I’m (Almost) Set for MegaCon 2014

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I’m set for MegaCon.  

I’ve got my hotel booked and my con passes purchased.  

Now all I have to do is sort through the Comic Book Guests and Artist Alley lists to decide who I will I try to get a Stallone sketch from.

Then I need to try to find out their sketch prices and see how it fits my budget.

Then I need to update my reference for artists.

Then I need to pull together the items I need for autographs.

Then I need to check out the panels, to see which I plan to attend.

Oh, and I should probably look at the Media Guests just to make sure there’s no one I’d like to see.

Okay, maybe I’m not quite set for MegaCon, but I do have my hotel booked and con passes purchased.

Z-View: The Mercenary Sea #1

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The Mercenary Sea is an on-going series created by Kel Symons & Matthew Reynolds published by Image.

Writer: Kel Symons

Artist: Matthew Reynolds

Action and adventure set in 1938—The South Seas. Japan has invaded China. War in Europe is imminent. Ex-bootlegger Jack Harper captains The Venture, a refitted German U-Boat, with a crew of expats, mercenaries and treasure hunters. They do whatever it takes to stay afloat, often running up against pirates, headhunters, spies, and soldiers. They’re always one step away from the greatest score of their lives…or their certain demise.

The Pitch: ”Hey, someone in comics should do a pulp action comic, you know a real throwback about a ragtag group of mercenaries led by an Indiana Jones-type who loves adventure and righting wrongs.”

“Let’s do it!”

The Tagline:  “Nice work if you can get it”

The Overview: Jack Harper is the leader of a group of mercenaries who make their living searching out adventure and taking jobs that bring them into contact with pirates, cannibals, treasure and the occasional job that pays real money.

In the first issue we meet Jack Harper (romantic adventurer) and his crew…

  • Wulf Renner, a former German U-Boat captain with a mysterious past
  • Jarreau, a former French Legionnaire and resident cook
  • “Smokestack” Jackson, a heavyweight contender framed for murder and on the run
  • Toby, who used to work for mobsters
  • Milton Weatherborne III aka as “Doc” a disgraced British Army surgeon who lost his medical license and a patient when he operated while drunk.
  • Samantha, the team’s mechanic and daughter of a moonshiner Jack used to work with

*** Beware – minor spoilers are found below ***

The Good

  • The logo for The Mercenary Sea is one of the best in recent memory.
  • Love the cover.  Nice design, colors and execution.
  • Matthew Reynolds‘ art.  It’s got an animation feel to it that I like.  I first became aware of Reynolds’ art on an independent comic called Marlow.  I liked Reynolds‘ art then and he’s improved a lot.
  • Kel Symons introduces a fairly big cast, backstory and lays the groundwork for adventures to come without sacrificing a fun story.
  • Special kudos to Matthew Reynolds‘ coloring of the issue!
  • The first issue ends on a cliffhanger!  (As it should considering it’s source material.)

The Bad:

  • While I like Reynolds‘ art I think he overuses silhouettes and blurred backgrounds.  It’s not that I don’t like those techniques but if used too often they can lose their impact.

The Ugly:

  • Harper and his crew run into a tribe of cannibals in the jungle.  There’s a set-up and payoff on some humor that works.  I think it might have worked even better had the cannibal tribe (especially the chief) look like cannibals.  The cannibals looked more silly than scary.  So yeah, this “ugly” is that they weren’t “ugly” enough.

I look forward to the next issue of The Mercenary Sea.

Rating:

 

Additional Source Material: CBR.com Interview with Symons & Reynolds.

Alfred Hitchcock or Saul Bass: Who Directed the “Psycho” Shower Scene?

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Who directed the Psycho shower scene?

Most folks would say, “Alfred Hitchcock” since Hitchcock is the director credited with directing Psycho.  Add to the fact that Hitchcock says he directed the scene and it would seem like case closed.

Ah, but things are seldom that easy, are they?

You see Hitchcock hired Saul Bass, the famous graphic artist, to storyboard the shower scene.  And Bass was on the set for the seven days it took to shoot the scene.  And Bass claims he directed the scene.

Vashi Nedomansky lays out a case to show that whether or not Bass directed the scene…

…it’s quite clear that the Saul Bass storyboards were followed explicitly to create the indelible images that made this spectacular scene.

Nedomansky’s Who Directed the PSYCHO Shower Scene? should be required reading for all movie fans.

Well done, Vashi.

Jake Hinkson on a CrimeSpree

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Jake Hinkson the author of the highly recommended Hell on Church Street, The Posthumous Man and Saint Homicide is the subject of an interview at CrimeSpree.

Hinkson talks about his influences, growing up in the South, his love of old films and more.

Here are a couple of quotes to entice you to click over…

Hardboiled crime fiction is about toughness. Noir is about weakness.

With Hell On Church Street, I found the voice of the main character right away. It jumped right out of me. I just loved the duality of Geoffrey Webb, his surface politeness and deep-seated contempt.

With The Posthumous Man, the voice of the main character was tricky because he’s a guy who, as the story begins, has just tried to commit suicide…. He dies in the emergency room for three minutes, and then wakes up to find that he has this bizarre second chance presented to him in the person of a deeply troubled nurse. He’s more philosophical than emotionally frazzled. I mean, after you’ve been dead, what’s there to be frazzled about?

There’s a line in Saint Homicide where Daniel says, “I simply don’t know what religion means to people for whom it doesn’t mean everything.”

Z-View: The Saviors #2

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The Saviors is an on-going series created by James Robinson & J. Bone published by Image.

Writer: James Robinson

Artist: J. Bone

You saw.  You know.  No way they let you go home, cover your eyes, put your fingers in your ears and pretend this never happened.  You’re as good as dead.

In issue one Tomas Ramirez, a slacker content living in a small town, discovered that shape-changing aliens live among us.  Tomas discovered their secret and they discovered his… that he knew.

Issue two picks up where issue one left off — Tomas is on the run in the desert from one of the morphing aliens.  Things are looking bleak when a stranger new to town provides a chance for escape… if he can be trusted.

James Robinson lulled us into the story in issue one.  Issue two flies at a breakneck pace as Tomas attempts to stay alive.

J. Bone’s art continues to be a joy.

The Saviors  is a comic for mature audiences due to drug references and language.  If you’re a fan of 50’s alien invasion movies [“I Married a Monster from Outer Space,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” etc.], ,or well written, well drawn comics, then The Saviors is for you.

Rating:

Josh Cooley’s Movies R Fun

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Josh Cooley is a storyboard artist for Pixar.  In his spare time Cooley works on personal projects.

His latest is Movies R Fun described as a “children’s picture book parody for grown-ups.”  

If you check out the trailer (yes, the book has a trailer) for Movies R Fun you’ll see that Cooley’s fun children’s book drawings of “age restricted” movies aren’t for children, but instead for the kid in all of us grownups.

Dead Body Road #2 / Z-View

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Dead Body Road is a six issue mini-series published by Image.

Writer: Justin Jordan

Penciler / Inker: Matteo Scalera

Colorist: Moreno Dinisio

You won’t kill me.

Yet.   Won’t kill you yet.   Can hurt you though.

Dead Body Road #1 set the bar high.  Great writing, great art and a crime/revenge story that hit all the right marks.  If you liked loved Dead Body Road #1 then you’re going to dig Dead Body Road #2.

Gage is on the trail of his wife’s killers.  This points him toward Rachael.  Her husband was part of the gang that robbed the bank and killed Gage’s wife.  Problem is, some of the gang have gotten to Rachael first.  She’s tough, but in over her head.

Gage is outnumbered and outgunned but left with no other option than to save Rachael and avenge his wife.  

Justin Jordan and Matteo Scalera continue to impress as they move the story forward.  These guys are a team to watch.

Dead Body Road #2  is a comic for mature audiences due to violence and language.  If you’re a fan of crime/revenge stories then this is for you.  

Rating: 4 out of 5

Adrian Brody is Harry Houdini

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The February 21, 2014 issue of Entertainment Weekly presented a First Look at Adrian Brody as Houdini.  Brody will play Houdini in a four hour mini-series that will premiere in May on the History Channel.

I’m looking forward to this.  I like Houdini (who doesn’t) and Brody is an interesting actor.  Brody is also a Houdini fan (who isn’t) and said Houdini is…

“…probably the original superhero.  Nobody (else) dared to do the things he dreamed up.” 

Sources: Entertainment Weekly and Wild About Houdini

Saint Homicide by Jake Hinkson / Z-View

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His name is Daniel.  The other cons call him Saint Homicide.

Daniel is a religious man.  To say that he is being tested, if you believe in such a thing, is an understatement.  As Daniel lays out his story you see how a man of God who is a faithful hardworking and devoted husband becomes a cold-blooded killer.  

Daniel isn’t on a slow spiral out of control, he’s on a runaway freight train to destruction and just as Daniel can’t stop what’s about to happen, you as a reader won’t be able to stop turning pages.

Jake Hinkson has the ability to draw us into a world that most would never want to inhabit.  When our lives cross paths with others like Daniel we sometimes think, there but for the grace of God…  in Daniel’s case he believes that it is the grace of God that brought him to be a convicted murderer sitting in a prison cell.

As Daniel lays out his story we discover that Daniel has always been a religious man and one who stood up for his beliefs no matter the cost.  While others see him as a fanatic, Daniel knows he is a servant of God.  Daniel believes by telling his story, “by honestly transcribing blasphemies, rough language, and ugly situations as they occurred” he is “creating a testament to the glory of Christ.”

So we learn about Daniel’s hatred of abortionists and how this brought about the loss of his job as a college professor.  We wonder how Daniel, now jobless, will take care of his wife who still suffers from injuries that have left her not only physically scarred but mentally diminished.

The pressure continues to build so that when Daniel agrees to go looking for his young sister-in-law who may have run off with a thug, we know that things are not going to end well.  And they don’t.

This novella is not for the feint of heart or younger readers, but if you’re a fan of crime fiction and noir my guess is you’ll really dig this.  My only complaint is that it ended too soon.  I wanted more.  Of course, isn’t that what good authors do… leave their readers wanting more?

I’m a Jake Hinkson fan.  And like Hell on Church Street and The Posthumous Man, I recommend Saint Homicide and will look forward to Hinson’s next novel(la).

Rating: 3 out of 5