Comic Book Critic

Review: Red Skull: Incarnate #4 (Marvel)

December 6, 2011 by The Comic Book Critic

Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: Mirko Colak
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Cover: David Aja
Editor: Alejandro Arbona, Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: December 2011
Cover Price: $2.99

We’ve seen what adversity young Johann has had to face and the effect it has had on his psyche. Johann is looking out for nobody but himself and will do anything to further his own goals. Whether it means he’ll randomly kill and innocent person on direct orders, or even one of his close associates; if it furthers his agenda, Johann will do so without hesitation.

The young Red Skull joins the Sturmabteilung, but is frustrated with their lack of power. Power is the one thing Johann is striving towards – regardless of how he accumulates it. He then tries to join the SS, but quickly learns that he’s still too young to join them.

Free Comic Book Day 2012 Gold Comics

December 2, 2011 by The Comic Book Critic

Press release

The Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) Committee has announced its Gold Sponsor comic book selections for the industry’s top annual event, Free Comic Book Day, scheduled for Saturday, May 5, 2012. Next year marks the eleventh anniversary of Free Comic Book Day with another year of incredible stories that allow fans of all ages to dive into the adventures of their favorite comic book characters and encourage new readers to explore the fun and excitement that comics can offer.

Chosen by retailers on the FCBD Committee, there’s a free comic book for everyone’s taste: from Avengers, Star Wars and Transformers to Peanuts, Mouse Guard, and MegaMan.

Preview of Voltron #1 (Dynamite)

December 2, 2011 by The Comic Book Critic

December is here and so is the return of Voltron to comics! The new series from Dynamite Entertainment will be written by Brandon Thomas and illustrated by Ariel Padilla. Voltron #1 will have covers by Alex Ross, Wagner Reis, and Sean Chen along with variant covers.

Here’s how the covers will be allocated and the variants available:

Wagner Reis (2 covers, 25% each), Sean Chen (25%), Wagner Reis (25%)
"Virgin Art" Retailer Incentive cover by Alex Ross
"Black & White" Retailer Incentive cover by Wagner Reis
"Fiery Red" Retailer Incentive cover by Sean Chen
"Negative Effect Art" Retailer Incentive cover by Wagner Reis

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Character Designs by Wes Craig

November 30, 2011 by The Comic Book Critic

DC Comics has released a few pages of artist Wes Craig’s character designs for T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1. Craig stated that he based the characters’ looks on CAFU’s designs from the previous series and that he “… stuck to them pretty closely, making little tweaks that would suit (his) style better.”

Take a look and judge for yourselves.

“Their powers: Usually the artist display’s a hero’s super-powers as majestic and awe-inspiring. But with the Agents, their powers can potentially kill them so I wanted the feeling that their powers were a bit out of their control and that it made them feel a bit sick inside to use them.

Lightning: I love characters with super-speed.

NoMan: I wanted to give myself a challenge in how to draw his invisibility powers without just using a Photoshop fade-out effect, and I think I’ve found some fun solutions.

Colleen: Colleen’s going to have a fancy new ‘season two’ haircut, but we hadn’t thought of that yet when I was drawing these designs.

The Subterraneans: I had a kick drawing these guys since it was my first major contribution to the look of the series. I tried to stick to the basic idea of the original 60′s design with these guys, but make them a bit scarier and more reptilian. Drawing their subterranean kingdom has also been a lot of fun.”

Read more

Preview Art from Scarlet Spider #1 (Marvel)

January 26, 2020November 30, 2011 by The Comic Book Critic

Marvel Comics has released a sneak peek of the artwork to Scarlet Spider #1 by Ryan Stegman and Marte Gracia. Below are four interior pages, the cover, and a variant cover without any text or logos.

Peter David Creates The Fan/Pro Bill of Rights

November 29, 2011 by The Comic Book Critic

The Fan/Pro Bill of Rights by Peter David

Comic book conventions and other interactions between the fan and the professional should be a good experience for everyone involved. This isn’t always the case. Prolific author, Peter David, has decided to create a Fan/Pro Bill of Rights that attempts to help solve many of the problems that arise in these social interactions.

Posted on his website, peterdavid.net, this document is available here for all to read and discuss.

Please feel free to share this among your friends and peers!

The Fan/Pro Bill of Rights

Preamble: We, the fans and pros of www.peterdavid.net, in order to form a more perfect union of fan/pro interaction, wish to let it be known that: with conventions and the Internet providing extensive opportunities for fan/pro interaction and; with new fans not quite understanding the “rules” and social mores and expectations of conventions and thus feeling uncomfortable or uncertain of what is expected of them and; partly in response to some conventions where fans in general and female fans in particular were targeted for harassment and abuse, and; in order to fill what is perceived as a needed guide for fans and pros to know and/or understand what to expect of each other in order to minimize or eliminate misunderstandings or ill-will; it is hereby resolved that this document will serve as an attempt to fill that need by spelling out the specifics of these matters to the best of our abilities. This is being done unilaterally by an assortment of fans and pros, and all the matters addressed within this document are drawn from genuine, real-life experiences of the participants (as hard as that may be to believe in some cases.) The rights set forth herein are not intended to represent the opinions or policies of any conventions or organizations, and may be considered by some to be merely guidelines. Nevertheless, it is our intent to present a series of simple, common sense, basic rights to which all fans and pros should be entitled.

Preview of Archie #627 – Archie Meets KISS

November 28, 2011 by The Comic Book Critic

Archie Comics released a preview of the first chapter of “Archie Meets Kiss” by Alex Segura and Dan Parent from Archie #627 to CBR News. It includes a great variant cover from Francesco Francavilla!

To properly kick off the issue, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Alex Segura, and Dan Parent will be at Golden Apple Comics in Hollywood, CA on Wed. November 30th, 2011 to sign copies of Archie #627!

Preview of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 (DC)

November 28, 2011 by The Comic Book Critic

The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents are back and Nick Spencer is at the helm of the latest six issue miniseries. Here is a preview of the cover and the first five story pages from issue #1.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 by Nick Spencer and Wes Craig features a cover by Andy Kubert and is available on Wednesday November 30th, 2011 at all comic stores.

Preview of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4 (IDW)

November 28, 2011 by The Comic Book Critic

The current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, published by IDW Publishing, has been a big hit and the first two issues have gone back to print after selling out at the distributor level. The momentum seems to be continuing on this well received series as Kevin Eastman, along with Tom Waltz and Dan Duncan, gives us a new take on the origin of the Ninja Turtles.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4, written by Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz, layouts by Eastman, and art by Dan Duncan, is available on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at your local comic book shop.

New Eric Orchard Prints Available

November 11, 2014November 28, 2011 by The Comic Book Critic

Eric Orchard, who is currently working on his new project Maddy Kettle (Book 1): The Adventures of the Thimblewitch for Top Shelf Productions, has recently offered three new prints on his Etsy site.

The prints are $15 each plus shipping and are available in limited quantities. All prints are suitable for framing. The first 10 orders will receive a free Maddy Kettle minicomic, so get your orders in fast!