Mood: caffeinated
Topic: Comic Books - New
TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3584 - It's been a little while since I review blogged a comic book or comic book series... That's due to the fact that other topics have come up for blogs since the beginning of the year, and the fact that I have a dear elderly relative that I have been helping recover from two surgeries in December, and who is now temporarily located in a rehab / SNIF in the Los Angeles area that I have been responsible for getting back to living at home. That aside, I want to get back into the mode of bringing to your attention comic books / graphic novels / TPBs that I have been given for possible review in this blog. So here's to my first review blog for 2012! One comic book series that really made an impression on me at the recent 2011 Long Beach Comic Con was 'The Stone Legacy'. That is because the creator / writer of the series, Gavin Andazola, presented me with a 'total package' for possible review that was the best I've seen yet in several years of doing this review blogging feature! You can see in the photos in the header of this blog, the plastic display case that showed the name of the intellectual property (IP), which held one each of the three comics so far that have been printed, along with a characters illos album called 'The Stone Legacy Sketchbook', and trading cards for the series. No matter what the contents of the comics held, I know that any reviewer that has been in the 'business' for a good while would recognize that the creator of this IP had great faith in it enough to make a special presentation package! A package that was worthy of showing to potential investors to make a film out of this comic book series! So before I start with a review of the IP, I bet you are wondering what is 'The Stone Legacy', and who besides Gavin is behind this series? Here are those involved in the series: CREATORS: The Stone Legacy is defined in this promotional literature: "Decades ago, The General reigned terror over the city of Mt. Clare. Then a mysterious heor called the Guardian appeared to stop him... they both vanished without a trace. Years later they have resurfaced. Enter Jacob Stone, a typical teenager, who will discover that his family holds a secret. It's a family legacy that will connect him to The General and The Guardian. He will unocver a destiny that will change his world forever." Okay, with the above promo, you definitely get the gist of what the series will start off as... The storyline continues and does deliver what the promotional writeup promises. The dialogue flows well with the storyline throughout all three issues that have been printed so far. The artwork is in a style that takes a little getting used to, but is consistent in its presentation. The coloring meshes well, and brings out the artwork. I'm glad that the creator went with the inside pages being printed in color, as several indy comics elect to be published in black & white. I'm not a 'color snob', but the use of colors adds greatly to the presentation. The lettering's font appears to be a little different than what I am used to reading in a comic book, but the larger size helps to read it easier. I definitely like 'The Stone Legacy' logo / comic book series title used at the top of each of the three covers. The 'o' in 'Stone' really stands out. If this was on the newstands or in a LCBS, each comic issue would stand out nicely, except for issue #2 that has the title / logo at the bottom of the front cover. What is really nice for retailer purposes is that in issues #2 & 3 is that there is a 'recap page' where the 'splash page' would normally be in a floppy comic book format. For someone that would be coming into this series for the first time with either issue #2 or 3, that is very helpful! At the end of issue #3 I found that the storyline is 'To Be Continued'... That's because 'The Inheritance' storyline is halfway through at that point, and the final three issues are in production. After that, there are plans in the works to put together a 'Stone Legacy' spin-off before returning to this title for the seventh issue and beyond. My comic book grade for the series thus far is a VERY FINE PLUS (VF+) 8.5 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale. What the series promises is delivered in the first three issues. It is a series that shows additional promise, and with the creator helming the direction the series is going, it should deliver 'The Inheritance' storyline to a satisfying conclusion. There is a Facebook Fan Page for The Stone Legacy that I suggest you 'Like' to follow this series and become interactive with the creator and others that are following the progress of the series. You can purchase these issues via The Stone Legacy website, which is presented very well with a Flash intro / and individual web pages which takes the place of 'The Stone Legacy Sketchbook' that I was given. My thanks to Gavin Andaloza for bringing this series of his to my attention at the Long Beach Comic Con, and I'm looking forward to the conclusion of the first story arc! ~Michael D Hamersky On Comics! NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics: My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,584 total posts in number! I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog! BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link! We currently have over 2,674 'Followers'! Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!! Note: My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...! If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! ! Web Page Note: This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards. Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that! The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer. Note: Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners. Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to: Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there. Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page! --------------- In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related. You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also! As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'! |