On July 30, 2020, our esteemed competition in reporting on comics and entertainment, Bleeding Fool, published the second part in their ongoing series of articles investigating the so-called "Whisper Network," And while the bulk of that article continued to delve into the secret Facebook group, Women in Comics, it led with a blockbuster accusation that had been completely excluded -- and, in fact, in the case of one website, completely deleted -- from coverage. That accusation came from comic book writer Bill Willingham (FABLES, ELEMENTALS), when he claimed that Stephanie Cooke, working at the time as his assistant, embezzled in excess of $10,000 from his accounts.
Biblically-inspired comic book stories are not a new thing. One could argue they go as far back as Superman himself, as an allegory to the tale of Moses. But that doesn't mean some of them can't feel like a new thing, and when they do it truly captures the imagination and runs wild with it.
This is the case behind DOMINION: FALL OF THE HOUSE OF SAUL, created by Dr. Barron Bell and co-written by Daniel Hancock. It's very much a re-interpretation of the Old Testament book of I Samuel, beginning with Saul already established as king and having beaten the armies of the Amalekites one year prior. However, DOMINION gives this story a twist in that it is told using anthropomorphic beasts in an extra-galactic setting, making it a "Star Wars in Narnia" event.
Dave Sim, the man behind the legendary run of CEREBUS, has a new project wrapping up on Kickstarter, with artist Carson Grubaugh. YOU DON'T KNOW JACK! TWO-FISTED COMIC STORE MANAGER is a by-product of the collaboration of Sim and Grubaugh on his other work-in-progress, THE STRANGE DEATH OF ALEX RAYMOND. During the latter project, Grubaugh, an art professor, drew on one of his students as a model for the piece -- Jack VanDyke, a comic store manager.
The Joker has struck his biggest blow against the Dark Knight -- he has taken all the billions of Bruce Wayne and has assumed control of Wayne Enterprises, including all the attendant Batman technology. Bruce Wayne has been exposed as an embezzler, redirecting Wayne Foundation funds into financially supporting Batman's war on crime -- which is, in fact, true, since Bruce Wayne set up several shell companies to hide the fact he had been doing exactly this for years.
Now Gotham City is under seige, with Batman and the police being the last line of defense against the Joker and his minions, armed to the teeth with Batman-weaponry. The new Wayne Foundation lawyers are also pressing things on the legal end -- against the police and the press, silencing all opposition as best they can.
RAVAGE: KILL ALL MEN began as a Kickstarter campaign under the Cautionary Comics banner. It was loudly heralded and brought with it high expectations, due to the gravitas lent to the series by writer Chuck Dixon who joined Benjamin Henderson in crafting the story. The dynamic and sexy cover by Geebo Vigonte and Lorenzo Thellier D'Auzers also no doubt moved units to the success of the crowdfunding campaign.
Since then, the title has shifted its masthead to Fanatic Comics, and is getting a second "redux" printing through an Indiegogo, which is still in the offing.
So lets dig into this offering, both external and internal, and deliver the breakdowns.
The claim dates back to 2015 and references the period when Cooke was Willingham's assistant. Willingham reconfirmed that this is still an open case, hampered by the fact that Cooke had since moved back to Canada.
In the distant future, long after the humanity has fled planet Earth, people live in a desert environment threatened by gigantic reptilian monsters. Water is a precious commodity, rationed and dole out by an elite faction called Celestials, who live in excessive luxury and fashion themselves after the zodiac.
On this world, a team of archeologists has recovered an artifact from the days of arrival, a metal head found in the face of a mountain near the site of the rusted out shell of a crashed spaceship. The discovery is taken as a prize by the team leader, Ichabod, to a plucky young engineer -- called an engineward in this evolution of the English dialiect -- named Joss, who is excited about the relic and what it might teach them about early Earth -- or "Oert" as it has etmologically transformed.
Matilda Anderson is having the best day of her life: she's been accepted into the Coalition of Heroes' intern program as a sidekick under her new code name, RepTilly, due to her lizard-like physiology.
The Coalition of Heroes is a vast organization, and the super-powered people working for it get tasked to do jobs from the mundane to the extraordinary. When RepTilly gets assigned to the most high-profile hero of the team, Showdown, she's over the moon -- even when she finds her training program includes things like taking out the dry cleaning, dusting the office, and sending flowers to his many girlfriends. Whatever it takes, she'll do it to become a full-fledged superhero and do battle against the evil Shadow Order.
The Green Hornet is possibly one of the earliest legacy heroes in comics, his grandfather having been the Lone Ranger. (Yes, I know The Phantom is older, but The Phantom is more of a mantle than a legacy.)
Britt Reid is a man of action, whether in his civilian identity as a crusading newspaper publisher, or at night when he's the wanted criminal, The Green Hornet. Yes, criminal -- he's wanted by the police. But that's a double-cover, because he establishes himself in that identity to infiltrate actual criminal gangs and take them down from the inside.
We're throwin right into the middle of the story with the opening shot, that includes a gorgeous 2-page splash across pages two and three. The plot pits the Green Hornet against the U.S. Army, for reasons that will be established as the story unfolds. And the story is a strange one indeed, because the Green Hornet is pretty much used to fighting thugs and mob bosses -- street level and corporate level evil.
Dynamite Comics has an interesting side-model to their business of producing monthly comic books starring licensed properties like BETTIE PAGE, VAMPIRELLA, RED SONJA and others. They allow for creators in the industry to create unique covers for already published books, and then crowdfund the publishing of these books. It's a neat way for collectors to get limited edition artwork, and it gives Dynamite some extra mileage from work that's already been done and paid for.
If you've been following the various volumes of BETTIE PAGE adventures from Dynamite Comics, then you've enjoyed a continuing arc of a noir-like X FILES with the queen of cheesecake. Aliens, elder gods, and secret agents have been the engine behind the successful runs that placed the iconic model at the fore.
The new writer, Karla Pacheco, takes the character in a new direction. It has the potential to be just as exciting, with Bettie being part of a Tolkien knock-off film on a tropical island that's potentially cursed. Unfortunately, it's anything but exciting. Bettie is a demure and submissive woman, just excited to actually get to be in a real picture, and when she loses the role to a floozy, her response is to get lachrymose, but puts on a Pollyanna attitude that she's glad to just still be a part of things.
This is not the gutsy, daring, take charge Bettie to which we have become accustomed.
Writing legend Mike Baron went on a livestream with Critical Blast to talk about his new crowdfunded graphic novel, FLORIDA MAN (see video below) when he broke the news that there will be a new NEXUS comic story coming out in 2021. And who he's publshing with may raise a few eyebrows.
"I will have a three-issue series out through Splatto Comics next year drawn by Kelsey Shannon," Baron said, talking of the work he continues to do with Nexus. "It's a three issue story arc, and it's some of the best Nexus writing I've ever done. Richard [Meyer] went crazy when he read the first script."
The announcement comes at around the 18:00 mark in the video below. Check it out and get the full scoop on Baron and Todd Mulrooney's FLORIDA MAN graphic novel.
Bleeding Fool Writer Outs Secret Facebook Group of Comics Professionals from Inside
On July 8, the pop culture website Bleeding Fool broke the story that a group of comics professionals were colluding in a secret Facebook group (a level higher than 'private' which allows it to evade being found by search results) where they would target and mock male peers within the industry.
That's been a truism handed down from the founding fathers of the industry. You can tell the writers who adhere to it. You can pick up one of their books, no matter the issue number, and within moments you are pulled into the story with a comfort level where you don't feel like a stranger, and where you can enjoy learning the things you still don't know. Those are the writers who leave behind lasting books, and thankful fan bases.
When I saw STARRING SONYA DEVERAUX: SPIDER-SHARK VS. SNAKE-BEAR on the shelves at my local comics shop, I didn't even register the title or even the publisher. My eye was instantly drawn to the excellently done homage to the classic HOUSE OF SECRETS #92 (featuring not only the first Swamp Thing story, but also a portrait of comic book creative legend Louise Simonson on the cover). Only after it had already leapt into my hands did I notice any of the ancillary information.
The GREEN LANTERN 80TH ANNIVERSARY 100-PAGE SUPER SPECTULAR is yet another prestige-bound release this month celebrating eight decades of a DC Comics brand. But whereas the anniversary issues for Catwoman and Joker focused on a single character, with stories viewed through the lens of some of the particular eras, this release is different. Because there is no single Green Lantern, but there are in fact a few thousand plus.
That's where this issue disappoints, because almost every story takes a different Green Lantern as a focus, turning this collection into something less "spectacular" and more into something that could have been just about any issue of TALES OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS. That disappointment is compounded when you see the stories doing things like trying to retrofit the Golden Age Green Lantern's sexuality, or deliver yet another tired retread of the "people in red baseball caps are racist terrorists" trope.
It was a year of turmoil for comics professionals. Livelihoods were on the lines as those who worked in the industry began to see their peers picked off right and left, as the field of comics was being laid waste by the scythe of a force that had found it ripe for harvest. There were rules, arbitrary and unwritten, that had been broken, and the piper had come with the invoice, stamped "Past Due." In a rush of adrenalin-fueled panic, those still standing cobbled together a promissory note, a token to the aggrieved that they would change their behavior, codified for the world to see.
If you think this is a summary of the events of 1954 that led to the Comics Code Authority, it would be understandable. But it's 2020, and the professionals in comics are circling the wagons to protect themselves from threats internal, not external.
Few villains have had the impact on literature as have the tricksters. Loki. Anansi. Joker. There's a magnetism that draws the reader into their story whenever they are involved.
Batman's arch-nemesis celebrates 80 years of crime and carnage this year, and to commemorate the event DC has released the JOKER 80TH ANNIVERSARY 100-PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR, with handsome card stock, variant covers, and some of the best talent the industry has to offer. The issue includes some of the more iconic covers of DC Comics stories that spotlighted the character, as well as some gorgeous pinups, interspersed among the stories, the likes of which haven't been given to The Joker since the Martin H. Greenberg anthology, THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE JOKER.
The Legion of Super-Heroes. A group of teens with powers, one thousand years in the future, inspired by the legend of Superman and brought together to show teamwork and unity among the citizens of different planets. Over the years, I've been there for the classics. The death and resurrection of Lightning Lad. The sacrifice of Ferro Lad. Reflecto. The Great Darkness. The Cockrum era. The Grell issues.
