TODAY'S 'MAIN FEATURE':

I want to share with you today some Christmas comic book covers that I have either seen or owned over the years.... 

Starting with a couple that were published in time for my 1st Christmas in 1952!

The one at the top left of this blog post is from Standard Comics.  It's amazing how many comics publishers no longer exist today from the 1950's! But I have to admit that we are experiencing a New 'Golden Age' today, where individual comic book creators can publish their own works, which could be even better!

The comic book at the top right of this blog is from Farrell Publications. Instead of running a 'Bugs Bunny' Christmas Holiday comic book cover here like I've done in the past; I thought I'd run 'Billy Bunny' instead.  I'm probably getting several blank stares at the screen just about now... Billy Bunny??? LOL!

The comic book cover that we just passed while reading this text was one of those neat-o comic book ideas, 3-D Comics!  You know, just like "at the movies" in 1953 when this comic book was published! It was a 'cool idea' to see the First Christmas in 3-D back then... but where's my 3-D glasses at?!

The comic book to the immediate left reminds me of the many times I've been to Disneyland during the Holidays. 

It used to be that a family could go to Disneyland on Christmas Day or the Day after without crowds.

Now the crowds are there with the same idea, making Disneyland during the Holidays look a lot like Summertime... Sheesh!

Although Disneyland was my favorite amusement park growing up, running a close 2nd was Knott's Berry Farm.  When I returned years later to live in the Orange County area, I found myself living just a few miles away from Knott's, so I really had fun taking relatives who came out to visit to have Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner. And load up on the Knott's Berry Farm Boysenberry Preserves.  Knott's became my favorite amusement park in California. Yumm... good ol' days!

Talking about the good ol' days, I grew up as a 'Ford' man, because my Dad had nothing but Fords when I lived at home!

Heck, my first car was a brand new 1970 Ford Maverick, not the 1961 Ford Mustang that Santa Claus is driving in the 1961 Ford Promotional Christmas Comic Book at the immediate left!

I really enjoyed those promo comics of the Golden and Silver Ages of Comics, as you can see through the period of time I've been blogging and including them in the 'Main Features' or 'Featurettes' sections!

A lot of those promo comics are now shown at Scott Shaw!'s Oddball Comics web site, as well in his card packs for sale. If you received cash during the holiday season, and enjoy the covers shown here today, check out Scott's sites.  This year I did a special 'Spotlight On... Scott Shaw!', where you can find out more of the details and why I love attending his 'Oddball Comics Slideshow'!

Okay, now I skip a few years to 1978.  The year that the comic book to the immediate left was published from Marvel Comics. 

I do enjoy reading the Classics stories, especially in Classics Illustrated style or similar like Marvel Comics did.

The 'Santa Claws' versus whomever that have seen print in recent years really don't get my attention.  Plus I wouldn't give those away for Christmas gifts either.

So yeah, I'm getting older, even though I feel like a 'Big Kid' most of the time!

There are more Christmas Comic Book Covers out there, but I've run several of those in past years here at my Blog, plus I have to leave a few for the upcoming years to blog about! There are enough of them out there that someone could actually build a 'Christmas Comic Book Covers Collection', and have a good short box full!

My thanks to those who emailed me or messaged me, asking about where's my Christmas Comic Book Covers this year in my Blog.  In past years I've used them several days up to Christmas Day, but decided not to do that this year!   

TODAY'S 'MAIN FEATURE':

Last week I started blogging about the upcoming 'Indy Comic Book Week' that starts December 27th, 2009.... 

The above pictured graphic novel is one that won't be at your Local Comic Book Shop, (LCBS) during 'Indy Comic Book Week', because it won't be out for a while until 2010!  However its' predecessor, "Kid Beowulf and the Blood-Bound Oath" could still be on the shelves for you to purchase there!

The reason I'm bringing up the above graphic novel is because back on November 20th the following was posted on the Facebook Wall of the 'Kid Beowulf' Fan Page:

Yesterday morning, Michael D Hamersky became Kid Beowulf's 100th fan! Congratulations Michael! As a special thank you, we will be sending Michael an advance galley of the next Kid Beowulf adventure, KID BEOWULF AND THE SONG OF ROLAND. Michael, we hope you enjoy this sneak peak!

This was after I had met the creator of the series, Alexis E Fajardo, at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, and blogged about him in a 'Featurette' section of this Blog, as seen by clicking here!

I saw the Facebook Fan Page for Kid Beowulf, and wanted to be informed about new developements of this series, so I became a 'Fan', not realizing that there was a contest going on!

So what's this second graphic novel of the Kid Beowulf graphic novel series about?  Here is the press release:

"Inspired by the epic poem BEOWULF, Kid Beowulf follows the journey of 12-year-old twin brothers, Beowulf and Grendel as they travel to distant lands and meet fellow epic heroes therein! Currently slated at a 12 book series, their adventures begin in their native Geatland and Daneland. Book 2: Kid Beowulf & the Song of Roland takes place in France, while book 3: Kid Beowulf vs. El Cid takes place in Spain."

Here is another promo piece, along with the credits: 

Kid Beowulf and the Song of Roland

by Alexis E. Fajardo

The Adventure Continues!

"The Song of Roland launches twelve-year-old twin brothers Beowulf and Grendel into their second adventure, bringing readers along in their journey into literary history—this time, introducing the French tales of Charlemagne and his 12 peers. Wholly original, the Kid Beowulf series stays true to its inspired characters and histories while weaving new imaginings of “what if…” and capturing the imagination of kids and teachers alike."

OK, so that's what this graphic novel's concept is about and the credits.

So what did I think of it?

Well, in the earlier blog post from November 19th, 2009, I mentioned that Tina was very interested in this proposed series. I also mentioned that: "Tina and I viewed a few pages of this presentation at the 2009 Comic Con International:  San Diego, (a.k.a. SDCC).  We did not receive a copy of the full format for possible review". We were given a 'press kit', which increased my interest in the proposed series at that time. 

So I was very pleased to see that I had 'won' an advance galley at the Facebook Fan Page for Kid Beowulf for being the 100th Fan! The graphic novel was shipped promptly by Bowler Hat Comics!

Here at Make It So Marketing Inc., we do receive many publications for possible mention / review.  When I first opened up the package, I saw that the graphic novel was very 'heavy' in dialogue text, as well as in actual weight of the graphic novel. It's actually 259 page long! So I put it to the side for a few days as I wanted to give it an ample opportunity to be read fully and carefully for possible review here.

I found the time this past week to read it totally through.  There is a lot there in those 259 pages! Tina and I were originally impressed with the concept of this series, and I've been newley impressed with what happened in this second part of the journey of the twin brothers!

There are a lot of 9 panel pages, plus a lot of dialogue going on. Plus a wide cast of characters for this storyline. There was a lot to see and read in this graphic novel. Sometimes that could be a little overwhelming, but here everything was presented very smoothly and in an entertaining way. 

I found myself wanting to continue reading, but found that with my schedule, that it took several nights to finish. There is a lot here for the cover price of $17.95. The storyline is charming, witty, and made for a good read.

The artwork is styled right for this story, and being printed in black and white format does not hurt this storytelling. I like Alexis' concept and implementation in this second of the proposed series. 

The graphic novel is stated to be for all ages, and I would agree with that.  It would be a good read for parents to read to their younger children, or for older kids to read for themselves. Plus it isn't "dumbed down". Young adults and older persons could find this to be an amusing and adventuresome story!

I haven't seen the first of this series, but if it is like this second volume, then readers are in for a treat should they get jump on this series. Other books planned for this series include:

Kid Beowulf in Rome – the Romulus and Remus tale
Kid Beowulf & The Labyrinth – the labyrinth myth
Kid Beowulf at Troy – The Iliad and The Odyssey
Kid Beowulf & The Fountain of Youth – Gilgamesh
Kid Beowulf & The Ring – The Nibelungenlied

I mentioned above that this graphic novel won't be ready for next week's Indy Comic Book Week.  So when will it be published? Bo Johnson, Publisher at Bowler Hat Comics states:

"We'll be launching the book in April, 2010. We're working on a series of events to coincide with Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland, the weekend of April 24–25."

For more of info on this series, please see the following web sites at:

http://www.kidbeowulf.com

http://bowlerhatcomics.com/

and of course, the Facebook Fan Page where YOU too can be interactive with this series:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kid-Beowulf/153666087923?v=wall.

My thanks to Bo Johnson of Bowler Comics for shipping this 'prize' to me so quickly!

I will be blogging about more indy comics series right here at ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com in the days to come, straight into the New Year itself, as that is how long 'Indy Comic Book Week' continues into!

You can follow what is happening and how you can participate in 'Indy Comic Book Week' by checking out the details at:

http://indycomicbookweek.com/index.html.

For our part...Tina and I will be having all the independents comics / graphic novels that we have ready to be sold listed in our online store at low, low prices at:

http://www.makeitsomarketing.com/   

TODAY'S 'MAIN FEATURE':

Last week I blogged about the upcoming 'Indy Comic Book Week' that starts December 27th, 2009.... 

The above pictured comic book is one that could be at your Local Comic Book Shop, (LCBS) during 'Indy Comic Book Week', depending if there are any copies left!  If not, then ask for issue #10 of the series that should be out by then!

So what's this issue #9 of the series about?  Here is the press release:

"The adventure continues! The search for the ‘City of the Dead’ heats up as Sinbad and his band of loyal followers travel deep into the heart of Egypt to find the Crown of Anubis, the second piece of the Jericho Visor. Adding to the intrigue is Sinbad’s decision to place his trust in the mysterious tracker Osmium, a woman from his past, and her wolfhound Zawj. As always, things are never as they appear for Sinbad and his men as the deadly desert looks to claim more victims and retain its secrets."

Written by: Dan Wickline
Artwork by: Eduardo Ferigato
Colors by: Jason Embury

Cover by Marat Mychaels

OK, so that's what this issue is about and the credits.

The above issue was sent to me by Tyler Draguet, Personal Assistant / Editor to Dan since March of 2008. She noticed me taking multiple photos of others in Artists Alley at the 2009 LBCC and talking with them about their publications. She asked me if I had talked with Dan about his works.  I told her no, as each time I had gone by, he was swamped with people!

She took me over and introduced me to Dan right then and there!

Not being overly familar with Dan's works, she showed me a couple publications that she had a hand in while editing.  I have already blogged a featurette about Tyler earlier back on November 5th,(click here for that link).

Even though Dan was a Facebook Friend of mine, I didn't know all that much about his past credits. For those of you that also don't know, here is a brief bio:

"Dan Wickline is a writer who has worked on the 30 Days of Night franchise (Dead Space and Spreading the Disease), Grimm Fairy Tales and Strange Cases. He is currently scripting the on-going 1001 Arabian Nights: The Adventures of Sinbad and the Beyond Wonderland Annual. He is also working once again with Steve Niles and Mike Mayhew on SAVAGE. He has written short prose stories of the classic characters of THE PHANTOM and THE AVENGER for Moonstone."

For more of what Dan Wickline is creating, please see his web site at: http://www.danwickline.com/site/works/

To purchase a copy of this issue #9 check out the publisher's web site at http://zenescope.com/bookpages/an09.htm .

My thanks to Tyler Dranguet for bringing this comic book series to my attention!

I will be blogging about more indy comics series right here at ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com in the days to come, straight into the New Year itself, as that is how long 'Indy Comic Book Week' continues into!

You can follow what is happening and how you can participate in 'Indy Comic Book Week' by checking out the details at:

http://indycomicbookweek.com/index.html.

For our part...Tina and I will be having all the independents comics / graphic novels that we have ready to be sold listed in our online store at low, low prices at:

http://www.makeitsomarketing.com/   

TODAY'S 'MAIN FEATURE':

Last week I blogged about the upcoming 'Indy Comic Book Week' that starts December 27th, 2009.... 

The above pictured comic book is one that could be at your Local Comic Book Shop, (LCBS) during 'Indy Comic Book Week', depending on what part of the country you are in.

Kurt J Kolka, a new Facebook Friend of mine, saw my Blog, and one of my latest posts, "How To Best Submit YOUR Publication For Possible Review!", and thus decided to send in his very FIRST Comic Book for possible mention / review!

So what's this first issue about?  Here is the press release:

"The story appearing in this comic book was created to appear as a newspaper strip.  Not until the tale was near completion did the idea to edit it into a comic book come about.  Realizing that adventure strips in newspapers are struggling but that the characters in my strip seemed to naturally fit into that more widely-read format, I tried to create a hybrid strip, blending elements of adventure, soap opera and life humor strips (like “For Better Or For Worse”) into a strip which would hopefully appeal to a wider audience than a simple adventure strip. 

OK, that's a good pitch for a comic strip and possibly a comic book.  So who's Kurt Kolka, and what's his background? Well, Kurt also sent in the following bio:

Kurt J. Kolka (creator/writer/artist)

Well, I'll deal with the cover first:  BEAUTIFUL cover, well done and grabbed my interest immediately when opening the package that the comic book came in.  Kudos to Kurt for having Doug Kaluba do the painting for this.  Also the logo and cover design by Sherwin Schwartzrock was striking.

Okay, you can't always tell "a book by its cover". So I'll next mention that this comic book also has a back cover that ISN'T an ad.  Well, okay, it's not an ad, but a collage of photos promo of 'The Cardinal' posing in front of mnay locales that those in 'the know' would recognize.  Not being a native of the area, I couldn't tell where these places were, but it was the IDEA of showing 'The Cardinal' at all these places on the back cover that was great!  As if 'The Cardinal' were a 'real' hero! And titling the back cover "Cardinal Sightings" was cool.  Good idea there.

So now both covers are 'covered'.  BTW, both covers are in color.  So when opening the inside, you are shown black and white pages.  Okay, I pretty much expected that. After all, wasn't this 'The Cardinal' idea first meant to be published in a newspaper?  OK, so I next read the 'Preface'.

The 'Preface' was an interesting read, written by David Crumm, Founding Editor of 'ReadTheSpirit.com'.

Then it was on to the 'splash page' itself.  However since it wasn't truly first devised as 'comic book' but instead as a 'comic strip', the 'splash page' was a modified one. 

I am pleased that Kurt decided to place at the top of the 'splash page' the following:  "The Following story was originally published online at ComicsSherpa.com from April 27, 2008 to May 17,2009".  That was helpful to a new reader like myself!

I settled in to read the comic book. There was a use of flashbacks to tell the origin story. The story flowed for me, once I realized that it would be semi-restarting for several of the pages.  That would be because of the fact that I was reading a comic strip, which meant that there was a possibility that the reader may have missed the earlier installment.

That could have been annoying in this 'comic book' format, but I understood the reason behind it, thus it didn't 'bother' me when reading. After all, don't I sometimes wish that other writers would treat each issue of their comic book as if someone was reading the latest issue as 'Their' first issue of the comic book series?! 

Too often I see new issues of comic book seriess continue on their way, figuring that the reader is aware of what happened before, and wondering what the heck I've missed?!  I remember when Stan Lee was actually writing comics, and he never treated his readers that way, even it was only a one line intro, he would bring a new reader 'up-to-date' with what was going on!

So, other than that bit of 'repeating' what went on earlier in some of the strips, the story flowed for me.  I enjoyed the background of the story, both of the characters and how the locale The Cardinal lived in fit in with the world-wide picture.

This is a good read, and a long one at that, although it is 'only' 32 interior pages.  It seems like a lot more for your money. Probably because of the comic strip aspect of the pages.  I personally liked this 'comic book', and would probably follow the ongoing series online, and / or wait until another 'special edition' was printed. 

Oh, did I say online?  Yes, you can read the ongoing tales of 'The Cardinal' at: http://www.thecardinal.org .

How do You purchase a copy of this 'Special Edition'? Well, Kurt tells me that  "A few area comic shops carry it and I will be signing copies at Motor City Comic Con in Novi, MI in May (2010)". However, if you aren't in the Michigan area,  please check the following web site for purchase details: 

http://communitycomics.webcomics.cc/ !

My thanks to Kurt J Kolka for bringing this comic book Special Edition to my attention, PLUS following my submittal guide "How To Best Submit YOUR Publication For Possible Review!". Thanks Kurt, I really do appreciate that effort on your part. Plus it got your publication to the top of the pile of comics to mention or review here! 

I will be blogging about more indy comics series right here at ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com in the days to come, straight into the New Year itself, as that is how long 'Indy Comic Book Week' continues into!

You can follow what is happening and how you can participate in 'Indy Comic Book Week' by checking out the details at:

http://indycomicbookweek.com/index.html.

For our part...Tina and I will be having all the independents comics / graphic novels that we have ready to be sold listed in our online store at low, low prices at:

http://www.makeitsomarketing.com/   

TODAY'S 'MAIN FEATURE':

Last week I blogged about the upcoming 'Indy Comic Book Week' that starts December 27th, 2009.... 

The above pictured comic book is one that can be ordered direct from Indy Planet, or could be at your Local Comic Book Shop, (LCBS) during 'Indy Comic Book Week'.

John B. Lai, Chief Operating Officer/Editor in Chief of the Ultimate Comics Group, LLC, was kind enough to send me a preview copy of the issue.  This after I found that Harold Dean Cupec, a Facebook Friend of mine, had mentioned this project on his Facebook Wall.

So what's this issue about?

Art & Colors: Harold Dean Cupec
Story & Letters: John B. Lai

Standard Comic
Full Color
Page Count: 24
POD - Cover Price $3.99

"You asked for it? You got it! In this inaugural issue of The Enchanting Essence’, Jessica risks her neck defending an ‘undead’ servant against his master, Ran-Dax, the LORD of the VAMPIRES! You’ll have to check your pulse when you see surprise ending! Don’t miss ‘Love Bites’ Part 1.

Jessica Gates never quite fit in. With a childhood full of overwhelming emotion, insecurity & alienation, she struggled to find the truth behind her father’s mysterious death while ALSO trying to develop her self-confidence. Follow the adventures of this telepathic SUPERMODEL as she discovers the security of friendship in between her constant battles against Earth’s deadliest villains, as the enchanting ESSENCE!

The Enchanting Essence  TM and © Ultimate Comics Group, LLC. All rights reserved."

So what did I think about it?

Well, I've always liked Harold's artwork that he has posted on his Facebook Wall.  Enough that I was looking forward to seeing a sequential art story illustrated in his style.

This issue #1 of 'Enchanting Essence' did not disappoint me!

Harold can draw great looking gals and illustrated this story in a sequential manner that held my interest.

I've already mentioned here in my Blog before that vampires and zombies are not my usual reading niche, but since I blog about comics and pop culture for others as well as myself; I feel that I should include those of that niche that are more than just run-of-the-mill publications.

I do feel I missed something by not previously reading issue #0 of this series, but this first issue was the 'set up' for the next in this story arc.  Additionally the action in this issue kept me from wondering muchon what I had missed with the intro of Essence in issue #0. 

John B. Lai's dialogue kept the story flowing, and the storyline was well paced in this setup issue.

The colors were vivid, and meshed well with the genre of this story.

After reading issue #1, I would look forward to issue #2 of this series.  The nice thing about this series is that if You are interested in reading this series and don't have a LCBS near you, then Indy Planet has issues #0 & #1 for sale via ordering on the web, plus will probably have issue #2 in the future...

For more info on this series and others that the Ultimate Comics Group has in its' run of titles, please check the following web site: http://www.ultimatecomicsgroup.com/ !

As a side note, I am wondering as to what audience age group this comic book publisher is aiming for, as the following verbage was on the 'home' page of their site:

"Welcome to the Ultimate Comics Group Universe!  Brace yourself for 20+ full color pages in every issue and a comprehensive world that you’ll almost recognize as your own. 

These AREN’T the comics your parents read."

The last time I saw or heard this was during the days of the early 'Image Comics', whose books were definitely not for the older crowd. After hearing that spoken aloud by the Image Comics creators a few times at different programs and panels at comic cons, I definitely was 'turned off', being an older reader.  Which by the way, influenced my talking with my peers about the then new 'Image Comics'...

However, My thanks to Harold Dean Cupec for making me aware of this comic book series.  Pretty darn good for a vampire series! 

I will be blogging about more indy comics series right here at ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com in the days to come, straight into the New Year itself, as that is how long 'Indy Comic Book Week' continues into!

You can follow what is happening and how you can participate in 'Indy Comic Book Week' by checking out the details at:

http://indycomicbookweek.com/index.html.

For our part...Tina and I will be having all the independents comics / graphic novels that we have ready to be sold listed in our online store at low, low prices at:

http://www.makeitsomarketing.com/