I'm still blogging reviews of comics that I received during the recent San Diego Comic Con International...  

As I've stated before, I read a lot of comics and graphic novels, both in hard copy (print) and .pdf formats.  However, I don't blog about them all here in my Blog, as it takes at least a three quarters of an hour to format and proof one of these posts, what with the pics and text to prepare.  For me to blog about something here, I've either got to really like it, and / or the publication has a uniqueness or some other quality or feature that I want to share with my blog readers. 

I don't normally blog about publications that I don't like for whatever reason(s).  My 'free time' for blogging is too short to dwell on something that I didn't like reading, let alone spending extra time writing about it!  I like to keep my Blog on a positive path as there are so many deserving publications out there to share with you that I come across.... 

I found several publications at The Antidote Trust booth at the 2009 SDCC, thanks to Dale Wilson of DWAP Productions who introduced me to the creators who shared their works with me!

Today's blog post is on the first issue of 'The Untamed - A Sinner's Prayer'.  I was handed two copies of the first issue, the above pictured cover is the regular cover.  The writer of the series is holding both covers in the smaller photo at the top right.

This comic takes place on 'The World of Asunda'.  Following are the words used in the publicity promo that describe what this first issue is about: 

"I was given a second chance in death. Vengeance was offered and I was quick to accept.”

A cloaked Stranger slips into the rustic Town of Oasis changing things forever. Ten years it had been since he ran this town with malice and harshness. Even then there was hope for his soul. His wife and daughter were on the verge of turning him from wickedness. But they were murdered, and so was he. Now he has returned hell-bent on killing.

Okay... sounds kind of 'heavy' right from the start.  It is.  However, the text is minimal.  No, Not simplistic... just minimal.  The dialogue is sparse also.  What it does though, is flow very well with the artwork, which is beautifully done by Peter Bergting.  Yes, there is blood, and violence here.  Is it heavy handed and out to shock the reader?  Well, not overly so in my opinion.  (Kind of like the 'Man with No Name' movie series starring Clint Eastwood, where the violence goes with the action format.)

What makes this introductory issue 'good' is the combination of the minimal text & dialogue with the illustration / colors / lettering. It is a fine presentation and although normally not what I personally would read for 'fun', it is compelling enough for me to want to read more of this seven issue series. 

Here are the credits:

Words:        Sebastian A. Jones
Art:             Peter Bergting
Design:        Darrell May
Letters:       Christopher Garner 
                   Troy Peteri
Cover:         Peter Bergting
Alt. Cover:  Hyoung Taek Nam

Now, here is what makes this comic book additionally 'interesting' and 'interactive' for my Blog readers.  You too can read this comic book, but instead of a hard copy, you can see the first issue for free online, all 36 pages including the back story, so you can formulate your own thoughts as to whether it draws you in enough to purchase the second copy.  The first issue can be found at:

http://www.strangercomics.com/asunda/untamed.php 

Just click on the 'Read' box on that web page.  See what You think of this storyline!  Let the creators know!  Let me know!

Again, my Thanks to Dale Wilson of DWAP Productions who has turned me on to several works that members of The Antidote Trust have turned out!   Especially 'The Roach' mini-series by Robert Roach!  The BEST mini-series I have read in years!  (Click here for my review on that series!)

AND Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!  We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films!  

While You are here today... Please check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store that most of our blogs are based on.  It's due to sales at this store that keep us with the 'free time' to post blogs like the one you have read here! 

Friday night Tina and I went with several other couples to see the first of a series of films featuring Leo Carrillo, of whom I have blogged about here a few times...

The film is part of a five week Friday nights Film Festival featuring Leo Carrillo, who is best known today as portraying 'Pancho' in 'The Cisco Kid' TV Western Show of the 1950's.   Before the feature film is played, a half hour episode is played first of 'The Cicso Kid'.  All this under the stars, in the same area where Leo and his wife used to entertain all the Hollywood Stars that would come down to their ranch to stay and 'rough it'!

So this morning, thinking about the above fun we had last night reminded me that in the package that Jim Main, Publisher of Main Enterprises, had sent me recently, was a modern Western Comic Book with a HoRRoR twist to it. 

I recently reviewed a fanzine on Doc Savage that Jim also publishes, (see here for that blog).  That zine and this Western HoRRoR Comic Book are just 2 of the 48 publications that he has published that are currently listed for sale in his online store!

However, this post is on the Western HoRRoR Comic Book  titled Boot Hill #1... The comic book itself is an anthology with three stories written by Sam Gafford, and illustrated by three different artists in black & white interior pages format.   Here are the stories that this issue covers per Jim's advertising blurb:

Do you like westerns? Are you a fan of horror stories? Well here's a new comic anthology that pairs them both togerther! Issue #1 features 3 tales of sagebrush terror, as narrated by your host, The Gunslinger : "Do Not Forsake Me"(illustrated by Dave Farley), "The Horseshoes" (illustrated by Jack Bertram) and "The Battle of Perkin's Feed (illustrated by John Lambert) all penned by horror writer Sam Gafford! And take a gander at that creepy cover by Scott McClung! If that's not enough to give you the willies...  

OK, I'll take it from there...

As you can tell by this blog's opening paragraph, I like western comic books.  I have since I first started reading comics and watching TV western shows!  I found the process of taking a TV show and printing it as sequential art to be something I enjoyed.

However, this comic book doesn't come from a TV Show.  It takes a genre of comic books that has recently been having a revival and inserting the HoRRoR theme into it.  Very similar to what I have seen by others do in recent years.  I have even blogged about a couple of them here, that included either HoRRoR or Supernatural themes into the western background of the story, (i.e. Jonah Hex upcoming film, and Desperadoes Omnibus by Jeff Mariotte.)

That doesn't mean I don't like this hybrid genre.  It just better be done good to rate my taking the time to blog about it! 

The cover to this comic book is one that made me put it near the top of my 'to read' stack of comics and mags that have come in for me to possibly review.  That says something right there!  Good job by illustrator Scott McClung!

The stories use a 'host' narrator to introduce you to the storyline. His name is 'The Gunslinger'.  Similar to the old EC HoRRoR Comics.

The first story 'Do Not Forsake Me!' is well written by Sam Gafford. The art is by Dave Farley.  I can't figure out the style here, it has a little 'underground' flavor to it, but since it was his comic book premiere, I don't really know his background.  The artwork meshed pretty well with the storyline.

The second story 'The Horsehoes!' was well written.  Reminded of the style of earlier EC Comics... The lettering didn't mesh as well with the art in this second story after the splash page.  The splash page lettering looked like an effort to tell the story in an EC lettering style. But turning the page, it lost that flavor.  I don't see the credits for that effort.  However the art by Jack Bertram told the story well in the sequential art format.

The third story 'The Battle of Perkin's Feed' was done right all the way through!  The storyline, the dialogue, the lettering and the art all blended well together!  And the ending?  Well done!

OKay... as I've said before here in my Blog...  Reviewing an anthology is one of the hardest things to do.  In this case, because the writer of each story was the same person, it was just a tad easier.  Plus there is a different 'tone' for comics that have black and white interior pages instead of color pages... 

For those that like Westerns with a HoRRoR or Supernatural bent,  then this issue should be down the right path to Boot Hill for you to read pardner!   I would appreciate seeing a 2nd issue to this series.

Details on this issue as follows:

Cost of this issue is: $2.95 plus 1.50 shipping.
$4.45 per issue postpaid in the USA.  Personal checks only, with checks made out to Jim Main.  Jim's web site to order is at:   http://mainenterprises.ecrater.com/

Unfortunately we don't have back issues of Jim's comics or magazines in our own online store at this time... However, Please check out our other new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store that our blogs are based on! 

Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!  We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films!  

This entry in our 'Spotlight On...' blog post series is about a special person who is celebrating his birthday today...  

Yes, that would be Scott Shaw!, who has entertained my family members during the many years they attended the San Diego Comic Con International with me...

I could go on and on about how Scott Shaw! is a famous United States cartoonist and animator!  But if you are reading this, you probably know about that of him! 

So I'll just mention that among Scott's many works in the comic-book industry is his work on Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones (for Marvel Comics and Harvey Comics).

Why just mention that?  Well, it's because my two oldest kids had the privilege years ago at one of mid 1990's San Diego Comic Cons  (SDCC) to actually sit in a 'class' at the Convention and learn how to draw Flintstones characters as taught by Scott!  They talked about that 'class' the rest of the summer and brought it up for years afterward!  Thanks Scott for doing that for my kids, and all the other kids that were there that year!

The other program that has entertained us everytime for many years is his 'Oddball Comics Slideshow' which he has shown at the SDCC! Quite honestly my feet thank him for being able to sit down for an hour at each con and then I just relax and laugh with Scott at his choices to feature each year!   Seen below are: left - 'Forward With Eisenhower - Nixon', and yes that is a comic book!, and to the right one of many promotional comic books that have been published through the decades, this one being Scotty MacTape to The Rescue!

The above program was not the only program or panel he attends each year at the SDCC;  just click here to see my earlier blog post as to what he was attending and participating in at the 2009 Con! 

And yeah, I guess I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Scott was also the first artist for the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comic book which my youngest son enjoys reading!  So much so the my son even blogged about that here once!

Currently Scott also maintains a regular column on the craziest comic books ever published, http://www.oddballcomics.com/ web site.

So, why don't YOU, If You aren't already registered there, sign up and comment on his discussion board?!  I'm sure he would appreciate that as a Great Birthday Present from YOU!  At least wish him a Happy Birthday there!

And so I close out this 'Spotlight On... Scott Shaw!' by saying...  Happy Birthday Scott, AND Thanks for all the entertainment you've given me and my family during the years!  Looking forward to many more years of fun programs at the Comic Con and your other endeavors! 

And Oh... Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!  We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films!  

Plus... Please check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store that our blogs are usually based on.  We do have a few Scott Shaw! comics there from time to time! 

I want to thank Bill Galvan for bringing the below notice to my attention...  

Not being a personal friend of Jake's, I wasn't aware of the upcoming Benefit for him in Provo, Utah.  For those of You that aren't aware of the Benefit either, here are the details so You can attend if you are able to:

Dragon's Keep & Comic Artists Unite For Benefit Fundraiser

Dragon's Keep and Comic Book Artists will be joining forces and pitching in to help fellow comic book creator and Utah local Jake Black. This will be a benefit fund raiser for comic book writer Jake Black in his battle against Hodgkin’s Disease (Cancer) and 22nd Anniversary of Dragon's Keep.

Jake Black is a writer with credits on Smallville, Ben 10: Alien Force, Chaotic and more. In comics he's worked on "Legion of Super-heroes" "TMNT" "Ender's Game" and more. He's written several books including stories featuring popular characters such as Batman, Superman, and the WWE. His next book, "The Authorized Ender Companion" (an encyclopedia of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series) hits stores in November 2009. Jake lives in a quiet Utah town with his wife and son.

The comic artists will be on hand providing sketches (for a small donation), selling original art and limited edition prints and other great items!! There will also be benefit fundraiser prize opportunities held through out the day! In addition, Dragon's Keep will also be donating a percentage of sales to help pitch in for Jake Black. So, Please join us in our effort to help support creator and Utah local Jake Black!

Date: Saturday- September 12
Time: 10AM
Artist Arrive: 12 Noon

Artists Scheduled To Appear:

Ryan Ottley:
Invincible, The Haunt

Chad Hardin:
Spider-Man, DC Comics

Bill Galvan:
Archie Comics, ScrapYard Detectives

Derek Hunter:
Pirate Club, Disney

Howard Tayler:
Schlock Mercenary, XDM: X-Treme Dungeon Mastery

JJ Harrison:
NBC Heroes, BamPop

Jason Hanks:
Marvel Comics Animation, Superman

Travis Walton:
Superman, Blackest Night

Quinn Johnson:
Elders of The RuneStone, TMNT Turtles

Again, our guest creators will be signing comics and doing sketches for a small donation to help Jake Black and his family. In addtion the guest creators will be reviewing portfolios, and talking with fans. This is a great opportunity to help out a member of our community and meet some of the comic book industries great talent!

This benefit and anniversary event will be filled with prizes, games, sales, and much more! So, please spread the word and come down and join us at Dragon's Keep for a great cause and event!

For More Details visit http://www.dragonskeep.com/

Dragons Keep Comic and Game Emporium, is located in Provo, Utah at 260 N. UNIVERSITY AVE, PROVO (801) 373-3482. The event is free and open to the public. For more information about this event or other questions, visit http://www.dragonskeep.com or call (801) 373-3482.

Again, my thanks to Bill Galvan, who is also attending and signing at this event, for bringing this to my attention here.  I wish all those attending this worthwhile event a successfull and fun day in raising the necessary funds this Benefit is being thrown for.

BTW, If you have an event that is similar in scope to the one described above, feel free to message me via Facebook to do so, or email me if you have that address of mine.

Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!  We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films that fit our Blog's scope!  Most of the topics we blog about either have that item, or have items similar to that topic being discussed, listed for sale in our online eBay Featured Store !