Indie Comic Book Noise 320: Cobra Civil War

Host Derek Coward talks about the GI Joe titles which currently make up Cobra Civil War, The Bionic Man #4, Atomic Robo: The Ghost of Station X #3, Sergio Aragones Funnies #5, Peanuts #0, and the No Hero TPB.

Indie Comic Book Noise 319: Atomic Robo and The Bionic Man

Host Derek Coward takes a look at the latest Atomic Robo volume (The Ghost of Station X) from Red 5 Comics and The Bionic Man from Dynamite Entertainment.

Bionic Man 01

Atomic Robo: Ghost of Station X #1

Atomic Robo: Ghost of Station X #1

Atomic Robo is back this week. I read a preview of the first issue of the latest miniseries Ghost of Station X and it looks like this is another in a long line of excellent Atomic Robo stories. If you haven’t read Atomic Robo, think Hellboy with a sense of humor. If you have read any of the previous Atomic Robo stories, then you know what kind of goodness to expect. Don’t be the type of chump who is tied in with buying 52 #1 issues from a company who will probably be cancelling at least half of them within the year, be the type of chump who buys one #1 from a company who will at least make sure to tell the entire story.

Atomic Robo #1 // Ghost of Station X (#1 of 6)
Written: Brian Clevinger
Art: Scott Wegener
Colors: Ronda Pattison
Letters: Jeff Powell
Publication Date: 2011-09-07
Format: Comic, Full Color, 6.5 x 10, Soft Cover, 32 pages
Price: $3.50

Diamond Code: JUN111232
UPC: 811316010658

Comic Book Noise Videos: Indie Comic Book Reviews

Derek Coward, host of the Indie Comic Book Noise podcast takes a brief look at Rachel Rising #1 from Abstract Studios, The Rocketeer Adventures #2 from IDW and The Red Wing #1 from Image Comics.

Action Lab Entertainment Goes Digital

Starting in August 2011,Action Lab Entertainment will make some of their titles available in the digital format on Graphic.ly, as well as My Digital Comics, The Illustrated Section, and Drive Thru Comics.
The first digital release will be the original graphic novel Back In The Day, written by Dave Dwonch with artwork by Daniel J. Logan. Fracture, Princeless, and Snowed In> will follow at an unannounced time, as will a Digital Exclusive kids comic called Globworld.
For more details, please visit www.actionlabcomics.com.

Irish Comic News

Webcomicteer and friend of the show Tommie Kelly has recently unveiled his newest project, Irish Comic News. The site is dedicated to the Irish comic book scene and includes interviews, forums, event guides and news about the artists and their projects.

There is a section entitled Buy Digital Comics that only contains Tommie’s books, but hopefully as the site grows,that section will be a great resource for finding Irish born creator-owned comics.

A huge plus is the fact that he is using the Arras WordPress theme, which I also happen to like a lot.

Preview: Foster Broussard: Demons of the Gold Rush

Foster Broussard: Demons of the Gold Rush #1
Red 5 Comics has a new five issue miniseries coming out in May called ‘Foster Broussard: Demons of the Gold Rush’. The company describes it as “‘Pirates of the Carribbean’ with a little ‘Maverick’ and ‘X-Men’ thrown in.”

The story in the first issue is more Maverick than PotC, but hopefully later issues will add an X-vibe. The synopsis is “In 1849, suave British con-man Foster Broussard comes to San Francisco hoping to find his fortune and save his neck in the California gold rush. His multi-layer grift spins out of control as stumbles between an American Industrialist and an ancient evil spirit held in check by a Native American tribe.” The plot was well paced and the dialog was entertaining. The cliffhanger leading to the second issue was a little obvious, but fun nonetheless.

The artwork is very good although there are points when the art team (penciller Dan Glasl and inker Amber Gant) makes sure to add little details, like brickwork on walls in the background, buttons on the clothes of background characters, or smoke from faraway chimneys, but then will forget to add the correct number of buttons on the clothes of characters in the foreground. This isn’t overly distracting, but weird in spots.

The lettering was a little too angular and stylized, but unlike a lot of non-standard fonts, it was legible. There were also some spelling errors, but once again, they weren’t overly distracting. The color artist used a nice unoffensive color pallet, which was also used as shading.

The first issue is worth checking out. The Diamond order code for the first issue is MAR111238. Pre-order it.

Indie Comic Book Noise 318: Fallen Heroes 1 and Scout 19

Host Derek Coward talks about Fallen Heroes 1 (and his history with author Barry Nugent) and Scout 19.

Fallen Heroes Comic site

Indie Comic Book Noise 317: Terry Moore’s Echo

Host Derek Coward talks about Terry Moore’s Echo.

Review: Buck Rogers Annual 1

buckrogersannual1

Published by Dynamite Entertainment
Written by Matt Brady and Troy Brownfield
Illustrated by Carlos Rafael
Colored by Carlos Lopez
Lettered by Simon Bowland
I got the cover by Carlos Rafael

 

Synopsis: Buck Rogers gets a message from the past that will affect his present and future. (Takes place between issues 6 and 7)

The story was written by a new writer, but the artwork was by the same dude as the regular series, so it felt consistent. However, it made the same error that a lot of writers have made throughout the history of comic books, a vital story point revolved around music/sound. This is, of course, the one thing the comic book medium does horribly. Beyond that, it seems like the proofreader took the day off when they were reviewing this issue because there was a pretty bad error on the first page and then another during what should have been a pretty emotional scene. Those errors took me out of the story.

I enjoyed the book, but I admit it is not exactly necessary to enjoy the regular series. In fact, it felt a little tacked on. Still, if you were a fan of the original series, then I would suggest you pick it up.