Category: Art

JAEGER Written and Illustrated by Ibrahim Moustafa / Z-View

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Jaeger is a 48 page graphic novel written and illustrated by Ibrahim Moustafa, with letters by Nate Peikos of BLAMBOT,  Jaeger was first published as a web comic where it was nominated for an Eisner Award.

Idris Morel was a freedom fighter captured and tortured in a Nazi prisoner of war camp during World War II.  Now Morel is a  French-Algerian spy who tracks down and eliminates Nazi war criminals who have escaped justice.  Nazis speak in hushed whispers of the silent avenger they call “Der Jaeger” (the Hunter).  They live in fear that Der Jaeger will come for them.  As his body count grows, Morel’s obsession with revenge pushes him to the brink… will he become what he fights?

Ibrahim Moustafa has created what could have been a traditional World War II revenge tale and added twists to make it his own.  Nazis are easy targets, but the ones in Moustafa’s tale aren’t one dimensional bad guys.  I also like that Moustafa’s hero of the tale isn’t American or British.  He’s put the World part of the War back into the mix.

I really enjoyed Moustafa’s art.  It isn’t over rendered and the colors that Moustafa uses enhance each page.  The storytelling is straightforward with excellent use of inset panels to draw the reader’s eye to what’s most important.  The graphic novel comes with a choice of three different cover artists:  Dennis Calero, Phil Hester or Ibrahim Moustafa.  The graphic novel also contains a five page bonus section with character studies, page and cover roughs and a Jaeger commission.  I enjoyed Jaeger and could see additional tales of The Hunter.

Jaeger earns 4 of 5 stars.

The BITTER ROOT Hardcover Omnibus by David Walker, Chuck Brown and Sanford Greene is Coming!

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Bitter Root by David Walker, Chuck Brown and Sanford Greene is getting the deluxe hardcover treatment.  Check this out…

BITTER ROOT IS A TWO-TIME EISNER WINNER FOR BEST CONTINUING SERIES!

For generations the Sangerye family has fought to protect the world from the evil plague of the jinooï¿9;hideous creatures born out of hate and racism. But now the family must face an even greater evil that has arisen to destroy humanity, and threatens to rip the family apart.

Collects: BITTER ROOT #1-15, BITTER ROOT Red Summer Special

If this sounds like something you’d like, then jump in.  The water’s fine.  Pre-orders are available now.

TOO DEAD To DIE: A Simon Cross Thriller by Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin is Coming!

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Too Dead to Die: A Simon Cross Thriller by Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin will be released on December 20, 2022.  Here’s the lowdown…

Writer/artist team Guggenheim/Chaykin (BLADE, WOLVERINE) reunites for an all-new original that brings classic spy novels to the modern world.
In the 1980s, Simon Cross was America’s top super-spy. Today, his past has come back to haunt him, forcing him out of retirement for one final adventure.

I’ve been a Chaykin fan since the mid-70s.  Anything he writes, or in this case draws, is worth a look.  Pre-orders are available now.  Deal me in.

I’M STILL ALIVE by Roberto Saviano and Asaf Hanuka is Coming!

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I’m Still Alive by Roberto Saviano and Asaf Hanuka  just came onto my radar.  I’m a fan of crime stories and this is a true one.

For the first time since the publication of his internationally bestselling novel, Gomorrah, Roberto Saviano shares his early-life experience with the violence of the Neapolitan Mafia and how exposing them irrevocably changed his life.

Italian journalist Roberto Saviano was twenty-six years old when he published his first book, Gomorrah, to international acclaim. The book, which has gone on to sell 10 million copies worldwide, was a detailed exposé of the Neapolitan mafia, the Camorra, whose organized crime tactics have permeated all matters of industry in Naples: government, infrastructure, high fashion, and drugs. Over fifteen years after Gomorrah’s release, Saviano’s life has been under constant threat from would be assassins who forced him to leave his native Italy and to live under constant police protection. For the first time since then, Saviano shares his deepest thoughts and experiences of early life in Naples, witnessing the power and violence of Camorra firsthand, his current existence living under guard, all the while continuing to call attention to the deeply rooted crime and corruption that plagues his home. Collaborating with award-winning cartoonist Asaf Hanuka (The Realist, The Divine), both writer and artist examine a life behind armed guard whose best recourse against oppression is through old fashioned pen and paper.

I like the art style that Hanuka is using to tell the story.

I’m Still Alive drops on October 11, 2022.  Pre-orders are available now.

KILLADELPHIA Deluxe Edition, Book One by Rodney Barnes & Jason Shawn Alexander is Coming!

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Killadelphia took the comic world by storm.  If you know, you know.  If you don’t know, here’s a summary…

Finally, the acclaimed horror title which was nominated for an Eisner Award for “best new series” is collected in a stunning hardcover featuring the first 12 issues and more!

From RODNEY BARNES, the breakout star comics scribe and television writer behind HBO’s Winning Time, and the show-stopping artist who redefined SPAWN for a new generation, JASON SHAWN ALEXANDER.

When a small-town beat cop comes home to bury his murdered father, revered Philadelphia detective James Sangster Sr., he stumbles into a mystery that will lead him down a path of horrors and shake his beliefs to their core. The city that was once the symbol of liberty and freedom has fallen prey to corruption, poverty, unemployment, brutality…and vampires.

Now, it’s up to Jimmy and an unexpected companion to stop long-thought-dead President of the United States John Adams from building an undead army and staging a bloody new American revolution.

There’s a reason they say you can’t go home again. Welcome to Killadelphia.

Collects KILLADELPHIA #1-12 and chapters 1-5 of the terrifying werewolf tie-in story ELYSIUM GARDENS

I’m glad that Killadelphia is getting the deluxe hardcover treatment.  I’m looking forward to mine.  Pre-orders are available now.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD: The Deluxe Hardcover by Quentin Tarantino / Z-View

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Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: The Deluxe Hardcover by Quentin Tarantino

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Harper

First sentence…

The buzzer on Marvin Schwarz’s desk makes a noise.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the fictionalized account of Hollywood actor and tv star, Rick Dalton, his stuntman and best friend, Cliff Booth and the famous/infamous folks they run into in Hollywood in the late 60s.  If you’ve seen Tarantino’s movie of the same name, then you know the story… or at least most of it.  The novel goes into greater detail especially in regard to Cliff Booth.  If you liked the movie, you should enjoy the book.  If you think, I’ve seen the movie, I don’t need a rehash in a novelization, you might be surprised.  There’s a different story structure in the novel than the film and time to dig a deeper into the characters.

If you haven’t seen the movie, let me get you up to speed.  Rick Dalton was a rising movie star.  He had a western tv series called Bounty Law.  It was popular and ran for a few years.  Dalton then went into feature films, but that was then.  Now Dalton appears to be on his way down.  He’s been regulated to guest starring in television shows and usually ends up beaten and beaten up by the star of the show.  Dalton hopes he’ll get another run at feature films.  Cliff Booth is a World War II decorated vet, a stuntman and Rick’s best friend.  Booth may or may not have killed his wife (we find out for sure in the novel).  He also went toe-to-toe with Bruce Lee in a challenge that pretty much ended Booth getting stunt work.  Rick and Cliff will also have run-ins with the Charlie Manson family, Sharon Tate and others.  To say more would be to say too much,

Tarantino is more of a story-teller than a writer.  Someone said if the novel was better written, it wouldn’t be as good.  That may sound strange, but I get the sentiment.  As you read Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, there’s the feeling that we’re hearing the tale from an insider and not a writer somewhere trying to polish his prose.  I loved the inside stories/legends of real life actors/actresses in Hollywood.

The Deluxe Edition also features a Rick Dalton Bounty Law episode script; Photos of lobby cards from two of Rick Dalton’s feature films, two Bounty Law stills, two Bounty Law TV Guide covers, two Bounty Law comic book covers, a Bounty Law lunchbox, Bounty Law production art, a Bounty Law board game, 8 movie posters featuring Rick Dalton and other real-life stars, and a MAD magazine Bounty Law parody featuring the cover and story by Andrew Secunda and Tom Richmond.

I enjoyed Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and hope that Tarantino writes more novels.  I’m a sucker for a good story.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood rates 4 of 5 stars.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: The Deluxe Hardcover
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Paperback
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Kindle

TRAIN 8 – The Zombie Express / Z-View

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TRAIN 8 – The Zombie Express

Created and written by David Stephan and Marysol Levant
Additional writing and dialogue by Brian Phillipson
Art by Alex Cormack
Colors by Ashley Cormack and Alex Cormack
Letters and book design by Alex Murillo

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Train 8 is a high speed train traveling from Seattle to Chicago a few days before Thanksgiving.  It is barreling along when a passenger infected with a virus dies and reanimates as a zombie.  Soon things are out of control as passengers fight an ever-increasing number of the undead.  Surviving the zombies may not be enough, since the government plans to destroy everyone and everything on the train!

Train 8 was originally written as a film script.  It probably would have made a cool movie.  It’s not bad as a graphic novel.  Although the writing is a bit redundant/clunky in places, the story moves.  Some scenes are colored a bit too dark, but that’s expected when the lights go out.  ; )    Props for the ending which is foreshadowed but is still a surprise and sets up a potential sequel.

Overall, I enjoyed TRAIN 8.  If you’re a zombie fan, you should give it a look.

TRAIN 8 – The Zombie Express earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Better Call Saul” by Nate Gonzales!

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Once a week Joblo.com posts Awesome Art We’ve Found Around the Net.  As you can imagine, they post awesome art that they, well, you get the idea.

I always enjoy seeing what JoBlo has found because with each post they list the artist’s name and a link to more of his/her art.  If you check it out you’ll discover amazing artists like Nate Gonzales who did the piece above.

BLOOD and BULLETS by James R. Tuck / Z-View

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Blood and Bullets by James R. Tuck

Trade Paperback: 258 pages
Publisher:  Falstaff Books

First sentence…

Some nights are just destined to go to hell.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Deacon Chalk hunts things that go bump in the night.  Yeah, that’s right.  Monsters.  Chalk didn’t even believe in such things until his wife and daughter were killed by vampires.  Now he’s a monster hunter.

When a young woman tries to hire Chalk to kill someone who calls himself Nyteblade, Chalk gets enough information to warn the wanna-be vampire hunter that he’s been marked for death.  When Chalk shows up for a meeting with “Nyteblade” he finds himself in an ambush.  The most powerful vampire Deacon Chalk has ever heard of plans to make Chalk her slave!

James R. Tuck has created a winner.  Blood and Bullets is the first in the Deacon Chalk series.  I’d never read a Tuck book before, but after reading a few paragraphs of Blood and Bullets, I picked up the Deacon Chalk trilogy. (There are more books coming.)  Tuck’s Deacon Chalk and his supporting cast come across as real people placed in unreal situations.  I had a blast with Blood and Bullets and look forward to more Deacon Chalk adventures.  (Oh, and before I wrap up this review — how about that cool cover by Natania Barron!)

Blood and Bullets rates 4 of 5 stars.

Blood and Bullets Hardback
Blood and Bullets Paperback
Blood and Bullets Kindle

Rocky by Colin Murdoch!

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Colin Murdoch is a freelance artist based in North Yorkshire, UK.  Mr. Murdoch created the Rocky art above as a private commission.  Here’s his description…

This poster was illustrated as a private commission for a Rocky fan and collector, to be shown alongside a set of black gloves signed in silver pen, and we felt it would be appropriate to paint the image in black and white.

I tried to keep the illustration in a painterly style to give it a feeling of action.

You can see more of Colin Murdoch’s art at his website.  He is available for commissions.