Gosh! Comics Blog

Gosh Recommends... Eric Powell's The Goon

2008-05-08T11:17:00.005+01:00

Story and Art: Eric Powell
Dark Horse Comics

There exists an interesting dichotomy in the comics world. You cannot often have a continuing series that is consistently both a superb read and a feast for the eyes. Don’t get me wrong, there are fantastic comics with very good art (Invincible being a notable example) but it is rare where both the writing and the art are incredible.

For five years now, Dark Horse have had such a comic in Eric Powell’s The Goon. The story follows Goon, a street tough who runs his local town under the guise of an enforcer for Mafia don Labrazio. In reality Goon’s murdered the don and is running the show using the dead mobster’s name as mythical tool to scare people into paying up. Goon is joined on his endeavours by Franky, a pint-sized degenerate who enjoys nothing more than violence and infidelity.

Goon’s gang fights to keep his turf safe from all manner of hoodlums and monsters, with his arch nemesis being a nameless zombie priest and his horde of slack-jawed zombies.

The series is insane and hilarious; Powell is a master of comic timing. His artistic mastery accentuates his side-splitting dialogue, in an almost cinematic way. He manages to create genuinely likable characters, and you’ll undoubtedly fall in love with The Goon’s myriad of supporting cast members. My personal favourites are Spider (a small time criminal, who’s also a giant spider) and Willie Nagel (a zombie con-man.)

Early on in the series the audience is told in passing of a tragic, unspoken-of event in Goon’s past which occurred in Chinatown and four years later, Powell revealed the secret in the original graphic novel named, appropriately enough, Chinatown. A departure from the usual comedic flair, this wholly serious story is beautifully crafted, with some of the artist’s best work to date. The story itself is incredibly moving, bringing a lump to your throat as you see the Goon’s heart ripped asunder. Powell uses a slow build, allowing the reader to know there’s no happy ending in sight, but still delivers a punch to the gut in the final pages. Eric Powell demonstrates the depth of his creation by showing that this funny book can transcend its comic horror stable, and move into the more serious dramatic arena. If you’ve enjoyed the regular series, don’t be put off.

What’s brilliant about this series, and became evident in re-visiting the beginning issues, is that Powell has been crafting a long plot from the very beginning. Where issues have seemed incongruous to the overall workings, they’ve later been revealed as part of a larger whole. With the series soon to hit its quarter century, revelations are sure to abound.

The Goon is easily one of the most enjoyable reads in comics today. It is consistently entertaining, filled with thrills, chills and laughs. Having just re-read from the beginning, through the original graphic novel Chinatown, to the latest issue (#23), I remembered that comics can still be moving and astonishing. If you enjoy solid stories with a comic edge, and some of the most gorgeous and finely crafted art being produced in the medium, then make yours Goon.

Goon is currently in book form up to and including #18 of the current series, as well as the separate Chinatown OGN. There is also a collection of Powell’s first Goon work called Rough Stuff, this doesn’t play into the current series.

The complete list of currently available collections is as follows:
Vol 0 SC Rough Stuff
Vol 1 SC Nothin’ But Misery
Vol 2 SC My Murderous Childhood
Vol 3 SC Heaps of Ruination
Vol 4 SC Virtue and the Grim Consequences Thereof
Vol 5 SC Wicked Inclinations
Chinatown HC

Recommended by Matt

Due to Arrive 15/05/08

2008-05-08T11:12:00.002+01:00

Click the full post link below for a tentative list of titles due to ship next week:

100 Bullets #91
52 Aftermath The Four Horsemen TP
All New Iron Manual
Amazing Spider-Girl #20
Amazing Spider-Man #559
Anita Blake VH Guilty Pleasures #11 (Of 12)
Archie & Friends #119
Army Of Darkness #9 Long Road Home
Bat Lash #6 (Of 6)
Batman #676 RIP
Batman Confidential #17
Batman Strikes #45
Batman The Jokers Last Laugh TP
Batman Vs Two Face TP
Betty & Veronica Digest #184
Booster Gold #9
BPRD 1946 #5 (Of 5)
Casanova #14
Checkmate TP Vol 03 The Fall Of The Wall
Civil War Chronicles #11
Clandestine #4 (Of 5)
Dead Of Night Featuring Man Thing #4 (Of 4)
DMZ #31
Drafted TP Vol 01
Dragonlance Chronicles Vol 3 #11 (Of 12)
Essential Off Hb Marvel Univ Master Ed TP Vol 02
Final Crisis Sketchbook
Firebreather Series #1
Gamekeeper Series 2 #3
Gargoyles #3
Gen 13 #20
Genext #1 (Of 5)
Goon #24
Gotham Underground #8 (Of 9)
Green Arrow Black Canary #8
Green Lantern Corps #24
Green Lantern No Fear TP
Hulk WWH TP Gamma Corps
Huntress Year One #1 (Of 6)
Iron Man And Power Pack TP Armored Digest
Jack Kirby’s Omac One Man Army Corps HC
Jughead’s Double Digest #140
Last Defenders #3 (Of 6)
Legion Of Super Heroes In The 31st Century #14
Lost Boys Reign Of Frogs #1 (Of 4)
Marvel Adventures Hulk #11
Marvel Spotlight Hulk Movie
New Exiles #6
Newuniversal Shockfront #1 (Of 6)
Number Of The Beast #3 (Of 6)
Phantom #23
Project Superpowers #3 (Of 7)
Punisher #57
Red Sonja #33
Return O/T Gremlins #3 (Of 3)
Screamland #3 (Of 5)
Serenity Better Days #3 (Of 3)
Showcase Presents Green Lantern TP Vol 03
Simon Dark #8
Star Wars Knights Of Old Republic #28 Vector Part 4
Starman Omnibus HC Vol 01
Superman #676
Tiny Titans #4
Titans #2
Twelve #5 (Of 12)
Un-Men #10
Welcome To Tranquility TP Vol 02
Wonder Woman #20
Worlds Of Dungeons & Dragons #2
X-Men Origin Colossus
Young Liars #3
Zorro #3

The Gosh! Authority 09/05/08

2008-05-08T10:04:00.007+01:00

Hello, The Internet! Since we’ve moved to a blog format with these columns, I feel a real impetus to make an effort to put the truly exceptional comics first and foremost, so that they’re properly spotlighted to really show the authors that their efforts and their work are appreciated. As such, I feel no more justification is needed to make Jack Staff #16 my absolute, number one, tip-top tip of the week. Since making the leap of going monthly, Paul Grist has kept to an admirably disciplined release schedule at no sacrifice to the quality of the material being produced. The storytelling is still inspired, the characters are as sympathetic as ever, and the art’s still oh-so pretty in that quintessential Grist style. If you’ve never picked up Jack Staff or Grist’s other title Kane before, this is the week it all changes. Do yourself a favour and grab a trade, you won’t regret it.

You’d almost think there’d been some kind of Iron Man film released in the last week, because Marvel’s brought out not one, not two, but three new releases featuring ol’ Shellhead, all at once! Funny, isn’t it? The two that will be getting the most attention are Viva Las Vegas and Invincible Iron Man, both being very clearly painted in the image of Hollywood. Viva Las Vegas is even drawn by the designer of the film’s suit, Adi Granov, and written by director Jon Favreau! Invincible Iron Man, however, is planned as an ongoing title, and seems more accessible than the still-running Iron Man Director of SHIELD comic while remaining in continuity. Whatever that means. More importantly, Invincible Iron Man #1 makes for a fun read, written, as it is, by upcoming-and-actually-good comics scribe Matt Fraction, and chock-full, as it is, of technological paranoia.

However, without a doubt the best in Marvel’s Iron-tastic release pantheon is Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin in paperback, collecting Joe Casey and Eric Canete’s six-issue miniseries from last year. This is cheating a bit, as it hardly has anything whatsoever to do with the movie, but it provides some well-written, pacy, beautifully-drawn robot-suit beat-upping, and frankly that should be enough for any Iron Fan. If you missed this the first time around, I strongly recommend that you pick up this handy, affordable gem of a trade paperback. While some people may find Canete’s artwork a bit wild and not exactly to their taste, those people are wrong, and they know that they are wrong.

Hey, look, it’s Secret Invasion #2! This is what happens when you hire an artist who gets stuff done for your big event comic, amirite? While I would recommend Secret Invasion even to the event-skeptical given its strong and deeply teasing first issue, I would also recommend that you pick up last week’s New Avengers #40. This skipped straight past my radar at first, but on second look, it’s quite the issue! It gives you just about all of the Skrull political back-story, explains how the Skrull sleeper agents are undetectable, and even drops a huge Skrull unmasking on the end, all drawn absolutely beautifully by Jim Cheung.

DC parries with a slew of new titles reinvigorating old licenses! Tor #1 stands out as being written and drawn by Joe Kubert – a rarity in this day and age, I’m sure you’ll agree. However, it’s a welcome and pleasantly old-school return as Kubert straps us in for more prehistoric adventure with the primitive human who, in the company of his chimpanzee buddy Chee-Chee, searches for meaning in a wild world where everybody’s got something to hide, except for him and his monkey. Also releasing is an in-Vertigo rebirth named House of Mystery #1, repainting the House as a haven for stories reminiscent of Spider Robinson’s Callahan’s series (and anybody who gets that reference deserves a biscuit). Jack of Fables writers Bill Willingham and Matt Sturges are the perfect subjects to handle such a premise, so this title should be one worth keeping an eye on.

Another book worth mentioning is the collection at long last of JLA Presents Aztek The Ultimate Man. This is a gem from back in the day of Grant Morrison’s tenure JLA, co-written by Mark Millar – a character who lived, was briefly beloved, and then instantly disappeared without a trace. Perhaps he’ll find a place in Morrison’s post-Final Crisis DC Universe. Who can say?

For anybody interested in the Centre For Recent Drawing is hosting an exhibition and panel discussion on diary comics from the 8th-23rd May, Wednesday-Friday, 12-6pm. Both the exhibition and panel will have the input of such luminaries as Gabrielle Bell, Ariel Schrag and Rutu Modan. The panel discussion will take place on the first day of the exhibition, from 6:15-7pm and will be hosted by comics historian Paul Gravett. More information can be found at www.c4rd.org.uk

It’s come a bit late, but there’s still time for Previews watch – remember, this is one way we determine how much of something comes in, so if you want it – speak up! Firstly: next to Scary-Go-Round and The Perry Bible Fellowship, Chris Onstad’s Achewood is one of the most consistently entertaining webcomics around, and it’s finally getting its mainstream publishing debut in the Great Outdoor Fight hardcover. Collecting a pivotal storyline of what was declared Time magazine’s Greatest Graphic Novel of 2007, this book will appeal hugely to fans of Tony Millionaire, Chris Ware, Sam and Max and just any comics that are funny.

Embracing the fact that one of the best things by far about Batman is his villains, DC’s releasing a series of one-shots, all in July, each telling a story epitomising a villain’s particular brand of wickedness, under the banner The Joker’s Asylum. For my money, the most fun edition should prove to be The Penguin, drawn by DC’s talented go-to cartoonist Jason Pearson and written by Gosh favourite Jason Aaron! Also covered are Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Two-Face and The Joker himself. Worth noting as well is Jonah Hex #33, a special one-off issue drawn by Darwyn Cooke and set in his own backyard of sunny Canada.

The new Wildstorm universe makes its debut in the pages of WildCATS World’s End #1, written by Christos Gage and with appealing art by Neil Googe, bringing back such favourites as Zealot, Grifter, and my own personal favourite metal-jawed rocker, Ladytron.

Image Comics’ oddest solicitation of the month must be for Tori Amos’ Comic Book Tattoo, which runs to a full 480 pages of Amos-inspired short stories by the likes of Jonathan Hickman, Eric Canete, Colleen Doran and Jock! First in the ‘cool’ stakes is Liberty Comics, a one-shot benefit book produced for the promotion of the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund. However, your patronage of Liberty Comics won’t be without its rewards, containing as it does brand new The Boys and Criminal stories, as well as original work by Darwyn Cooke, John Paul Leon and Sergio Aragonés!

Marvel’s industry ads answer a question as old as time, namely: whatever happened to Newuniversal? That answer comes in the form of two new titles: Newuniversal: Shockfront and Newuniversal: 1959. While the former is written by Ellis as you’d expect, the latter is written by Phonogram scribe Kieron Gillen in his first mainstream Marvel writing gig. Coolest ad of the month, however, is the unexpected return of Kathryn Immonen’s interpretation of Patsy Walker: Hellcat. It was cool in Marvel Comics Presents, it’ll be cool now! Sadly, her husband Stuart Immonen is not signed on for art duties, but Spanish cartoonist David Lafuente should provide ample compensation in his stead.

And now for this week’s competition! To coincide with Marvel’s current Alan Davis fever, with a new Clandestine on the shelves and X-Men covers aplenty, we’re giving away three copies of the premiere hardcover of his recent Killraven series for Marvel. And since it’s a Secret Invasion week, the killer question is:

Which tragically memorable moment in Skrull history was rendered by Alan Davis in X-Men #90?

If you think you know the correct answer, just comment on this post on our blog. If you can’t sign in to a personal account, you can comment anonymously – but don’t forget to leave your name in the comment itself! The first three people to comment with the correct answer win a copy of the book. Please note that the judge’s decision is final and that it is the responsibility of prize winners to arrange collection of the prize within a period of 14 days, after which any non-collected prizes will be offered to the runner-up.

Best of luck, and see you next week!
- Tom

In Store 09/05/08

2008-05-08T09:52:00.003+01:00

Click the full post link below for a list of items in-store this week:

Archie Double Digest #188
Tales From Riverdale Digest #28
2000 AD #1585 & 1586
2000 AD Extreme Ed #29
Abe Sapien The Drowning #4 (Of 5)
Abject Expressionism SC Art Of Ron English
Adam Strange Archives HC Vol 03
Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters #3
All New Atom #23
American Dream #1 (Of 5)
American Splendor Season Two #2 (Of 4)
Angel After The Fall #7
Atomic Robo #6 (Of 6)
Avengers Invaders #1 (Of 12)
Mighty Avengers #13 SI
New Avengers Illuminati TP
Batman Death Mask #2 (Of 4)
Batman Vs The Scarecrow
Detective Comics #844
Battlestar Galactica Origins #5
Best Of Draw Magazine TP Vol 03
Big Badz #1 (Of 4)
Bizarre New World Population Explosion GN
Black Magic 2nd Ed TP
Black Summer #6 (Warren Ellis)
Boys #18 (Garth Ennis)
Buck Godot Psmith HC & SC
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #14
Caliber #1
Captain America Prem HC Vol 02 Death Of Captain America
Cavewoman Reloaded #5 & Sp Ed
Color Of Rage TP Vol 01
Comic Art Now
Conan #50
Countdown To Mystery #7 (Of 8)
Crossing Midnight #18 (M. Carey)
Dark Tower Long Road Home #3
DC Special Raven #3 (Of 5)
DC Universe Special JLA
Dead Space #3 (Of 6)
Deadworld TP Bits & Pieces
Delayed Replays GN
Uncle Scrooge #375
Disney’s Comics & Stories #690
Dummys Guide To Danger Lost At Sea #2
Dynamo 5 Annual #1
Exterminators #29
Exterminators TP Vol 04
Fantastic Four TP New FF
Flash Symbol New Frontier T/S By Darwyn Cooke
Foolkiller #5 (Of 5)
Forgotten Realms The Legacy #2
Foundation #5 (Of 5)
Franklin Richards Not So Secret Invasion
Gary Panter HC Slip Case
Gemini #1 (Of 5)
George R R Martin’s Wild Cards #2
Hercules #1
House Of Mystery #1
Hulk TP World War Hulk (JRJR)
Infinity Inc #9 (Peter Milligan)
Invincible Iron Man #1 (Fraction)
Iron Man TP Enter The Mandarin
Iron Man Viva Las Vegas #1 (Of 4)
Iron Man War Machine TP
Jack Staff #16 (Paul Grist)
JLA New Frontier By Cooke T/S
JLA Presents Aztek TP (M Millar)
Jonah Hex #31
Justice League Unlimited #45
Local #11 (Of 12) (Brian Wood)
Lonesome Puppy HC (Y. Nara)
Lords Of Avalon SOD #4 (Of 6)
Love On The Racks HC
Lucha Libre #4
Madman Atomic Comics #8
Magic Pickle GN (Scott Morse)
Man With No Name #1
Metal Men #8 (Of 8) (D. Rouleau)
Midnighter #19
Moon Knight #18
New Dynamix #3 (Of 5)
Nightwing #144
Nova #13
Omega Unknown #8 (Of 10)
Otto’s Orange Day HC
Punisher War Journal #19
Question TP Vol 02
Rann Thanagar Holy War #1 (Of 8)
Robin Hood (Frank Bellamy)
Rogue Angel Teller Of Tales #3
Savage Tales #7
Scud Disposable Assassin #24
Secret Invasion #2 (Of 8) SI
She-Hulk Premiere HC Jaded
Silent Hill Sinners Reward #3
Smallville Series 2 Action Figures
Amazing Spider-Man #558
Marvel Adv Spider-Man #39
Star Wars Legacy #23
Suburban Glamour TP Vol 01
Supergirl #29
Action Comics Annual #11
Superman Classic Symbol 2008 T-Shirt
Tales From The Crypt Vol 3 HC & SC
Thunderbolts Reason In Madness
Tor #1 (Of 6) (Joe Kubert)
Transformers Best Of The UK Dinobots TP
Transformers Movie Sequel #1
Trigan Empire: Red Death
Ultimate X-Men #93
Vinyl Underground #8
War That Time Forgot #1 (Of 12)
Where Madness Reigns Art Of Chris Grimly SC
Wizard Magazine #200 Platinum
X Omnibus TP Vol 01
Cable #3 Divided We Stand
Logan #3 (Of 3) (BKV /Risso)
X-Factor Quick And Dead (David)
Young X-Men #2 Divided We Stand

MANGA

Absolute Boyfriend Vol 6
Black Cat Vol 14
Crimson Hero Vol 8
D Gray Man Vol 9
Dr Slump Vol 15
Gin Tama Vol 6
Hunter X Hunter Vol 20
Kaze Hikaru Vol 9
Kurohime Vol 5
Naruto Vol 29
Nodame Cantabile GN Vol 13
Sa Vol 4
Shaman King Vol 16
Skip Beat Vol 12
Whistle Vol 19

Gosh Recommends... Sam & Max Surfin' The Highway

2008-05-04T15:14:00.014+01:00

Story and Art: Steve Purcell
Telltale Press

The various stand-out entries in the genre of late-20th-century independent humour comics shared a number of similar characteristics. They were usually the product of a creator’s singular vision, they were usually deeply demented, and five-odd years after the fact, they were usually almost impossible to find. Thankfully, now, a century later (sort of), this final point has been remedied. Evan Dorkin’s Bill and Ted and Dork comics were republished by Slave Labor, Roger Langridge’s Arc D’Ecco and Fred the Clown were resurrected by Fantagraphics, and now, at long last, Steve Purcell’s Sam & Max: Surfin’ The Highway is back in print in a lush new edition from Telltale Press.

Some people may already know the dog-and-rabbity-thing combo from their other incarnations in video game or Saturday morning cartoon form, but it was the sheer strength of Purcell’s early self-published works that snagged these later expansions to the franchise. Even from the first issue (originally published in 1987), these comics are possessed of an anarchic and lightly satirical vibe all their own, a unique signifier that survives in all the duo’s adventures right up to this day.

The characters’ perennial adaptability is evident in this collection, as they hop, skip and blast their way through full-length comic books, single-page gag strips and colour splash pages in consistently guffaw-inducing style. What’s more, while the characters may have emerged fully-formed, the artwork certainly didn’t, and seeing Purcell’s artistic leaps and bounds through the years adds another dimension of enjoyment to this compilation.

Ignoring the duo’s other appearances over the last 20 years, the material in this collection (some of which is reprinted here for the very first time) stands up brilliantly just as a collection of humour comics. Every page of Surfin’ the Highway is packed full of personality, sight gags and ravishingly pretty/shockingly disgusting pictures. The only downside is that these pages are far too few. Kudos to Steve Purcell on this gorgeous new edition, and here’s to another 20 years of Sam and Max! You crack me up, little buddy.

Recommended by Tom

Some images courtesy of Telltale Games, see more beautiful Steve Purcell artwork on his blog.

Sunny Days Indoors 04/05/08

2008-05-04T14:32:00.009+01:00

reviews by Will Shyne

A slow week last week. I'm starting to come to terms with the idea that I'm in an abusive relationship with Morrison's Batman. No matter how bad the art gets, I keep coming back.

I could handle Andy Kubert - to my mind the lesser of the two Kubert brothers - as inked by Jesse Delperdang, who has done nice things for Kubert's art since Ka-Zar. The text story was heavy going but still had promise. JH Williams is a personal favourite so I was very happy for those three issues. But for about a year now, it's been relentless bad art. On Batman 675, which years back would have been one of those special issues, Ryan Benjamin takes that ball and runs with it. Even Tony Daniel will have to work hard to achieve the level of thoughtless, amateurish rubbish that Grant Morrison gets to work with here. I don't know what kind of editor gets to see this stuff in black and white before the colourist comes in and has to try to save it.

Ryan Benjamin came onto the scene shortly after Tony Daniel in about '94 as a part of one of Jim Lee's talent searches, along with Travis Charest, J Scott Campbell and Aaron Weisenfeld, all of whom have gone on to better things. I can only hope for his sake, as I'm not malicious, that he had about an hour to draw these 22 pages. Storywise Morrison moves Batman more and more towards the breakdown he keeps referring to in interviews and we get to see that it's not Talia who's behind these various future Batmen or the murder attempts on Bruce Wayne. Someone else is out to get him and knows his identity. Shoulda been good!

Marvel make sure their A-list writers get the appropriate level of artist, or at least the artist they want. Mark Millar seems to get whatever he wants. Bendis too. Yet one of DC's, hands down, best writers on their flagship title gets...this. I think all of the above is what's gettng me really interested in Final Crisis. I've never read any of the other Crisis books and I'm sure it won't matter but at least I'll be able to pore over the art.

Moving on...

Spirit #16 came out and I loved it. I really enjoyed the breezy story - Spirit wandering around a film set - the Spirit splash was great and Paul Smith's art was excellent and less 'on model' than his previous issue. Lee Loughridge's colours are good and it's all wrapped up in a Bruce Timm cover. If the last two issues were a little shakey and made you feel Darwyn Cooke took all the good stuff with him, I recommend checking out this issue.

My local comic shop here in BCN gave me some free comics for Free Comic Book Day which was a nice thought. One nice surprise in there was Hellboy and the Golden Army. An annoying film still cover, which I won't bother scanning, but a really nice story which is a comic ad-ap-ta-tion of the prologue to the second movie. Guillermo Del Toro says in the introduction that this is in the movie but told with puppets. Cool! The art is by Francisco Ruiz Velasco who drew Lone Wolf 2100 and apparently also works on designs for the second Hellboy movie. There's not really any Hellboy in it but Mignola scripts Professor 'Broom' telling the story to Hellboy Jr. All good.

I finished reading Michael "Heroes" Green's Batman:Lovers and Madmen HC, collecting the story with Denys Cowan art from Batman Classified. Telling a story from Batman's early years with a new origin for the Joker, it has to be read with some suspension of disbelief; we all know the origin of the Joker, i.e. our established favourite or mixture of various. Jack Napier kills Tom and Martha Wayne and sets his ironic destiny at the hands of Batman. Desperate, unnamed, unfunny comic gets knocked into chemicals and comes out nuts and gorgeously drawn by Bolland. Those are my two. One's a film, one's a comic.

This book reads like a film in a comic and the Joker looks like the pending Heath Ledger version. Like any sensible writer, he keeps Year One in play and the story shows bored/suicidal criminal who gets a a new lease of life after meeting Batman (like a reversal of JM DeMatteis' Going Sane story). Taken on it's own terms, out of DContinuity etc, the pacing's great, the characterisation of Alfred, Bruce, Batman, the Joker is all spot on. Denys Cowan and John Floyd's art is great, nutty looking cartooning far from any previous published work by them and ILL's colouring is the best I've seen from them. Recommended!

Bristol Reminder: 10th & 11th May 2008

2008-05-04T14:17:00.003+01:00

A final reminder from the folks behind the Bristol International Comics Expo being held next weekend, reprinted below for your edification:

One more week and the UK’s biggest comics convention hits the British Empire & Commonwealth Exhibition Hall in Bristol on 10th and 11th May 2008, and this week we wrap up our look at what’s on at the Bristol Expo with the last set of all-new announcements and announce just who has agreed to cut the ribbon for the Comics Village Fete, the event for kids of all ages.

The Bristol International Comic Expo website www.comicexpo.net has the full details of all guests and panels over the weekend – Saturday’s line-up is here: http://www.comicexpo.net/08saturday.html – Sunday’s here: http://www.comicexpo.net/08sunday.html.

Finally, the remaining sets of updates to the Virtual Bristol Anthology have taken place, meaning much can be previewed (or even advance ordered) from the VBA website: http://virtualbristol.monkeyswithmachineguns.com

MIKE McKONE (Exiles, Teen Titans, Fantastic Four) has just been added to the line-up for his 1st UK Con appearance. Upcoming and recent work includes Amazing Spider-Man #562 and #563 (out in June) and a Skrull alternative cover for Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1, covers for Wildstorm’s Number of the Beast #7 and #8 in July.

Accent UK launch their latest graphic novel ROBOTS which continues their popular line of themed anthologies. At 204 pages it’s the biggest yet with a host of indie, emerging and established comics’ talent from around the globe providing a bumper collection of exclusive robotic themed strips. Available at a special expo price of just £8 and the follow up to last year’s ZOMBIES smash. Limited stocks will also be available of a ROBOTS sketchbook and their new T- Shirt line. Many artists and contributors will also be dropping by their tables over the weekend to sign n sketch and the editors will happily meet prospective new creators and by special arrangement, copies of The Book Palace’s newly released collection of Frank Bellamy’s Complete ROBIN HOOD Adventures will also be available! (www.accentukcomics.com).

Ardden’s Flash Gordon #0 sold out of 3250 copies at the NYC con and copies have been selling for up to $15 on EBAY – they’ve reserved 150 copies of the UK edition and 100 of the NYC con edition for the Bristol show, priced at £3.00 each. They’ve also printed 25 copies of a blank cover edition and for £20 Paul Green (the Flash artist) will be sketching on these – however only 15 of these will be available on the day as 10 have been pre-bought by US fans.

Classical Comics will have Jon Haward at the Bristol Expo to sign copies of the wonderful Macbeth, as will Nigel Dobbyn. Kat and Jason will be up for signing Henry V - and the brand new, just off the press ELT version of Henry V will be on their stand. This is the 'fourth' version of the book, designed to teach English to students across the globe. The book has 2 audio CDs in the back too. It's produced by Cengage Learning. Declan will be at the Bristol Expo to talk about Frankenstein, John M Burns has his own table, so if anyone wants to know more about the very beautiful Jane Eyre, he will be delighted to have a chat. Finally, Mike Collins has had some stunning postcards printed - Scrooge at his best! A Christmas Carol is going to be one stunning book!!

The latest edition of Paul Scott’s Omnivistascope book is rolling off the printers and will available at the Bristol Expo - issue 4 is an 80-page darkly futuristic comic book featuring some of the very best talent from the British underground. Produced annually, it sets new standards in independent comics. Come and keep the Omnivistascope crew entertained on their stall at Bristol this year, see the new comic and also partake of Ben Clark's Magic Beans Comics, also sharing the stall. www.omnivistascope.com

The people from Murky Depths will not only be launching Murky Depths #4 at the reduced price of £6 (it retails at £6.99) but are also knocking an extra £2 off the subscription price from now* until the end of the Expo, so for just £22 you can receive the next four issues before anyone else. Also their first full-colour colour 28-page comic from their publishing imprint The House of Murky Depths, Death and The Maiden #4 by Richard Calder, will be on sale at the reduced price of £3.
*Currently only available via Warren Elli’s Whitechapel site at this thread: http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=1847&page=1#Item_1

Cosplay Competition + Masquerade: Those Awesome people over at Orang Utan Comics are running a blog containing the rules, entry forms and details of the star presenters and judges, hurry on over to http://www.myspace.com/bicefilmnight to enter. The closing date for entries is April 26th 2008 and places are strictly limited, first come, first served. VALERIE PEREZ, star of Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Tears Of The Dragon will be attending the Bristol Expo, she will be flying over from America and will be presenting the Film Night, Cosplay Competition and Masquerade. She also co-writes the Official Prequel Comic which will be available in the Film Night goody bags.

CBBC – the Children’s BBC channel – will be at the Bristol Expo as part of their search for a superhero. They’re looking for children aged between 9 and 13 to turn themselves into unique, original, never-before-seen superheroes to take part in a new CBBC show, to be hosted by Sam and Mark. Have you always dreamed of being a superhero? What would your superhero name be? What would your costume look like? What superpowers would you have? Do you think you've got what it takes to go head to head with other Superhero wannabes?

Knockabout make a welcome return to the Bristol Expo – at their table Gilbert Shelton and Hunt Emerson will be signing their books, along with special guest David Shenton and his graphic novel Get Her. David is appearing on the Gay Comics panel on Saturday.

Insomnia’s Layer Zero volumes one and two are combined for the first time and to celebrate the launch of Layer Zero TPB, Special Bristol 2008 limited edition copies of the book will be available along with regular stock. Only 10 copies will be available of the limited edition, which includes a free poster (worth £4), unseen Cancertown signed concept art, and previews of Cages and Cancertown (priceless). To order your copy, costing £20, send an email quoting “No Sleep” and your details to layerzero@insomniapublications.com. What’s more, if you order your copy now you’ll be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of Cages, all the way from San Diego, signed by Xander Bennett, Melanie Cook, Jonathan Hickman, and Ben Templesmith. With over 30 creators involved; including some famous names in the industry including Simon “Cy” Dethan, Paul Green and Thomas Mauer (Starship Troopers) along with talents such as Paul Cartwright, Alasdair Duncan, Luke Hinchley, Mike Webster, Robert Robinson, Thommy Melanson and many more; and diverse creative styles on themes of Insomnia and Time, Layer Zero TPB is a book not to be missed. 120 pages full color.

In addition: Free copies of Daemon issue one will be available to the first 500 people on the Saturday morning in the Comic Expo’s goodie bag; Alasdair Duncan’s novel, The Kill Cell, will be on sale along with a selection of posters by Paul Cartwright and Paul Green; Cancertown will be available to preview over the weekend; a limited supply of Cages proofs will for sale and Portfolio reviews will also be taking place over the weekend. For more information on Insomnia Publications visit the new and improved website www.insomniapublications.com

In Podcast news, the Geek Syndicate is reformed this week as Dave rejoins the show with a small rant on Lost. Barry also discusses the pros and cons of working without a co-host for an episode. We also look forward to the Bristol Comic Expo with its organiser Mike Allwood: http://media.libsyn.com/media/geeksyndicate/GSepisode79.mp3
Also featuring: Mortal Kombat vs DC universe - is it madness or genius? Primeval season three news - it's a biggie people! The upcoming Blake's 7 remake - will it be UK's answer to BSG ? Lost - is it actually going anywhere? The Spirit/Sin City 2 teaser trailer. The Hancock trailer - is going to be the Wild Wild West of comic book movies?

Emma Simcock-Tooth's oil paintings will be best known to comic fans through the Trace of Fragile Bliss stories in Mam Tor's Event Horizon. In her “day job” as a portrait painter she's recently secured Arts Council funding for new project “Concilium Plebis” - Caravaggio-esque portraits of “chavs” and “hoodies”. She has exhibited all over the UK and in Europe, from guerilla art spaces in derelict buildings to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, and at the Bristol Expo she’ll be in the Empire Room, off of the main Expo hall and next door to the Comics Village Fete.

Speaking of the Village Fete, it’s now been confirmed that at midday on Saturday the Fete will be opened by artist Mark Buckingham (Fables and so much more)….the line-up of events for kids and adults who are young are heart: Superhero/Villain Face Painting – Treasure Hunt with Exclusive Expo prizes – Stack O’Comics (guess the number of comics…win them all if you’re right) – Design-A-Character Competition (sponsored by Diamond UK), three age categories, three prizes per category – all these events are free to enter. For those looking for some cheap graphic novels, the Bric A Brac table will offer up manga for two pounds each, trades from four.

The Bristol International Comic Expo 2008 will be held over the weekend of 10th and 11th May 2008 at the British Empire & Commonwealth Museum and the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Bristol, England, with an early bird film night on Friday 9th May. Full details are available on the official website, www.comicexpo.net – including ticket ordering details, just £6 for adults for each day, accompanied children free, ages 12-16 just one pound.

Due to Arrive 09/05/08

2008-04-30T16:10:00.001+01:00

Click the full post link below for a tentative list of titles due to ship next week:

52 Aftermath The Four Horsemen TP
Abe Sapien The Drowning #4 (Of 5)
Action Comics Annual #11
All New Atom #23
Amazing Spider-Man #558
American Dream #1 (Of 5)
American Splendor Season Two #2 (Of 4)
Avengers Invaders #1 (Of 12)
Batman Death Mask #2 (Of 4)
Batman The Joker’s Last Laugh TP
Battlestar Galactica Origins #5
Best Of Draw Magazine Vol 3 TP
Boys #18
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #14
Cable #3
Checkmate Vol 3 The Fall Of The Wall TP
Conan #50
Countdown To Mystery #7 (Of 8)
Crossing Midnight #18
Dark Tower Long Road Home #3 (Of 5)
DC Special Raven #3 (Of 5)
DC Universe Special Justice League Of America
Dead Space #3 (Of 6)
Death Grub (One Shot)
Detective Comics #844
Dragonlance Chronicles Vol 3 #11 (Of 12)
Exterminators #29
Exterminators Vol 4 Crossfire Collateral TP
Fantastic Four TP New Fantastic Four
Foolkiller #5 (Of 5)
Forgotten Realms The Legacy #2 (Of 3)
Franklin Richards Not So Secret Invasion
Gemini #1 (Of 5)
Godland #23
Green Lantern No Fear TP
Halloween Nightdance #4
History Of Violence TP
House Of Mystery #1
World War Hulk TP
Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull TP
Infinity Inc #9
Invincible Iron Man #1
Iron Man Enter The Mandarin TP
Iron Man Viva Las Vegas #1 (Of 4)
Iron Man War Machine TP
Jack Of Fables Vol 2 Jack Of Hearts TP
Jack Staff #16
JLA Presents Aztek The Ultimate Man TP
Jonah Hex #31
Justice League Unlimited #45
Logan #3 (Of 3)
Lords Of Avalon Sod #4 (Of 6)
Lucha Libre #4
Madman Atomic Comics #8
Maintenance #10
Man With No Name #1
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #39
Marvel Two-In-One #11
Metal Men #8 (Of 8)
Midnighter #19
Mighty Avengers #13 Secret Invasion
Moon Knight #18
My Inner Bimbo #4 (Of 5)
Nearly Complete Essential Hembeck Archives Omnibus
New Avengers Illuminati TP
New Dynamix #3 (Of 5)
Nightwing #144
Nova #13
Omega Unknown #8 (Of 10)
Pals n’ Gals Double Digest #121
Pretty Baby Machine #1 (Of 3)
Punisher War Journal #19
Question Vol 2 Poisoned Ground TP
Rann Thanagar Holy War #1 (Of 8)
Rex Libris #11
Savage Tales #7
Scud The Disposable Assassin #24
Secret Invasion #2 (Of 8)
Shark-Man #3
Side Scrollers GN
Spooks #4
Star Wars Legacy #23
Steve Niles Strange Cases #4
Suburban Glamour Vol 1 TP
Supergirl #29
Texas Chainsaw Massacre Raising Cain #1
Thunderbolts Reason In Madness
Tor #1 (Of 6)
True Story Swear To God Image Ed #11
Uncle Scrooge #3750
Vertigo First Cut TP
Vinyl Underground #8
Walking Dead #49
Walking Dead Special Ed #1
Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories #690
War That Time Forgot #1 (Of 12)
Wasteland #17
Welcome To Tranquility Vol 2 TP
X-Factor Quick And Dead
Young X-Men #2

The Gosh! Authority 01/05/08 - Telltale Games Edition!

2008-04-30T15:56:00.009+01:00

Hello all! This week’s quite the oddball in terms of new releases, but don’t fret, there’s plenty of industry mainstays to pad out the pile! However, pride of place goes to Elephantmen War Toys #3. Yes, it’s the final issue in the series, but I’ve just been enjoying it so much that it deserves this last shot at being spotlighted. In its previous two incarnations, Hip Flask and Elephantmen, the series shied away from showing the European war that led to its dystopian setting, only rarely making reference to the events therein. Here, creator Richard Starkings and artist Moritat bring it to life in vivid, gory detail, bringing about some of the series’ greatest thrills to date.

DC’s two biggest releases this week are Action Comics #864 and DC Universe Zero. The former of these is a one-shot by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, following on from their excellent Legion of Super-Heroes arc. Gary Frank’s art has been a perfect match for DC’s flagship title, displaying a clear understanding of action-packed storytelling, and with evident care being taken over the design of the characters and their world. If the writing maintains the high standard established in the previous arc, this should be an issue well worth reading!

DC Universe Zero, on the other hand, is the one-stop shop for all your DC continuity needs! Aiming to catch out-of-the-loop readers up on twenty-odd years of DC history, this 30p wonder should tell you everything you need to know going into the upcoming Final Crisis. Written by Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns and with art supplied by a host of fan favourites including George Pérez, JG Jones and Carlos Pacheco, this is 30p you can probably afford to spend. Particularly if, like me, you missed out on the entirety of Countdown!

Marvel’s week is less robust, however they do bring us perennial favourite Immortal Iron Fist and two new Thor releases! The first is the most significant, being the first release in hardcover of J Michael Straczynski and Olivier Coipel’s new title. This series has been consistently excellent so far, and if you haven’t picked it up at all yet, do! It’s a real back-to-basics approach to the character, but one with more depth than you’d expect, written with a real flair and an endearing sense of humour. This is all to say nothing of Coipel’s absolutely gorgeous artwork, backed up with some outstanding work by gifted colourist Laura Martin, whose rendering and colour scheme has really helped cement the series’ rich visual quality.

It’s this quality which is mimicked to good effect in the mythologically-charged Thor: Ages Of Thunder, the week’s other showcase for the Odinson. This is the first in a series of one-shots written by Casanova creator and Immortal Iron Fist co-writer Matt Fraction. The series plans to flesh out Marvel’s thunder god character by resetting the character’s history against traditional myth. It’s a nicely done romp and full of dangerous liaisons, royal rivalries and frost giants, and a nice diversion in the wait for the next issue of the regular series.

If those picks weren’t enough, there’s an almost ridiculous number of tempting trades on offer this week as well! We’ve got The Definitive Queen & Country Vol 2! We’ve got Mike Allred’s edition of Modern Masters! We’ve got BPRD Vol 8: Killing Ground, Tales Of The Fear Agent and X-Men: Messiah Complex in hardcover. However, you know all about those already. I’m here to talk to you today about Princess at Midnight. No, wait, come back! Regular readers of this column will know that we here at Gosh were great advocates of Andi Watson’s most recent series, Glister, and for all intents and purposes, this is its spiritual precursor, reprinted for the first time and expanded in a new edition, all for just £4. The plot revolves around a young girl who spends her days languishing in home-schooling boredom, and spends her nights as the warlord princess of Castle Waxing, leading her people against the Horrible Horde. Sounds cool, right? Well, a certain kind of cool, anyway.

We’ve also recently received the fourth volume of Hank Ketcham’s Complete Dennis the Menace collections, along with the second box set, of volumes three and four. Don’t be mistaken, this isn’t the hero of the Beano, this is the serendipitously synchronous scallywag spawned in America, and there’s some pretty incredible stuff in there. While the gags are firmly in the ‘inoffensive’ category, the artwork communicates clarity of line and ease of brushwork that’s still impressive today, and needs to be seen to be believed.

The news comes in dribs and drabs this week, starting with word that Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo Del Toro is going to be helming the long-delayed Hobbit film. Or rather, films. The film’s going to come out in two segments, both directed by Del Toro and executive produced (whatever that means) by Lord of the Rings maestro Peter Jackson.

If you thought to yourself ‘that was quite nerdy, that news there’, then hold onto your pocket protector for this one, as DC has revealed that – ahem – fan favourite character Power Girl is soon to be starring in her own series debuting later this year. It’s going to be written by Jimmy Palmiotti and drawn by Amanda Conner, meaning that not only will it look nice, but it’ll have a female creator’s name on it. This, of course, will totally absolve it of any offences it might potentially be seen to be committing.

Now for a corner of the news roundup that I myself am very excited about: Aaron-watch! Scalped creator Jason Aaron is a hurricane of comics writing, and he’s proving it once again with his recently announced two-issue stint on Hellblazer. The two issues, #245 and #246 will both have art provided by Sean Murphy, and will revolve around Constantine’s time in Newcastle as frontman of punk band Mucous Membrane. Aaron’s other new upcoming run is writing issues #39-41 of Black Panther, a gig apparently garnered from his work on Vertigo series The Other Side. What’s the connection? Well, these issues are the Black Panther Secret Invasion tie-ins, and they will apparently take the form of a land war between Black Panther’s subjects and the invading Skrull forces. The fur’s going to fly, starting in July.

But Tom, you ask, what was with that teasing Sam and Max image you posted yesterday that everybody noticed? Well, it was all a ruse, a cunning ruse to build excitement for today’s great big Telltale Games giveaway! We’ve got download codes for the brand new season of Sam and Max computer games courtesy of our very generous friends at Telltale Games. These games are chock full of fun, gags and personality, and carry on the proud tradition of Purcellian humour established in the series. But enough of the hard sell, you all want to know how you can win this phenomenal prize! All you have to do is answer the following question:

Who was singled out, both in the first comic book issue and the animated series, as the Freelance Police’s greatest enemy? Clue: he was described by Max as ‘warm and squishy’.

If you think you know the correct answer, just comment on this post on our blog. If you can’t sign in to a personal account, you can comment anonymously – but don’t forget to leave your name in the comment itself! We’ve got one grand prize of the complete second season of games and three runner-up prizes of the first episode, Ice Station Santa. Please note that the judge’s decision is final. Good luck!

And finally, just a reminder that due to next week’s sure-to-shine bank holiday Monday, the next delivery will arrive a day late, on Friday, May 9th.

- Tom

In Store 01/05/08

2008-04-30T15:51:00.003+01:00

Click the full post link below for a list of items in-store this week:

Betty & Veronica Double Digest #160
2000 AD #1584
Judge Dredd Megazine #271
Abyss #4 (Of 4)
Adventures Of Tymm Alien Circus #1
Alter Ego #77
Avengers Initiative #12
New Avengers #40 Secret Invasion
Giant Size Avengers Invaders #1
Back Issue #28
New Battlestar Galactica Season Zero #7
Beau Smith’s No Guts No Glory TP
Black Panther Little Green Men TP
Blazin’ Brandy #4
Blue Beetle #26
BPRD Vol 08 Killing Ground TP
Buddha Story Of Enlightenment #2
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Omnibus Vol 4 TP
Showcase Challengers Of The Unknown Vol 2 TP
Crawl Space XXXombies #4
Daredevil Blood Of The Tarantula
DC Universe Zero
Devi #19
Complete Dick Tracy Vol 4 HC
Dondi Vol 2 TP
Dr Who Magazine #395
Elephantmen War Toys #3
Ex Machina #36
Facts In The Case Of The Departure Of Miss Finch HC (Neil Gaiman)
Fantastic Four Beginning Of The End TP
Tales Of The Fear Agent TP
Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer Deluxe HC
Testament Life & Art Of Frank Frazetta TP
Friday The 13th Abuser And The Abused #1
Gargoyles Bad Guys #2
Green Lama Man Of Strength #1
Complete Green Lama HC
Green Lantern #30
Grunts TP
Hot Shot & Mighty Girl GN (Van Lente)
Hunter #2
I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates Outer Space #1
Immortal Iron Fist #14
Injury Comics #2
Marvel Adventures Iron Man #12
Jack Kirby's New Gods Figures
Jack Of Fables #22
JSA Classified #37
Juxtapoz Vol 15 #5 May 2008
Kabuki Reflections #10
Kirby Five-Oh 50 Years Of King Of Comics TP
Klassic Komics Klub HC (Johnny Ryan)
Legion Of Super Heroes #41
Leonard Starr’s Mary Perkins On Stage Vol 4 TP
Marvel Comics Presents #8
Marvel Illustrated Moby Dick #3
Modern Masters Vol 16 Mike Allred SC
Mystery In Space Vol 2 TP
New Warriors #11
Noble Causes #33
Official Handbook Marvel Universe A To Z Vol 1 HC
Order #10
Princess At Midnight GN (Andi Watson)
Proof #7
Punisher Circle Of Blood HC
Queen & Country Definitive Edition Vol 2 TP
Ramayan Reloaded Guidebook
Snakewoman Curse Of The 68 #3 (Of 4)
Star Wars Rebellion #13
Action Comics #864 (G. Frank)
Superman Batman Vol 06 Torment HC
Supernatural Origins TP
Tall Tales Of Vishnu Sharma #4
Teen Titans #58
Teen Titans Go #54
Teen Titans Year One #4 (Of 6)
Thor Ages Of Thunder (Fraction)
Thor Vol 1 HC (Straczynski/Coipel)
Thoreau At Walden HC
Torchwood Mag #4 (Paul Grist)
Ultimate Human #4 (Of 4)
Uncle Sam And The Freedom Fighters #8
Urban Monsters #3
Usagi Yojimbo #111
Wildguard Insider #1 (Of 3)
Witchblade Devi #1
Wonderland #6
X-Men Legacy #210
X-Men Messiah Complex HC
Youngblood #3

MANGA

Dororo Vol 1 GN (Tezuka)
Gon Vol 4 GN
Hikaru No Go Vol 12 GN
Love.Com Vol 6 GN
Nana Vol 10 GN
Piq Magazine May 2008
Prince Of Tennis Vol 25 GN
Witchblade Manga Vol 1 TP

Hellboy Darkness Calls Bookplate Update

2008-04-30T13:31:00.007+01:00

If you look to the left, you'll notice the ink-washed 150th Hellboy: Darkness Calls bookplate from our limited run of 200, and hasn't it turned out beautifully? How can you obtain your very own copy of this marvel, you ask? Only through Gosh!

We'll be offering our limited bookplate edition of Darkness Calls featuring new Fegredo art and signed by both Duncan Fegredo and Mike Mignola at no extra cost, for the regular price of £12.99, from its release date in the second week of May. We'll even ship copies out in the post internationally, at a rate of £2.50 within the UK, £4.00 within Europe and £6.50 to the United States! Simply email us at info@goshlondon.com or phone us on 020 7636 1011 to place an order. We can take payment directly over the phone, or via Paypal at pay@goshlondon.com. Get your orders in quick!

We Crack You Up, Little Buddies

2008-04-29T11:25:00.001+01:00

Watch this space...

Due to Arrive 01/05/08

2008-04-23T14:10:00.001+01:00

Click the full post link below for a tentative list of titles due to ship next week:

Action Comics #864
Archie #584
Archie Double Digest #188
Avengers Initiative #12
Best Of Draw Magazine Vol 3 TP
Black Panther TP Little Green Men
Blue Beetle #26
Buddha Story Of Enlightenment #2
Countdown To Final Crisis Vol 1 TP
Crawl Space XXXombies #4
Daredevil Blood Of The Tarantula
DC Universe Zero
Devi #19
Elephantmen War Toys #3 (Of 3)
Ex Machina #36
Exterminators Vol 4 Crossfire And Collateral TP
Fantastic Four Beginning Of The End TP
Forgotten Realms The Legacy #2 (Of 3)
Gargoyles Bad Guys #2
Giant Size Avengers Invaders #1
Glamourpuss #1 Fashion Ed
Green Lantern #30
Green Lantern Corps The Dark Side Of Green TP
Grimm Fairy Tales Piper #2 (Of 4)
Grunts TP
Immortal Iron Fist #14
Jack Of Fables #22
JLA Presents Aztek The Ultimate Man TP
JSA Classified #37
Kabuki Reflections #10
Legion Of Super Heroes #41
Local #11 (Of 12)
Marvel Adventures Iron Man #12
Marvel Comics Presents #8
Marvel Illustrated Moby Dick #3 (Of 6)
My Inner Bimbo #4 (Of 5)
Mystery In Space Vol 2 TP
New Avengers #40 Secret Invasion
New Battlestar Galactica Season Zero #7
New Warriors #11
Noble Causes #33
Order #10
Proof #7
Question Vol 2 Poisoned Ground TP
Rex Libris #11
Showcase Challengers Of The Unknown Vol 2 TP
Snakewoman Curse Of The 68 #3 (Of 4)
Star Wars Rebellion #13 Small Victories Part 3 (Of 4)
Tales From Riverdale Digest #28
Tall Tales Of Vishnu Sharma #4 (Of 5)
Teen Titans #58
Teen Titans Go #54
Teen Titans Year One #4 (Of 6)
Thor Ages Of Thunder
Ultimate Human #4 (Of 4)
Ultimate X-Men #93
Uncle Sam And The Freedom Fighters #8 (Of 8)
Urban Monsters #3
Usagi Yojimbo #111
Witchblade Devi #1
Wonderland #6
X-Men Legacy #210 Divided We Stand
Youngblood #3

The Gosh! Authority 24/04/08

2008-04-23T13:51:00.009+01:00

Hello and welcome to a week of long-awaited releases and secret gems! Yet again, the new releases are a little thin on the ground, but as ever, there’s something new and exciting if you just look for it.

This week’s top billing goes to an original graphic novel coming at you straight from Random House. Ha! And they say this blog’s too mainstream. But seriously, folks, this isn’t just some ineffectual grab at indie credibility. Brighton-based writer/illustrator Hannah Berry’s debut graphic novel, Britten and Brulightly, sounds like just the kind of noir-tinged murder mystery to draw in fans of crime comics like Criminal, Gotham Central, Daredevil and just about anything else Ed Brubaker has put out in the last ten years.

The plot deals with Fernandéz Britten, a suicidally guilt-ridden private investigator with an ‘unconventional’ business partner who sets out to discover the truth behind a suspicious suicide. Sounds delightfully bittersweet to me! Give it a look and support a burgeoning British talent today! And if you enjoy it, consider popping along to a talk with the creator at the Redbridge Literary Festival on April 29th! (More information available here: http://www.paulgravett.com/events/events.htm )

If that all sounds far too cerebral, then Doctor Gosh prescribes 10ccs of Hulk Vs Hercules: When Titans Collide! - a comic whose title cannot be spelt without an exclamation point on the end. Oh, sure, when I saw this advertised I was all ready to dismiss it as cheap cash-in nonsense, but my cynicism was assayed immediately by the mere presence of the names Pak and Van Lente. Greg Pak’s new Incrediverse has brought us some outstanding titles and events, and Incredible Hercules, co-written with Action Philosophers’ Fred Van Lente, is one of the most entertaining comics being published today. Not convinced? Then grab this one-shot and mull it over as you revel in some prime smashing action.

If that doesn’t Make Yours Marvel, then go instead for Thor #8, the second and final part of cover artist star Marko Djurdevic’s plot arc. Last issue saw Thor communing with his father Odin by trapping himself in the land between life and death, which is cool, as I’m sure you’re aware. This issue brings him haring back home to defend his reconstituted Asgard from a threat on this mortal plane. This title goes from strength to strength, and really shows that Straczynski can still pull an excellent story out of his hat when he wants to.

A big event for silver age fans this week will be Mark Evanier’s encyclopaedic Kirby: King of Comics hardcover. The book looks utterly gorgeous from the preview materials we’ve received, and, being from former Kirby assistant Evanier, should provide new insight into the oeuvre of this eternal (do you see what I did there) comics legend, packed full of artwork from the vaults.

If you can find room in your buy pile, or you’ve got a kid struggling with Shakespeare in English lessons, spare a thought for this week’s brand new No Fear Shakespeare line. No, really. Not only does it have a catchy name, it also boasts a creative team far more impressive than you might expect, particularly in Hamlet, which is adapted by Flight veteran Neil Babra. Babra’s work displays a keen eye for layout and visual storytelling, as well as being oh-so purdy. If you’ve ever thought ‘Hell, I’d read a Shakespeare comic if Craig Thompson adapted it’, give this one a go. You won’t regret it!

There’s a huge crop of news the wake of the New York Comic Con last weekend, so I’ll just whiz through the highlights quickly. First, though, the skinny on some free comics from way back! Kiwi animator Rod Fransham is uploading, for absolutely nothing, his ten-year-old comics project Poke – the story of a pilot pig making his way in the modern world. The first issue is up and ready to read, and if it gets enough attention, the rest will soon follow! Click here now: http://goodonfranshamanyway.blogspot.com/

Closer to home, though, rising star and author of Laika, Nick Abadzis, is currently featured in the Guardian Family section’s Comic! His new series is called Cora’s Breakfast and will run for five more Saturdays. If you missed the first installment, not to worry! It’s online and available for the next week here: http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/family/comic/0,,2197542,00.html

But now, to NYCC! The Vertigo panel yielded some intriguing tidbits such as the news that Cliff Chiang is to produce a miniseries inspired by Neil Young’s album Greendale. Yep. Also covered was the upcoming graphic novel from cartoonist Dean Haspiel (best known for his work with Harvey Pekar) and prose novelist Jonathan Ames. The two talked about their creative collaboration and how writing for comics differs from writing for novels. Haspiel closed by saying that Ames was a natural, and that he hoped he would produce more comics in the future. And if you’ve been waiting for a nice fancy hardcover edition of Y The Last Man, your wait may soon be over…

Dark Horse announced two particularly left-field and exciting projects, both miniseries coming in the summer. The first is Hellboy: Crooked Man. This isn’t the direct sequel to Darkness Calls, no sir, this is a special flashback story set in the heartland of America in 1956, shot through with Appalachian folklore. Though intended to release at the same time as Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, this is very much a project unto itself. Richard Corben provides the art for these three issues, so this will be an excursion you won’t want to miss! If you feel like comics just don’t have enough big robots in them anymore, you’ll be pleased to hear about Dark Horse’s second announcement: Gigantic, brought to you by Rick Remender and Eric Nguyen. Remender said he was gunning for an art-intensive, B-movie epic vibe, and we can but hope that’ll be what we get!

And finally, for the real geeks in the audience (myself very much included), good news! Boom Studios are proud to announce that they’ve landed the license to produce comics based on the cancelled intercontinental Jim Henson space opera Farscape. The even better news is that the series is releasing to coincide with a series of online webisodes being produced for the Sci-Fi Channel. All potential nerdy references to the euphemistic term ‘frell’ have been self-rejected from this column.

And now for the competition! To celebrate the release of the King Of Comics hardcover, we’re giving away three copies of last year’s Complete Devil Dinosaur Omnibus hardcover! To win, all you have to do is answer the following question:

When Eric Powell, creator of The Goon, brought back Devil Dinosaur as part of 2005’s Marvel Monsters line, which popular present-day Marvel character was he pitted against?

If you think you know the correct answer, just comment on this post on our blog. If you can’t sign in to a personal account, you can comment anonymously – but don’t forget to leave your name in the comment itself! The first three people to comment with the correct answer win a copy of the book. Please note that the judge’s decision is final and that it is the responsibility of prize winners to arrange collection of the prize within a period of 14 days, after which any non-collected prizes will be offered to the runner-up.

And after that epic of an article, I can only wish you a happy week, and happy reading!

- Tom

In Store 18/04/08 - 24/04/08

2008-04-23T12:02:00.004+01:00

Click the full post link below for a list of items in-store this week:

2000 AD #1583
Archie Digest #243
Army Of Darkness Xena Why Not #2
Secret History The Authority Hawksmoor #2
Young Avengers Presents #4 (Of 6)
Awkward & Definition GN
Batman #675 (Morrison)
Batman Chronicles Vol 5 TP
Best Of Write Now Vol 1 TP
Birds Of Prey #117
Britten And Brulightly GN
Checkmate #25
Classics Illustrated Deluxe Vol 2 TP & HC
Complete Terry And The Pirates Vol 3 HC
Conan Legacy Frazetta Covers #2 (Of 8)
Countdown To Final Crisis 1
Daredevil Hell To Pay Vol 2 TP
Darkness Vs Eva #2 (Of 4)
Dead @ 17 Compendium Ed TP
Death Of The New Gods #8 (Of 8)
Dragonlance Chronicles Vol 3 #10
Dynamo 5 #12
Fables #72
Fall Of Cthulhu #11
Fallen Angel IDW #26
Ultimate Fantastic Four #53
Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #35
Godland #22 (J Casey/Scioli)
Hack Slash Series #11
Hulk #3 (Loeb/McGuinness)
Hulk Vs Hercules When Titans Collide (Greg Pak/F. Van Lente)
India Authentic #12 Andhaka
Jonah Hex Only The Good Die Young TP
JSA Vol 2 Thy Kingdom Come Part 1 HC
Justice League Of America #20 (Van Sciver)
Kirby: King Of Comics HC
Living With The Dead TP
Lucky Luke Vol 10 Tortillas For The Daltons TP
Macbeth Original Text/Quick Text GN
Marvel Illustrated Picture Of Dorian Gray #5
Metronome HC
Mice Templar #4 (Mike Avon Oeming)
Ms Marvel #26 Secret Invasion
Neozoic #4
No Fear Shakespeare:
Hamlet (Neil Babra)
Macbeth
Romeo & Juliet
Northlanders #5 (Brian Wood)
Nude Magazine #13
Number Of The Beast #2 (Of 6) (Beatty/Sprouse)
Papyrus Vol 2 Imhotep’s Transformation
Power Pack Day One #2 (Of 4)
Previews Vol XVIII #5
Return Of The Gremlins #2 (Of 3)
Rough Stuff #8
Sadhu Wheel Of Destiny #1 (Of 5)
Shadowpact #24
Sheena Trail Of The Mapinguari One-Shot
She-Hulk 2 #28
Bart Simpson Comics #41
Simpsons Classics #16
Space Doubles #3
Spawn #177
Spawn Godslayer #8
Speed Racer Chronicles Of The Racer TP
Ultimate Spider-Man #121
Spirit #16
Star Trek Next Generation Intelligence Gathering #4
Star Trek New Frontier #2
Star Wars Dark Times #10
Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic #27
Star Wars Legacy #22
Super Friends #2
Superman Batman #47
Supernatural Rising Son #1 (Of 6)
Team Zero TP (Doug Mahnke)
Thor #8 (Djurdevic)
Transformers Adventures Vol 1 GN UK
Transformers Spotlight Grimlock
Warhammer 40k Blood & Thunder TP
Witchblade #117
Wonderlost #2
Wormwood Calamari Rising #4
Deadpool Classic TP Vol 1
Deadpool Vs Marvel Universe TP
New Exiles #5
Wolverine First Class #2
X-Force #3 Divided We Stand
Uncanny X-Men #497 Divided We Stand
X-Men First Class Vol 2 #11
X-Men TP Emperor Vulcan
X-O Manowar Birth HC

Sunny Days Indoors 23/04/08

2008-04-23T10:43:00.009+01:00

It's with great pleasure we here at Gosh introduce our first regular guest columnist! Long time Gosh folks may recognise him as an old staff member: a hirsute pusher of quality graphic fiction. He's never afraid to speak his opinion, and he's generally got something interesting to say, so it's with great pleasure we present the occasional musings of the man they call (in a professional capacity) Mr Will Shyne!

(All opinions expressed are those of Mr Shyne, etc, etc...)

Now where to begin...?

All Star Superman is great. It's not controversial to say so. However, it's getting better. Frank Quitely made the choice towards the end of his X-Men issues to ditch inkers as he felt no-one managed to make it look how he wanted. It's taken a while (i.e. all of WE3 and the previous nine issues of All Star Supes) but this is the first issue I didn't read wincing at bits that I wish he'd inked or had someone else ink.

The storytelling, grace, detail and sense of scale that he's always had hasn't gone anywhere and Morrison is stripping the sory back to the absolute minimum of text, making the book so rewarding on a reread. Highlights of this issue are a great Lex Luthor moment, the innovative illustration of Superman's X-Ray vision (above) and Superman creating a mini universe to see what would have happened if he'd never 'come' to Earth (below).

Continuing with Superman, Action Comics #863 finished up the Superman and the Legion of Superheroes arc. Difficult to to remove any image to show without damaging the resolution of the story. No beat is wasted by Geoff Johns, and Gary Frank's art - as repeatedly mentioned before - is great. I was left wanting more and I'll get more. In the future though, when James Robinson starts on Superman, Action and Superman will run closely together, often crossing over. This pisses me off a little as I like James Robinson but I'm really not sure about the regular artist on the book (Renato Guedes). It's really souless and I'd already stopped getting the Busiek Superman because of it. We'll see.

More Superman (what the f*ck's going on). Well, Darwyn Cooke and the Justice League New Frontier Special anyway, which came out about a month ago. Cooke's written the whole thing and drew half of it, a missing scene from his mega mini New Frontier. A conflict aluded to only briefly in the series is elaborated on, Batman Versus Superman. The whole thing is told on three panels per page and feels a little like storyboards. Everything is set up perfectly. Batman stages the fight in a junk yard so the lead will screw up Superman's x-ray vision and then doesn't stop hammering at him. Interesting, too, are mentions of Batman stuff that retroactively foreshadow the Dark Knight Returns; interesting because Cooke was very outspoken about Miller's Dark Knight Strikes Again. However as much as New Frontier was very settled in time because of Cooke's research and structuring of the series within the "real" events of the DC silver age, these nods to Dark Knight, for me, secure it as part of DCs future.

The back ups in the book are good too. The director of the DC:NF cartoon, Dave Bullock does a great Robin and Kid Flash story and Darwyn Cooke's frequent collaborator Jay Bone does a fun Wonder Woman/Black Canary strip. Oh and DAVE STEWART colors it all.

Which reminds me...the Eisner nominees were announced last week, reminding me how out of touch I am for the for the most part, but Richard Isanove nominated for best colourist!? Awards are always controversial, but bloody hell...my finger's really not on the pulse.

Moving on, Loveless is one of the series I pick up just for the art when it's drawn by Daniel Zezelj. The latest one, a stand alone story, makes me question my judgement. While the art is superb and the colours a perfect fit, the story is incredible. Really great. X amount of years after the main story takes place, a couple of gangsters turn up to hide at a farm house and lie low. They're pretty callous to the old man who lives there, who tells 'em a story of when he was a kid, racing horses in a touring racing team. The reveal at the end isn't necessary (though I still shan't spoil it) but if you've read 100 Bullets, this is similar to the Kennedy issue. Pick it up, if only when Zezelj is drawing it. Great stuff!

Along with Loveless, from Gosh I received issue one of Suitcase Nuke. The comic's funny, very well drawn with creative layouts and story telling. I don't, however, know what Wang Chung is. Regardless the comic was a really pleasant surprise (I've met him) and I recommend checking out his stuff at http://crowleeey.blogspot.com. The book also inspired me to flex my Polish movie poster muscle for the first time in ages, the result of which you can see at the bottom of this post.

Also funny: Zeb Wells and Bachalo finished their three part Spidey story this week in Amazing #557. This is very much the kind of story which once would've been given a mini or have been relegated to Tangled Web (a place for good solid Spidey stories which didn't fit into the convoluted continuity).

However, thanks to a load of convoluted continuity, there's now a new unconvoluted continuity so that while some stuff might go over your head, you can enjoy what you're reading. As my mate Anthony pointed out: if Spidey was this good every month, we wouldn't miss it. Chris Bachalo's seemingly involved in the colouring of the book, from what I understand, directing the colourist so that it looks like he coloured it himself. It looks great, though yet again Tim Townsend ducks out just before the end of the three issues and while Bachalo's pretty hard to overpower/ruin, the art suffers a little for it.

Couple of last mentions of things I can't scan cause it'll f*ck the books up.

The new recoloured Killing Joke has a healthy price tag but is really gorgeous. I had the book in black and white, which I love, but would never have imagined anyone else colouring it other than the very lively John Higgins. I had a happy moment at Alan Moore's signing at Gosh! when he agreed that the Batman Annual story he did with George Freeman (love letter coming soon) was a better Batman story than Killing Joke. It's questionable of course whether its supposed to be a Batman story at all.

Picked up the Mad Archives Volume 2 a few weeks back and though I'm dipping in and out (as I feel I have to with really old comics), it's plain gorgeous. Not much to add really, just don't assume it's the weakest link in the EC stable until you've looked at what Wally Wood's capable of with Kurtzman.

Lastly, a friend bought me a book (in the form of giving me the money for me to pick it up). I chose the collection of Michael (Heroes) Green and Denis Cowan's Batman Confidential arc. I'll give it the full review next time but so far, really liking it.

- Will Shyne.

Due to Arrive 24/04/08

2008-04-16T16:11:00.001+01:00

Click the full post link below for a tentative list of titles due to ship next week:

Army Of Darkness Xena Why Not #2 (Of 4)
Bart Simpson Comics #41
Batman #675
Batman Chronicles TP Vol 05
Betty & Veronica Double Digest #160
Birds Of Prey #117
Checkmate #25
Conan Legacy Frazetta Covers #2 (Of 8) God In The Bowl
Countdown To Final Crisis 1
Darkness Vs Eva #2 (Of 4)
Deadpool Classic TP Vol 1
Deadpool Vs Marvel Universe TP
Death Of The New Gods #8 (Of 8)
Dynamo 5 #12
Dynamo 5 Annual #1
Fables #72
Gargoyles Bad Guys #2
Godland #22
Green Arrow Road To Jericho TP
Green Lantern Corps The Dark Side Of Green TP
Hack Slash Series #11
Hulk #3
Hulk Vs Hercules When Titans Collide
Jonah Hex TP Vol 04 Only The Good Die Young
Justice League Of America #20
Kirby Five Oh 50 Years Of King Of Comics TP
Local #11 (Of 12)
Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #35
Marvel Illustrated Picture Dorian Gray #5 (Of 6)
Marvel Previews May 2008
Mice Templar #4
Mighty Avengers #12 SI
Modern Masters Sc Vol 16 Mike Allred
Ms Marvel #26 SII
Mystery In Space TP Vol 02
New Exiles #5
Northlanders #5
Number Of The Beast #2 (Of 6)
Power Pack Day One #2 (Of 4)
Previews Vol XVIII #5
Queen & Country Definitive Edition TP Vol 02
Return O/T Gremlins #2 (Of 3)
Rough Stuff #8
Secret History The Authority Hawksmoor #2 (Of 6)
Shadowpact #24
Sheena Trail O/T Mapinguari Stone One Shot
She-Hulk 2 #28
Showcase Challengers Of The Unknown TP Vol 02
Simpsons Classics #16
Spawn #177
Spawn Godslayer #8
Spirit #16
Star Wars Dark Times #10
Star Wars Knights Of Old Republic #27 Vector Part 3
Star Wars Legacy #22
Super Friends #2
Superman Batman #47
Superman Batman HC Vol 06 Torment
Supernatural Origins TP
Supernatural Rising Son #1 (Of 6)
Thor #8
Ultimate Fantastic Four #53
Ultimate Spider-Man #121
Uncanny X-Men #497 DWS
Usagi Yojimbo #111
Vengeance Of Vampirella TP
Witchblade #117
Witchblade Devi #1
Wolverine First Class #2
X-Force #3
X-Men First Class Vol 2 #11
X-Men TP Emperor Vulcan
Young Avengers Presents #4 (Of 6)