"Silver Comics #1: $2.95, 32 b&w pages, cover by Frank Brunner

The End: "The Snake and The Zombie!" Johnny Ortiz (writer, artist) Crime boss The Snake attempts to kill rival crime boss The Zombie, and learns The Zombie is actually The End in disguise. The End stabs The Snake and throws him into the water, apparently killing him??

Sea-Bolt: "The Reign of the Sub-Humans!" Johnny Ortiz (writer, artist), Dan Beltran (co-writer), Mark Prudeaux (inker) Sea-Bolt disrupts Zarro's torpedo attack on a cargo ship. Zarro captures Sea-Bolt.

Dr. Monster: "The Origin of Dr. Monster, Part 1: The Cosmic Crime!" Johnny Ortiz (story, layouts), Dan Beltran (writer), Vince Musacchia (penciller, inker) Count D'sa tricks Man-Star into killing an unarmed peace officer. Planetary sentries arrest Man-Star for murder.

The Man Called Santa: "'Twas The Night Before Doom!" Johnny Ortiz (writer, artist), Chris Roberts (co-writer) A Martian flying saucer digs underground in the Nevada desert, then resurfaces. Santa and his mighty reindeer chase the saucer in their orna-copter. Santa jumps onto the saucer and is captured by Satan, who is under the control of the Martian Nodge.

Cloud Buster: "Cry, The Bedeviled Planet!" Johnny Ortiz (writer, penciller), Dan Beltran (co-writer), Mark Prudeaux (inker) Cloud Buster battles a cybernetic dragon. As Zeta Base is evacuated, Professor Rendell reveals himself as a traitor and kills Karl. As Fog Wraiths enter Zeta Base and attack, Gail detonates a nuclear bomb to destroy the base and protect its secrets."

The only thing that was different in reading the above stories from the 'Good Old Days', is that the stories here in 'Silver Comics' were in black and white.  Which was OK to me, because the storylines and art were pretty darn good!  (I have mentioned before that I don't like the 'Essentials' format because they are in black and white, but that's because I originally read them in the color format!)

Here's my thoughts on each feature:

THE END:  This feature was more pre-Code style to me.  That is to say the heavy usage of black inks in the panels, and the way the panels were 'cut up'.  Altho it was a little out of chronological order for 'Silver Comics', it was a good feature, and the Silver Age of Comics did start in 1956, so OK, it was an 'early' Silver Age story...

THE SEA-BOLT:  Yeah!  Like I was reading a Subby story in Tales To Astonish... very enjoyable!

DOCTOR MONSTER:  Good Origin Story!

THE MAN CALLED SANTA:  What a concept!

CLOUD BUSTER:  Reminded me of some of the early tales when the MoNSTer comics were evolving into Sci-Fi and then Superheroes comics!

I truly enjoyed this first issue of the series!   This would be a good introductory issue to start off tweens into reading comics!  Plus it is a good issue for those that grew up in the 'Marvel Age of Comics', to remind them that comics can be Fun!  No 'Grim n' Gritty' in these pages! 

Silver Comics #1 truly is a 'homage' to the 'Silver Age of Comics'!  It is a refreshing alternative to what I mostly see on the stands nowadays!  And the front cover by Frank Brunner definitely is just a 'taste' of the goodies you'll find inside this issue!

You can find out about the latest updates plus what you can purchase from the Silver Comics folks by going to their Facebook Fan Page by clicking here!

Since that last blog post, there has been a major revamp of one of the better databases for comic books, and their creators.  That revamp makes it easier to sort by individual what works they are credited for, (but still not complete).

Here are most of George Tuska's pencil jobs (1,106) as shown at the GCD: click here!

Here are most of George Tuska's ink jobs (662) as shown at the GCD: click here!

The news of George's passing was known earlier this morning, but I was looking through my photos of previous comic cons trying to find a photo of George at one of them.  Since I was unsuccessful at that, I thought I should go ahead and use the one that most news people and bloggers will be using, that of George with his big smile as seen above, which is a good one to remember him by...

So what is the concept of this graphic novel about?   Here's what the web site that Gerimi has says about the concept:

"EYE OF THE GODS is a psychological thriller about a man who's life spirals out of control when he is cursed with the ability of remote viewing.

It combines the high-tension paranoia of ENEMY OF THE STATE with the foreboding chill of THE DEAD ZONE.

Sean Black undergoes surgery, cloning his eyes to restoring his failing vision. After the operation, he "dreams" of a murder, only to discover that it really happened…

…But the death isn't being reported as a crime. When his curiosity gets the best of him, he uncovers a conspiracy and sets off a chain of events that unravel his life."

Here are the credits for this first issue:

By:                Gerimi Burleigh (creator / writer / artist/ etc.)
Type:           Graphic Novel  5 1/2" x 8 1/2" 
Genres:        Psychological Thriller / Sci-Fi 
Publisher:    Optic House 
Pub. Date:   February 2009
ISBN:           978--=9823320-0-9
Cover Price: $10.95

Okay, with all of that out of the way, what did I think about this graphic novel?  Well first, let me say this.   For such a nice guy at the LBCC that I met, he had a lot of emotion and story pent up within him to tell!  And tell it he did in this graphic novel!

Yeah, the interior pages may be black and white, but the action, scenery, and characters portrayed were colorful!   I didn't read this all at one sitting, so I was appreciative that the graphic novel was separated into chapters.

Chapters I may add, that were easily picked back up on when I came back!

Since Gerimi created, wrote and drew the graphic novel, I'll make mention of his different responsibilities and whether he accomplished them or not in my opinion here... 

The storyline was very suspenseful, and kept building.  The dialogue was not over the top, and seemed plausible for each character to speak.  There are a few curse words, but were not used for shock purposes.

The penciling was well done, and I immediately liked his style.  The use of grays and blacks in the story were well done. 

The lettering was where he wanted the balloons placed as an artist.  So the lettering never interferred with the art.

This graphic novel kept me interested, and was a good read. If you are into this type of genre, this is definitely a graphic novel that will be one that you will want to read.

"Meet Susannah Zane. She’s a rancher. She raises livestock.

Only thing is, her stock isn’t technically “live”.

The Great Zombie Plague wiped out a fair portion of civilization, and humans weren’t the only victims of its ravenous hunger. But that was years ago, and where cattle, pigs, and sheep got scarce, practical sorts found a new herd to market: the zombies themselves!

Now a crew has come out to film a new reality television series on the subject. To the viewers in the Safe Zones, it might be an eye-opener; but for Suzie and her compadres it’s just another day in the unlife.

Welcome to the Zombie Ranch."

Here are the credits for this promo issue:

Writer:  Clint Wolf

Artist:  Dawn Wolf

What I found when reading the promo comic book was Not the 'typical zombie' story.  Of course being a promo publication, it was of shorter length than a regular comic book.  In this case only six pages were shown, but it was enough to tease a reader that is into this genre into checking out the concept further!  Plus on the seventh page there were creators bios and the web site where you can see additional pages of this concept for free!  Updates are scheduled for every Wednesday.

For those that are really into zombies, this is a lighter version, (so far), of a zombies concept.  For those that aren't into zombies, but want to know what the fuss is about, then this could be a less horrific way of checking the zombie nations out.  The concept appears to be well thought out, and Dawn's artwork is pleasant to look at.  I'll be checking in on updates on the web to see how this concept is developing.  You can too by checking out the links I'm providing below:

You can find out about the latest updates plus what you can purchase from the Zombie Ranch folks by going to:

"The classic space hero from the 1950s returns in an all-new limited series! Long before Kirk, Spock and those other guys went to school, Tom Corbett, Roger Manning, and Astro were attending Space Academy, in a TV series that sparked novels, comic strips and merchandise. Tom is the charismatic leader of the team, Roger is sharp-tongued navigator, and Astro controls engineering. The cadets have their first encounter with a dangerous new enemy with a surprising origin!"

Here are the credits for this first issue:

By:                Bill Spangler, John Dacosta, Wilson Ramos Jr, Niko Anaya, Chris Colbert - (Cover B) 
Type:           Comics 
Genres:        Science-Fiction
Publisher:    Bluewater Productions 
Pub. Date:   October 14th, 2009
UPC:            837654359488
For ages:    16+

What I liked about this first issue is that it is a Fun Read!  And No, I'm Not That Old to remember the original airings of the TV episodes!  (Almost, but not quite!).  The original series ran from 1950 - 1955 on a few different networks.

Anyways, there was a series of Tom Corbett — Space Cadet stories that were depicted in what was then the 'pop culture' of the 1950's.  Tom Corbett was on television, on the radio, in books, and of course comic books - my favorite venue at the time.  Additionally there were comic strips, coloring books, and View-Master reels that were also manufactured during the 1950s.  

There has been an attempt to bring back this title in the 1990's, but that didn't  work out.  I'm glad to see this concept being brought back now, and introduced to a new generation of readers!  An added plus is that is a four issue mini-series, so there should be a complete story arc printed here.

Bill Spangler's first issue story is good reading for an introductory issue and has a 'hook' to bring you back for the next issue.  You have to get those intros out of the way so you can move your readers along to the next issue!  Additionally there is a 'mystery' of which only part of it is answered in this first issue, so you'll have to come back for the second issue!  Good lead in issue for this series!

John DaCosta's artwork is somewhat angular and bold, a different style than I am used to seeing sci-fi comics illustrated in, but in this sci-fi story it fits right in!   Some may consider his art style in this series 'cartoony', but it fit with bringing this series up to date in my opinion.  Besides, I am so tired of seeing the Buck Rogers franchise being rehashed and reworked and replayed, that it is nice to see another older series be brought to light via the sequential art form!

Niko's coloring in this issue doesn't reflect a lot of cold dark colors, even though the action takes place mostly in space.  The colors used on the pages are 'warm' colors and flow well with the illustration style.

Wilson's lettering is his usual good work.  Which speaks a lot for itself. 

The only thing I could see in the presentation of the comic itself, is that the commercial ad pages are kind of 'jarring' against the illustrated pages of the comic book itself.  I've seen other companies save their ad pages for the last part of the book.  In this comic book, that might have been the better placement of ad pages...

For a fun read, and once you're hooked into the 'mystery', you'll want to get the second issue of this series.

You can keep up with what's going on at Bluewater Comics by going to their web site at: