in the final trade collection, but as a first issue of an ongoing series it was a nice-looking package but wafer-thin on content and a truncated story.   Definitely not worth $3.99 by any stretch, even with Bendis's HITCHHIKER gag use of the number 42 – the answer to the “Ultimate Question of Life.”  Ha.......ha.

Look for this and other reviews tomorrow @AICN Comics!

IGN Sticks Politically-Correct Foot in Mouth

I must laugh!

IGN originally reported today:

Along with the other Batman announcements made today, DC revealed plans for a more diverse line of Batman comics. Alongside Batwoman, Batgirl, Catwoman, and Birds of Prey will be Batwing #1, starring the first ever African-American character to don the mantle as the Batman of Africa. Written by Judd Winick with art from Ben Oliver, Batwing #1 should answer the question about whether or not Batman Incorporated is still relevant. [emphasis mine]

In a quick-witted and funny move, Rich Johnston at Bleeding Cool almost instantaneously published a post that corrected IGN that this character is not at all "African-American" but actually....as the "Batman of Africa" he is....quite frankly...."African-African". 

IGN promptly moved to correct the story like this:

Along with the other Batman announcements made today, DC revealed plans for a more diverse line of Batman comics. Alongside Batwoman, Batgirl, Catwoman, and Birds of Prey will be Batwing #1, starring the first ever black character to don the mantle as the Batman of Africa [Editor's note: mistakenly originally reported as African-American, Batwing is African]. [emphasis mine again]


However, may I point out that they are wrong about THAT as well?!

Ten years ago, in 2001, DC ran a 12-issue mini-series called "JUST IMAGINE...." and the hook of that year-long series was that it was a universe of their most famous super-heroes but "re-imagined" by Stan Lee, the man who made Marvel Comics....well....Marvel and the elder statesman of comic book artists, Joe Kubert himself. 

And guess what "race" Stan and Joe chose to make their version of Batman? 

Why yes, you are correct. He was an "African-American." 

 hee-hee. 

Shoddy reporting AND political correctness BOTH.  I'm sure IGN is loving all this "positive" attention.

Huge Block of Reviews of Arrden & Atlas Comics

FLASH GORDON, COMEBACK KINGS, MINX,

GRIM GHOST, PHOENIX,  and WULF Reviews

 

FLASH GORDON: INVASION OF THE RED SWORD #2(PART 2: THE MISSION)

Writer: Brendan Deneen
Artist: Eduardo Garcia
Publisher: Ardden Entertainment

“I guess I should be surprised that you're still alive, Ming, but I'm not.” – Flash Gordon

A good follow-up to the first issue in this newest miniseries. Artist Eduardo Garcia settles in quite nicely on the art chores as we pick up on the cliffhangers of the first issue. The plot complication that scrambled the translators on Mongo so that the various races and tribes could no longer communicate is quickly resolved and Ming moves to the forefront.

I continue to really enjoy the pacing and storytelling in Arrden's FLASH GORDON comics. Vultan is developing into a favorite and plot points to pick up on are well laid regarding his relationship with his daughter. Likewise, Dale is proving herself to be a strong, attractive character fully justifying the attentions of both Ming and Flash. That I'm inwardly rooting for Ming is a sign of a well-developed villain.

This issue adds more depth to Ming's background and makes the reader almost clamor for an unlikely partnership between Ming and Flash against a common enemy – the humans who are invading the planet Mongo.

I look forward to what comes next and recommend this series and the trades of Arrden's previous FLASH GORDON series.

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THE COMEBACK KINGS #1

Writers: Matt Sullivan & Gabe Guarente

Artist: Ethan Young

Publisher: Ardden Entertainment

“The fame justifies the means!” – Jean-Luc Lambert (before blowing himself up live on television)

Okay. Not so hip to this one. Billed as a “dark satire.” I get the “dark” part, but I'm not feeling the “satire” part. It seems right now like just a “gag” project--the type of thing that a couple of guys might come up with while sitting around a beer tower at a hotel bar after hours at Comicon.

Anybody else seen “Bubba Ho Tep”, where an aged Elvis Presley and John F. Kennedy still live and have to team up to take down a resurrected evil Egyptian mummy? It's good stuff. Played straight, but a very dark comedy/horror flick that (I think) is growing in cult status. Well, this is sort of spiritually in the same ballpark but instead of Elvis and J.F.K, we have Elvis and Bruce Lee and Jim Morrison and Andy Kaufman and Tupac Shakur.

It's Project Resurrection and an older Bruce Lee has to come out of hiding, for some inexplicable reason, and “get the band back together.” In this case, the “band” is the above odd grouping of dead celebrities who, in this comic, faked their deaths.

I wanted to like it. The art is pretty good, though very inconsistent in the look of the characters. It was almost like the artist couldn't decide from page to page whether our “celebrities” were supposed to look the way they looked when they “died” or actually age them by the decades that they should be. Plus the appearance of Tupac seemed especially out of place and the interaction between him and Bruce Lee was just odd and implied some kind of a past relationship that didn't quite gel with the timeline as best as I could tell.

Now, if it had been played a bit broader with a go-for-broke style comedy (like, say, BLACK DYNAMITE) I could probably appreciate it more. However, I think I could tell when something was intended to be funny...but it wasn't working for me. And especially, I didn't see the “satire.” What exactly is being commented on here? I get that it's a funny thought that these (and the big “surprise” not-dead celebrity) are actually out there functioning like a super-secret A-Team of dead A-List Celebrities (though Kaufman would be the oddball there). But beyond that, I lost interest about halfway through.

I give it a “B” for effort, but a “C-” in the end.

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MINX #1
Writer/Artist: Andrea Grant
Publisher: Ardden Entertainment

“Where do humans go when they dream? Does the soul leave the body and wander in another dimension? There is an urban legend which claims if you die in DREAMTIME you'll not awaken in real life. THIS IS TRUE. It's the reason the gods never dare to slumber sound.” – Andrea Grant

This comic intrigues me. I find Andrea Grant's art very good; in fact, I am an instant fan! And I love that she is aspiring to touch something deeper, more primal, and archetypal than your average comic book. That intrigues me.

Apparently Grant is a member of a Native American tribe and she is building this comic book around a certain spiritual worldview that believes and accepts that there is a dream dimension that we live in during our sleep. In our waking hours, we lumber along through the world of the mundane, but when we sleep we enter a world of fantastic possibilities and adventure but also horrific dangers.

Minx is the story of a woman who seems able to blur the dimensional lines and is attacked by a creature from the dream dimension and nearly killed. Instead, she spends the next seven years in a coma. In the comic, she closes her eyes in one panel and opens them in the next and it is seven years later.

Her struggle to adjust to the world and her relationships when seven years have passed for everyone else but merely moments have passed for her make a good set-up for her story. I may be inferring too much, but I get the impression based on the way this issue wrapped up, that she has quite a lot of history built up in the dream dimension called “Dreamtime” from the last seven years asleep in a coma and it is not going to be an easy transition back to the world of the mundane.

Her story is one of two worlds and I want to read more of that story. Check it out and see if you agree.

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GRIM GHOST #2
Writers: Tony Isabella & Steven Susco
Artist: Kelley Jones
Publisher: Atlas Comics

“The Fringe. It's a world wrapped around and within the living world, a place where lost souls seek their ultimate fates.” – Michael

Better and better and better. The first issue of GRIM GHOST was good. This second issue is better. The pacing picks up. The art gets more expressively dark and moody.

Michael, the man who has passed from this world into “The Fringe” but can't remember his past, begins to...remember. At the same time, we get the backstory that was missing from the first issue as to the earthly relationship between Dunsinane (Grim Ghost) and the evil, demonic Braddock.

And the thing is, neither of the three come out smelling like roses. They are all flawed yet powerful, and morally nebulous. Braddock is the most outright cruel and evil, but both Grim Ghost and Michael show aspects that reveal that they are willing to be less than holy themselves in order to accomplish their purposes.

I'm hooked. Really enjoyed it. There's something about the look and feel of this series that evokes the nostalgia inside of me but is as modern as anything else out there.

GRIM GHOST, like the other Atlas Comics titles, is solid, good comics and well worth taking a look and committing your time and energy.

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PHOENIX #2

Writers: Jim Krueger & Brendan Deneen

Artist: Dean Zachary

Publisher: Atlas Comics

"You should have killed me when you had the chance!” – Max

I don't have much more to say on this title other than, if the first issue intrigued you, then this issue does not disappoint.

The art is gorgeous. The storyline a bit harrowing when putting yourself, as the reader, into the footsteps of Ed Tyler and his resurrection nightmare. He's on the run from the aliens who were killing him repeatedly and just trying to stay alive and sometimes failing at that.

This is a comic that hits the ground running and never stops running. It is over before you realize it and leaves you on another great cliffhanger moment. The mystery is not only unfolding but deepening with the appearance, almost Constantine-like, of a mysterious “detective” who seems out of place but also knows much more about what is happening to Tyler than he should.

I continue to be impressed by the way the characters react to this situation and I noted the first inclusion of a reference to Detective Lomax from the WULF comic to tease the reader with knowledge that these Atlas characters do indeed co-exist within the same world.

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WULF #2
Writer: Steve Niles
Artist: Nat Jones
Publisher: Atlas Comics

“I let you down. Ever steady, ever strong, always by my side. Rest well, my friend. Rest well.” – Wulf (saying goodbye to his dead horse.)

Saving the best for last, WULF ran away with the Atlas prize this month. Simply put, the synthesis between writing and art was complete once this team had their footing after a somewhat lighter-paced first issue.

This one really does have it all. A sword-wielding barbarian with an honor code, a hard-boiled New York police detective, terrifying bloodthirsty other-dimensional monsters, and a horribly disfigured powerful evil wizard.

With a radical twist on the “buddy cop” formula, I really dig how Niles is developing the relationship between Lomax and Wulf. There is a real sense of sadness in Wulf, the Barbarian, who has lost everything (seemingly) and Lomax picks up on this and reaches out to him. He can see the good heart within. However, in a shocking scene, Wulf demonstrates violently how he still is a barbarian raised in a world where brutality rules the day and is the first choice when confronted by evil.

The desperation and depravity of the villain in this story is dark and tortured--perfect for the tone of this violent but entertaining comic book. Not for the faint of heart though.

The writing rocks this comic and the art is just slightly primitive enough to give it a look and feel of something other-worldly.

I recommend WULF highly. This was my favorite comic of the past week.