Michael D Hamersky On Comics Reviews... Black Powder #1 Bloody Frontier Adventure From Asylum Press

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3628 -  As mentioned in Blog #3627, I met Publisher Frank Forte at the recent WonderCon in Anaheim, California, as seen in the above photo at the Asylum Press booth!

Frank gave me a few of his most recent publications to read for possible review purposes. I'm choosing this one as the second one to review blog, as it was the one with the inside artwork that that 'grabbed' me. Why?  Here's what the publisher had as a promo blurb about the first issue of the proposed six issue run:

"Black Powder is the story of Robert Young, a former captain in the Barbary Wars, and his river journey on America's first steamboat to rescue the woman he loves from a gang of river pirates led by his cutthroat nemesis and former commander. Along the way he encounters hostile Indians, swashbuckling battles, and several historical figures, all set against the backdrop of the catastrophic New Madrid earthquake of 1812 that reverses the flow of the Mississippi river!"

Okay... So what did I think of this first issue of the proposed six issue run?

The front cover to this first issue brought me to thinking about pirates! 

And indeed, it is about pirates, 'river pirates'! This comic book is chapter one to a six chapter comic book issue run. Written and illustrated by Dwayne Harris, lettered by Bernie Lee, with production by Phil Smith.  Edited by Frank Forte & Dana Haring.

I found the illustrations / painting to be a little 'strange' at first, but the likenesses of the characters grew on me while reading.

The storyline was fascinating. I enjoy reading history, and this 'historical' encounter is one that intrigued me.

What was also neat was the 'Next Issue' page.  Plus three pages on the characters, Robert Young, Samuel Mzson, and Molly Livingston.  Plus a 'Rumbles and Rambles' page. The historical background of this series is one that definitely caught my eyes!

I for one am looking for the next part of this six issue series!

My comic book grade for this book is a NEAR MINT MINUS (NM-) 9.2 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.

Here is where you can purchase this comic book:  Black Powder #1!

My thanks to the Publisher, Frank Forte, for bringing this comic book series to my attention for possible review!

~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 3,628 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 2,720 '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'!

---

Michael D Hamersky On Comics Reviews... EEEK! By Jason Paulos From Asylum Press

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3627 -  I met Publisher Frank Forte at the recent WonderCon in Anaheim, California, as seen in the above photo at the Asylum Press booth!

Frank gave me a few of his most recent publications to read for possible review purposes. I'm choosing this one to start out with, as it was the one that 'grabbed' me the most. Why? Here's what the publisher had as a promo blurb about the graphic novel:

"This retro-style anthology of all-new horror tales is guaranteed to give you the eeries and the creepies! Taking a pinch of black humour from EC comics and mixing it with the art stylings of House of Mystery and Warren comics, EEEK! blends a heady broth that hits you like a burning incense stick to the retina. Jason Paulos delivers the goods with over 15 tales of revenge, zombies, vampires, ghouls and monsters. Each tale drawn in a different style reminiscent of the B&W horror mags of the 70's and 80's!"

Okay... So what did I think of this graphic novel?

The front cover to this anthology graphic novel showed just a bit of what lies inside!  A really good visual as to what should be found inside! 

As mentioned above, there are fiveteen different stories in this 'graphic novel'.  There is also a nice foreword by Bruce Jones, and then an introduction by Stephen 'Karswell' Banes.  Then there is the 'table of contents' or 'innards' as it is called.

I found the stories to be of different style of illustrating.  I'm not for certain of the time period that all these stories were written / drawn, but I found myself fascinated by them.  The dates I found were from 2004 - 2010. 

Although the stories were anthologies, the mixture of them in this 'graphic novel' format was delicious.  The artwork did remind me of the 'Creepy' and 'Eerie' days, which is probably why this graphic novel hit me the way it did.

The fact that these stories were basically told by one creator, Jason Paulos, evened out what is usually found in anthology publications, an 'unevenness'.  I found this book to be a good read, and am recommending it to those that like this type of genre.

My comic book grade for this book is a NEAR MINT (NM) 9.4 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.

Here is where you can purchase this graphic novel:  EEEK!

My thanks to the Publisher, Frank Forte, for bringing this graphic novel to my attention for possible review!

~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 3,627 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 2,720 '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'!

---

Michael D Hamersky On Comics Reviews... Rip Haywire And The Curse of Tangaroa! By Dan Thompson

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3626 -  I'm back to present to you one of the latest graphic novels that I have received for possible review in this blog!

I'm choosing this one to start out with, as it was mailed in to me, and I found it to be a fun read!  What is it?  Here's what the writer had as a promo blurb about the graphic novel:

"Action! Danger! Dysfunctional Romance! The adventure comic strip is back - with a twist! Rip Haywire is a soldier of fortune, a contemporary adventure hero in the classic mold: a brave, square-jawed man of honor who lives for danger. Accompanied by his cowardly dog, TNT, and his venomous ex-girlfriend, Cobra, Rip tracks down lost treasure, takes down madmen, and takes any job that promises heart-pounding action, danger, intrigue - and cash!"

Okay... So what did I think of this graphic novel?

The front cover to the graphic novel showed a  kind of 'cartoony' style in illustration. Which kind of grabbed me to read it first. It's an IDW Comics graphic novel, BTW. 

The storyline is a fun one, and you didn't need to read the source material online first to get where this graphic novel is going! The canine sidekick is a good idea, and adds to the storyline.

The graphic novel presentation doesn't look like it came from an online presentation first, which is a good thing.  It looks like it was formatted for print first, so that is a big plus for this graphic novel.

The artwork and storyline mesh well in this graphic novel.  Also, the coloring for the pages is done very well.

I'm giving this graphic novel a VERY FINE / NEAR MINT (VF/NM) 9.0 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale. 

Here is where you can purchase this graphic novel,  Rip Haywire and the Curse of Tangaroa!

My thanks to Dan Thompson for sending this graphic novel in for possible review!

~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 3,626 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 2,720 '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'!

---

Michael D Hamersky On Comics Wants To Mention... That He Is Still Recovering From The Surgery He Had On Wednesday Of Last Week Thanks To All Of You That Have Posted On My Facebook Profile & Fan Pages!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3625 -  This blog hasn't had an entry since last Tuesday, as I have had a surgery on last Wednesday that kept me hospitalized overnight.

I wasn't feeling as good during the WonderCon last weekend as I normally am during a comic con, and called my Doctor on Monday morning after we arrived back home.

He immediately sent me to the Emergency Room after seeing me, where I was then admitted to the hospital, and had the surgery. 

I am still recovering, and should be back to posting my regular blog posts the middle of this week.

My thanks to all of you that have posted on my Facebook Profile and / or Fan Pages!

Best, 

~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 3,625 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 2,719 '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 'Loca8' 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'!

---

Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents Tina LoSasso's Review On... WonderCon 2012 Held At The Anaheim Convention Center from Friday March 16th through Sunday March 18th!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3624 -  My first WonderCon - and Wondercon's first jaunt to SoCal - was super-mellow. Now that's an oxymoron for you. Let me explain: If you took San Diego Comic Con, slashed attendance by 75% and The Scarecrow gassed the convention center with an airborne version of Xanax, you'd have WonderCon 2012.

Maybe it was because we were next door to the Happiest Place on Earth, but these folks were the most laid-back Comic-Conners I've ever seen. No rushing, no pushing, no seat jumping, no pens to the eye. That said, this was the first Con (in 10+ years of Cons) where I've had anything stolen. Sadly, someone swiped my prized Fringe Lenticular luggage tag while I was in the big Ballroom on Saturday. Said villian even had the nerve to tuck the tie back into my case! May he/she spend the rest of their sorry days encased in amber.

Michael and I attended all three days: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Here are my random thoughts on WonderCon 2012 (Anaheim):

Blame It on the Rain. WonderCon 2012 will be best remembered for the deluge that was Saturday and the misery it wrought on this most-attended day. Whether you walked from your hotel or drove over an hour or more (me) to get there, you got wet. Correction, you got drenched. Now realize, I lived over 20 years in New Jersey, I know from rain. This rain was positively Biblical. I was wearing a real rain coat (from my NJ days) and it leaked! Worst of all the rains wrecked havoc on an already shaky parking situation. We exited the freeway about 9:15 am only to spend the next 75 minutes crawling the blocks around the convention area searching for parking. We ended up at the Happiest Place on Earth's "Toy Story" lot which kindly honored the convention parking rate. Unfortunately, this was the moment the skies decided to open with a vengeance. We tried to wait it out, but it would not let up. So we hoofed it about a mile to the convention center arriving with drenched feet and clothes - despite a raincoat and umbrella! I kept wondering, what did the WonderCon folks do to piss off Storm ?

Hall of Horrors. It's hard to imagine that Comic Con International was seriously considering moving SDCC to Anaheim Convention Center. The shallow foyers, small bathrooms and two tiny escalators could never accomodate the SDCC hordes. While WonderCon only had Exhibit Hall D, Con goers spread out the length of the convention center foyer crowding the shallow space and making walking difficult. Fans had no place to hang out with their friends. On the plus side, the convention center staff kept those too-small bathrooms clean and the exhibit floor was configured with wide aisles which eased traffic - a welcome respite from the frustrating standstills, pushing and near-riots on the SDCC floor.


And Now for Something Completely Different. Whoever recommended the Ballroom panel for "Sound of My Voice" needs to have their duties reassigned. Like most, I figured I'd suffer through it in between Trailer Park and Prometheus. And suffer we did. First we were 'treated' to the first inane 12 minutes of the film which included a multi-part 'secret handshake'. Note to film makers: whenever the screening audience bursts out laughing during the serious part of your film, you need to cut. That was 12 minutes of my life that I'll never get back. But wait, it gets worse - two of the actors then came out in character to 'invite' us to their Exhibit Hall booth to join their wacky little cult. At this point, the laughing turned into snorting and uncomfortable silence. But still, this looney and indulgent panel droned on! Next we endured the ramblings of the two people responsible for this drivel as they answered questions from a PR shrill and planted Q&A. While we prayed for deliverance, it became obvious: WonderCon ain't Sundance and Sound of My Voice ain't Blair Witch.

MIA. On the plus side, the Exhibit Hall featured tons of comic book resellers, toys, t-shirt vendors and booths for tons of stuff I have no idea what it was. If you visited an ATM recently, you probably went home with some cool loot. If you were looking for exclusives or were hoping to score some swag, you were disappointed. Aside from the very cool and very popular HBO/Game of Thrones booth where fans could get their heads impaled on a spike, there really weren't any fun experiential booths. Hollywood was essentially MIA.

Of course, this meant more time for Con goers to connect with comic book artists and writers at various booths. WonderCon gave fans plenty of opportunity to get up close and personal with their comic book gods - and, really, isn't that what a comic convention is all about?

Grade for this Con?  It's a VERY FINE FINUS (VF-) 7.5 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grade.

~Tina LoSasso 

(Note:  Also, here is the link to the special photo album at my Facebook fan page for the pics taken at the WonderCon 2012!  ~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 3,624 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 2,718 '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 'Loca8' 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'!

---