Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents... At The Drawing Board! A New Special Photo Album Started At His Facebook Fan Page! (Pictured In Photos Above And To The Right Are (L-R) : Magnus 'Mojo' Olsson, Al Wiesner, and Huckleberry Hound?!)

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3592 -  I started a new photo album over at my Facebook Fan Page, Michael D Hamersky On Comics, earlier this week, that I titled:  'At The Drawing Board...'.

Which although most of you know the expression "...back to the drawing board", and also know what a 'Drawing Board' is... I thought I would share with you photos of cartoonists / comic book pencilers / comic book inkers / caricaturists / etc., that I have come across or have been sent in to me to share.

Yes, I only have a dozen showing so far, but there are more to come!

First let me re-print a little on 'Drawing Boards', per the Wikipedia entry:

A drawing board (also drawing table, drafting table or architect's table) is, in its antique form, a kind of multipurpose desk which can be used for any kind of drawing, writing or impromptu sketching on a large sheet of paper or for reading a large format book or other oversized document or for drafting precise technical illustrations. The drawing table used to be a frequent companion to a pedestal desk in a gentleman's study or private library, during the preindustrial and early industrial era.

More recently engineers and draftsmen use the drawing board for making and modifying drawings on paper with ink or pencil. Different drawing instruments (set square, protractor, etc.) are used on it to draw parallel, perpendicular or oblique lines. There are instruments for drawing circles, arcs, other curves and symbols too (compass, French curve, stencil, etc). However, with the gradual introduction of computer aided drafting and design (CADD or CAD) in the last decades of the 20th century and the first of the 21st century, the drawing board is becoming less common."

And that is where I'm coming from on presenting photos of those that have used them in the past, and those that are currently using them, even though the use of "the drawing board is becoming less common"!

Above are just a few of the ones that are being presented.

Plus if you are in any of the industries named above, I'm requesting you to send me a photo of you at your own drawing board for inclusion!

Just click the link to my Facebook Fan Page, and send me a message with a link of a photo of you at your drawing board, and I'll see about including it in that special photo album!  It will hold 200 photos, and I invite you to do so before it fills up!  And, feel free to send me a link to your web site(s) as well, as I'm happy to mention that also!

Feel free to see the 'At the Drawing Board...' photo album at any time, as I intend to add to it weekly until it fills up!!

Now, it's back to the drawing board for me! (Wink!)

~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 3,592 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 2,683 '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'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents 'My Take On': The Stan Lee Universe Interviews with and mementos from 'The Man' who changed comics and pop culture! Edited by Danny Fingeroth & Roy Thomas!   Published by TwoMorrows Publishing !

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3591 -  Long time readers of this blog will know that I have a great admiration for Stan Lee, ever since the Summer of 1961 to be exact.  And I'm talking about Journey Into Mystery #72, not Fantastic Four #1 during the same Summer! 

Given that statement, you would think that I have read almost everything that there is to be said about Stan.  Well, you'd be wrong.  It would appear that there is a 'Stan Lee Archives', aka 'Stan Lee Collection' at the American Heritage Center on the University of Wyoming in Laramie campus.  Well, I'm not going to be making a trip out there anytime soon, so I'm glad that a third of this book, 'The Stan Lee Universe' are items that were found by co-editor Danny Fingreroth on a trip to Laramie during June of 2010.

In addition, some of this new book's contents originally appeared at TwoMorrows Write #18 and in Alter Ego #74, but not everyone would have seen those issues before now.

So what else is in this book?  Well... I'm going to post here what the publisher shows on the web page for ordering the book: 

Face front, true believers! THE STAN LEE UNIVERSE is the ultimate repository of interviews with and mementos about Marvel Comics' fearless leader! From his Soapbox to the box office, the Smilin' One literally changed the face of comic books and pop culture, and this tome presents numerous rare and unpublished interviews with Stan, plus interviews with top luminaries of the comics industry, including JOHN ROMITA SR. & JR., TODD McFARLANE, ROY THOMAS, DENNIS O'NEIL, GENE COLAN, AL JAFFEE, LARRY LIEBER, JERRY ROBINSON, and MICHAEL USLAN discussing his vital importance to the field he helped shape. And as a bonus, direct from Stan's personal archives, you'll see rare photos, sample scripts and plots, and many other unseen items, such as: PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE between Stan and such prominent figures as: JAMES CAMERON, OLIVER STONE, RAY BRADBURY, DENIS KITCHEN, ALAIN RESNAIS and (Sinatra lyricist and pal) SAMMY CAHN! Transcripts of 1960s RADIO INTERVIEWS with Stan during the early Marvel era (one co-featuring JACK KIRBY, and one with Stan debating Dr. Fredric Wertham’s partner in psychological innovation and hating comics)! Rarely seen art by legends including KIRBY, JOHN ROMITA SR. and JOE MANEELY! Plot, script, and balloon placements from the 1978 SILVER SURFER GRAPHIC NOVEL, including comprehensive notes from Lee and Kirby about the story. Notes by RICHARD CORBEN and WILL EISNER for Marvel projects that never came to be! Pages from a SILVER SURFER screenplay done by Stan for ROGER CORMAN, and more! So get a jump-start on the celebration of Marvel's 50th anniversary, and let this incredible book take you on a guided tour of the STAN LEE UNIVERSE. Excelsior! (Co-edited by ROY THOMAS and DANNY FINGEROTH.) Includes a deluxe dust jacket, plus 16 EXTRA FULL-COLOR PAGES of rare Archive Material, not found in the Softcover Edition.

Whew!   Almost as wordy as Stan The Man!  But hoo-boy does it pack a lot into 176 pages!

I've been reading this book since it first arrived, and beside all of the goodies mentioned above... It has so much more!   And yes, as I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, I do have high regards for Stan. 

Yet, the time that the two co-editors put into this book's presentation, shows me that they also have great admiration and love for the man that they worked for in previous years.

The chapters are laid out in good order... The pictures are placed well on the pages, and it is a true 'collection' for 'The Stan Lee Universe' in a sense that the book puts together a well crafted view of Stan Lee.  That could also be due to the fact that quite a bit of the book is in Stan's own words, both in letters written and verbal interviews given.

That doesn't make it a book like the one by Jordan Raphael and Tom Spurgeon, Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book, which is almost like a biography.

Plus it isn't an autobiography like the one by Stan Lee (with George Mair), as seen here:  Excelsior! 

Both of the above are fine books, BTW.  Yet this one covers areas, events, and topics that those two books don't.

In addition there are multiple interviews with Stan's colleagues during the years, which although some could be considered a little 'gushy' over Stan, are all heart felt and give the reader additional insight on their experiences with Stan.

With the book being presented in a somewhat chronological order, the reader is lead from the earliest years of Stan being in comics to Stan himself being a celebrity in shows such as 'Who Wants To Be A Superhero?".

I have to admit, this was a pleasure to read, and I am glad that the co-editors put the time in to have it published under the TwoMorrows Publishing imprint.

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

PLUS, if YOU are reading this before February 2nd of 2012... AND are in the New York City Metro Area... There is an upcoming event that I want to bring to your attention.  It is The Stan Lee Universe Signing and Celebration event at MoCCA, which you can see at this link, which takes place on Thursday, February 2, 2012 from  7:00pm until 9:00pm!

For those of you that aren't in the area, you can purchase the book via the publisher's web site at this link: The Stan Lee Universe. Your choice of a 192 page hardcover or a 176-page Softcover Edition (16 less color pages).  I highly recommend this book for the fans of Stan Lee, and also for those who would like to have more insight into Stan the Man!  Of course it would make a great gift to those friends of yours that are Stan Lee fans who like me, probably aren't going to Laramie, Wyoming any time soon!

My thanks to Danny Fingeroth for bringing this new book to my attention!

~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 3,591 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 2,678 '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'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents A Guest Blog By His Wife, Tina LoSasso: Fan Boys: How to Get the Women in Your Life Into Comics!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3590 -  Fan Boys: How to Get the Women in Your Life Into Comics

Don't despair. Even if you don't have a wife or girlfriend, you've got women in your life: mom, sister, co-worker, that girl down the street with the restraining order out against you. Odds are they think you're a nerd for reading comic books. They can name all of George Clooney's girlfriends and Brangelina's kids, yet they think you're weird because you know the names of all The Avengers. She may never say you're cool, but if you follow my advice, you might just convert her to the comics side.

Here are some fun facts to help you get them hooked on your favorite obsession:

#1 TV Show Comics are a Gateway Drug
The most popular recent shows on television have comic book offshoots. Even Gleeks can read comics with biographies of their favorite actors. So, go ahead and introduce your unsuspecting girl to a comic based on a show she's watching or, better yet, misses because it's off the air. The first comic book I read was "24" from IDW. I found it in the off-season so it fed my yearning for one more really bad day for Jack. Here's a mini-list of comic books based on tv shows:

• Fringe
• CSI
• Buffy
• Chuck
• Charmed
• Xena
• Eureka
• 24
• Battlestar Galactica

#2 One of the Most Critically Acclaimed Shows on TV is Based on a Comic Book
AMC's The Walking Dead, based on Robert Kirkman's comic book series, has earned wide-spread critical acclaim and Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. It's not just for zombie lovers. Think LOST with zombies replacing Ole Smokey. The women in your life are probably already watching Walking Dead. I would NOt suggest giving them one of the comics to read. The comic series is too dark and violent to use as an intro to comics. Instead, show them another apocalypse drama, the fabulous, Y: The Last Man. It's an Eisner Award Winner for Best Continuing Series and girl-friendly (as our several of the characters!)

#3 Women Love "Castle"
When Michael and I ask other couples what they're watching, invariably they answer "Castle." These are mainstream people that have never foot in a comic book shop. The women all get a faraway look in their eyes when they say "Castle" 'cause they're thinking of Nathan Fillion! Women love him. How can you turn this to your advantage? Castle has a graphic novel based on a fictitious book, Deadly Storm, by Fillion's character, writer Richard Castle. Get your girl a copy now. Then, make a date to watch the next episode together. Castle is filled with comic book and geek culture references you can explain during those commercial breaks, just NOT during Nathan's screen time.

#4 Their Favorite TV Shows are Filled with Comic Book References

• The Big Bang Theory - this show makes it cool to be a nerd. You'll be vindicated when the guys head to their favorite comic book shop every Wednesday to pick up their new books.

• Castle - is loaded with comic book references since Richard Castle grew up reading comics and the writers are appealing to the Comic-Con audience.

• Chuck - hung a SD Comic Con poster on Chuck's bedroom wall, had Chuck reading Y: The Last Man, and even had Stan Lee as a CIA agent in the Christmas episode!

• LOST - not only was Walt always reading that Spanish-language comic of Hurley's, but a Mystery Tales #40 cover telegraphs Season 4's big event: moving the island.

• Heroes - used comic book graphics as an important visual and story device early on, while most of the cast seemed like New Age X-Men.

• Alcatraz - Jorge Garcia's character Dr. Diego 'Doc' Soto is an Alcatraz expert AND comic book fan!

#5 Their Favorite Movie Stars Are in Comic Book Movies
Many of Hollywood's biggest names have starred in comic book movies: Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Downey Jr., my favs - Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, Halle Berry, Christian Bales, Natalie Portman, Angelina Jolie, and Heath Ledger, to name a few.

'Nuff said!

~Tina LoSasso

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,590 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 2,682 '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'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Celebrates... 13 Years As An eBay Seller... With A Letter From eBay! Start Date Was January 20th of 1999! eBay Seller IDs have been: ********@hotmail.com & make_it_so_marketing during those 13 years!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3589 -  On Sunday afternoon I received an email from eBay congratulating me on my 13 years of being an eBayer!

The main reason I joined back on January 20th of 1999 was that I wanted to test the sales market for comic books that I had in storage, and was only selling via mail order.  You see, I had stopped setting up as a comic books dealer after the big crash of the mid 1990s when comic book publishers flooded the sales markets with 'collectible variant covers', rebooted titles with new #1 issues, and other such nonsense.  So I had some good comics left over from those earlier set up at cons days pre the crash, and decided to try selling them online via eBay.

Which I have to admit here... I'm glad that I made that decision to do so!

Sure, it has been an up and down 13 years on eBay, attempting to adapt to all of their required changes... Many of them coming month after month, back to back at times.  Thank goodness those policies have stopped! Nowadays we have some time to adapt to changes, and plan ahead.

And yes, even though I was a relatively early adopter, I still had to change my eBay seller ID when eBay decided that email addresses couldn't be used as a seller ID.  Thus the change on December 23rd of 2003 to the seller name:  make_it_so_marketing, which was my wife's new incorporated business name. It made total sense to sell under that new ID name, so gradually the advertising and feedbacks would state something similiar to: "Thanks for letting us Make It So for You!' or other similar slogans!

I would have to state that there were two main hi-lights during these 13 years as an eBayer:

1) Would be attending the eBay Live 2005 convention in San Jose.  It was a great convention, and really opened my eyes as to what could be done with this sales avenue.  Plus eBay knew how to throw a party!  One photo of that week's conference is shown at the top right of this blog post!

2) My decision to start a blog via the eBay program on June 7th of 2006, which ended up with me winning a $100 prize for doing so!   I soon realized that for me to to link to non-eBay urls that I had to start a non-eBay blog, which is what you are reading now.  Which was doubly smart, as eBay closed down 'their' blogging platform during Halloween of 2009! 

Anyways, I'm pleased to receive some recognition from eBay as being an eBayer for 13 years now, and hope to continue with them for additional years!

And yes, my ComicBooksCircus.com domain name will still re-direct to my eBay comic book shop, although I am opening up new sales avenues in 2012!

Also, although I am not as socially active as I used to be on eBay, due to their closing down of the blogs platform, and that the 'neighborhoods' was an idea that didn't take off, I'm still semi active on the remaining two groups that I'm a member of there.   I do post photos about eBay topics at my special eBay Topics photo album at my Facebook Fan Page, as seen here!

~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 3,589 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 2,679 '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 Presents 'My Take On': Charmed Issues #15 & 16:  An Ongoing Comic Book Series Based On The TV Show Series (1998 - 2006) Published by Zenescope Entertainment Inc.!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3588 -  I received a package from Zenescope Entertainment in December with several issues of comic book titles that they currently publish.

Two of the comics that piqued my immediate interest were of the 'Charmed' comic book series, based on the TV show that ran from 1998 - 2006.  Not that I was a 'fan' of the TV series, but I was familiar with the IP (Intellectual Property).  Plus the two covers that came in were eye catching, which prompted me to read those first.

So even though I wasn't truly a fan of the TV show, or knew all that much about what went on during those eight seasons, (hey it was on the CW channel, of which I watched very few TV shows! Shout out to 'Reaper', 'Nikita', and 'Ringer' though!), I thought I would read these two comics first.

So what does this comic book series cover?   I'm copying what I found at the Wikipedia entry for the Charmed TV show, which had a small section on the comic book series.  Please note:  I did not read this first, but only now, when writing up the review blog.

On March 15, 2010, Zenescope Entertainment announced that it had acquired the rights, from Fox Consumer Products, to publish comic books and graphic novels based on Charmed.   Author Paul Ruditis was hired as lead writer of the project with Zenescope's Raven Gregory co-authoring with him for the first three issues. Dave Hoover was hired to do the interior artwork while David Seidman was hired as the series' main cover artist, however many other artists will contribute various variant covers for the series.

The new series takes place roughly "a year and a half" after "Forever Charmed", to allow time for "Piper, Phoebe, and Paige time to have some of those kids we all saw in the flash-forwards during the series finale."  Because "Forever Charmed" provided a "serene happy ending for the characters, not a great set up for continuing their story", Raven and Ruditis "address that on page one of issue one and then shake things up a bit."  Familiar characters will appear in the first few issues, but the writers wish to try to strike a balance that does not alienate potential new readers.  In the first issue we see that each sister is now living happily with their husbands and has entered into motherhood and while magic still plays a role in their lives, they are currently demon free and perusing other endeavours. Piper is hoping to finally open her own restaurant while Phoebe is preparing to return to work as an advice columnist after giving birth to her first daughter, Prue. Paige is still working as a whitelighter but is balancing that job with being a mother of two twin girls. However, the Charmed Ones must soon face up to the fact that their normal happy lives are about to be disturbed by the forces of evil when they discover that all of their past innocents are in danger.

The comic became an instant success with the first issue has sold out of its initial 17,000 copy print run in under three weeks and has mostly received mixed to positive reviews from critics and fans."

Okay, the above is fine, but that was back then, and the issues I read were the October & November 2011 issues.  The comics creators were different, and it was now more than a year later since the series first started...

Yet I found that not only was it relative easy to jump on this story arc, but that I knew my way around the characters and the action pretty quickly.  Which I would have to credit the writer of the 15th issue, Paul Ruditus, for.

The cool artwork on the cover of issue #15 was by David Seidman, was not the same artwork on the interior pages, which was by Dean Kotz.  However, Dean's style of artwork flowed well with the storyline, and was enhanced by the coloring from Michael Spicer.   I ended reading issue #15 wanting to go right into issue #16 that was on hand. 

That issue, #16, also had the same comics creators team, which besides those already named, had lettering by Jim Campbell, art direction by Anthony Spay, and editing by Paul Ruditus and Ralph Tedesco.  These persons produced a good read in my opinion.  And this from a reader who really had minimal knowledge / interest in the television property the comic book series is based on.

My only 'con' on the two issues is that these were both continued issues, with no mention of how many more issues are in the story arc, unless I missed that point in those issues.

Normally, I'm not too keen on jumping in on 'continued stories'.  However this comic creators team pulled it off for me, in that my initial interest on reading these first because of the TV show, was justified.  Both issues kept my interest, with cohesive storyline and artwork.

Thus my comic book grade for the two issues combined together is a VERY FINE / NEAR MINT (VF/NM) 9.0 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.  Again, I realize that a lot of comic book issues are placed into story arcs of five to six issues each, so as to re-print into Trade paperback format, (TPB).  So if this story arc continues as well as these two issues did, it would be worth publishing in that format.

There is a Facebook Fan Page for Zenescope Entertainment that I suggest you 'Like' to follow this series and become interactive with the creators and others that are following the progress of the series also.  Especially if you are already a fan of this TV show.

You can purchase these two issues via the Zenescope Entertainment web site.

In addition you can see the earlier issues of this comic book series at the GCD database.

As a final reference, here is the link to the Wikipedia entry for the TV Show 'Charmed'..

My thanks to Zenescope Entertainment for bringing this series to my attention, and others that will be review blogged in the weeks to follow!

~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 3,588 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 2,678 '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!

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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'!

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