Tag: Graphic Novel

Pacific Rim’s Blackout Before Netflix’s Season Two Release

The recent release of the graphic novel Pacific Rim: Blackout is filling the gap by telling the story about the last days before Australia is evacuated.

Pacific Rim BlackoutLegendary Comics
Available to order on Amazon USA

Prior to the events of Netflix’s Pacific Rim: The Black, the recent release of the graphic novel Pacific Rim: Blackout is filling the gap by telling the story about the last days before Australia is evacuated. The Kaijus are everywhere, destroying everything on site and occupying vast swathes of desert land. We see humanity make its last stand in the cities still standing…

This 100 page work isn’t a brisk read. I had to go through it a few times and rewatch the animated series. Ultimately, it’s about the drama between Herc (one of the Jaeger pilots) and his sister, Liv–to which some parallels exist with the siblings from the animation: Taylor and Hayley. They lost their parents. Herc left the nest and never looked back. He didn’t attend his dad’s funeral, and that led to problems with the rest of the family. It’s a narrative to pay attention to instead of enjoying the spread of mecha upon alien fighting action. The presentation is reminiscent of many Toho films.

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From Beyond the Grave, Spiritbox’s Eternal Blue Gets a Graphic Novel!

This adaptation of the concept album tells the eerie tale of Eva, a brilliant painter on the verge of unbelievable acclaim and success.

Eternal Blue: A Spiritbox Graphic Novel – Z2 ComicsZ2 Comics
Eternal Blue Slated for Late Spring 2022 release
Available to preorder online.

Following their formation in 2017, in Victoria, BC, the heavy metal quartet Spiritbox found a different way to haunt the charts. Although they’ve moved to Joshua Tree, California, let’s hope they’re still “Victorians” at heart. One of their singles, “Secret Garden,” may well allude to Frances Hodgson Burnett book of the same name, and suggest where a few of their tracks draw inspiration from.

But the pandemic stalled their plans for a proper debut in the tour circuit. Online, heavy metal fans took notice. This band’s debut album is getting the Z2 treatment and their debut LP, Eternal Blue will soon come out as a graphic novel. This was co-created with comic book writer Jim Krueger (Earth X, Justice) and artist Amilcar Pinna (Poppy’s Inferno, Generation X). Deluxe editions include a vinyl record and a spooky keepsake, a replica ghostbox!

This adaptation of the concept album tells the eerie tale of Eva, a painter on the verge of unbelievable acclaim and success. But her inability to reconcile her public perception with her true self allows a Spiritbox—a device used to communicate with the dead—to transport her to an ethereal world. Here, she finds herself trapped in a realm where false shadows become real and dangerous.

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Celebrate 50 Years with Kolchak: The Night Stalker with an all-new Graphic Novel!

In 2022, Moonstone Books will celebrate this pop culture milestone with a Kickstarter campaign for Kolchak: The Night Stalker 50th Annivesary Graphic Nove

Kolchak-preCover-Worley-PROOFOn Tuesday, January 11, 1972, Kolchak: The Night Stalker terrified and delighted audiences on ABC. The TV movie — written by horror legend Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) and based on an unpublished novel by Jeff Rice — was the highest-rated TV movie in U.S. history. It subsequently spawned both a second TV movie, The Night Strangler, and a cult TV series that ran for just one season, but inspired a generation of storytellers, notably including X-Files creator Chris Carter.

In 2022, Moonstone Books will celebrate this pop culture milestone with a Kickstarter campaign for Kolchak: The Night Stalker 50th Anniversary Graphic Novel, edited by James Aquilone (Classic Monsters Unleashed).

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Want to Kickstart Dune: The Official Movie Graphic Novel?

Partnering with Rocketship Entertainment, the limited-edition Kickstarter releases of Dune: The Official Movie Graphic Novel feature four distinct covers.

Dune_Cover_Bill Sienkiewicz _LoRes_Cision.jpgLegendary Comics, in cooperation with Herbert Properties, LLC, announced today the official movie graphic novel based on Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ Dune, the critically acclaimed film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal bestselling book from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Denis Villeneuve. Both the graphic novel and the film, currently in theaters worldwide, tell the epic hero’s journey of Paul Atreides (played by Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet). Dune: The Official Movie Graphic Novel, adapted by writer Lilah Sturges (Legendary Comics’ The Science of Ghost, Lumberjanes) with art by Drew Johnson (Legendary Comics’ Godzilla: Aftershock and Godzilla Dominion) and colors by digital painter Zid (Legendary Comics’ Kingdom Kong) and colorist Niezam, features beautiful artwork that brings the cinematic vision of Dune to the world of sequential art.

Limited editions of the graphic novel are now available for pre-order today exclusively on Kickstarter, with the book trade edition to follow. Both editions are set  to be released in February of 2022, and fans can now pre-order all editions on the kickstarter page.

Partnering with Rocketship Entertainment, the limited-edition Kickstarter releases of Dune: The Official Movie Graphic Novel feature four distinct covers. Comic legend Bill Sienkiewicz, who created the original Dune comic for Marvel in 1984, returns to the Dune universe to contribute the cover for the graphic novel. Three additional variant covers from Drew Johnson and Zid, U.K. illustrator and comic artist John Ridgway (2000 AD, Hellblazer, Doctor Who), and comic legend Tim Sale (Batman: The Long Halloween, Superman: For all Seasons) will also be available. Exclusive merchandise and collectibles will also be offered through Kickstarter.

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How to Satisfy a Halloween Craving with Graphic Novels

Neil Gaiman's Snow, Glass, Apples : Gaiman, Neil, Doran, Colleen: Amazon.ca: BooksHalloween 2021 can still be about staying at home with a good book to read because of the pandemic, or going out and wearing a ghoulish face mask up since it’s appropriate to. After a year of being told by health boards about what to do and not to, I’m sure a revolt will happen. Events are taking place with restrictions in mind. All of that is fine and dandy, and for those who just want to be safe, I have the following book recommendations. The links provided go to Amazon USA, to which I’m an affiliate with, for those interested in purchasing.

Snow, Grass, Apples
Dark Horse Comics

This graphic novel adaptation of Snow White retells the tale from the point of view of the stepmother. It’s an eerie gothic style take which then steps into the realm of high romanticism. We are introduced to her as though she’s the heroine, rather than the wicked witch. She fell in love with the king, and he in turn took her in to be one of his many lovers. When we finally meet the daughter–who has vampyric tastes–the tale takes on a unique look at the tale most readers should be familiar with.

What makes this tale horrific is in how it ties to the seasons. The events take on various feelings of melancholy, cheer and rebirth. Colleen Doran’s art is exceptional in this piece as it plays with the motifs. The pictures’ mosaic-like quality looks like it should belong in the Sistine Chapel!

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Malika Warrior Queen Slashes Her Way into Bookstores Today!

Not everyone will know YouNeek Studio’s teaser trailer to bring her story into the animated front. It has the feel of Black Panther’s world being further expanded upon.

Malika Warrior QueenDark Horse Comics
Available Now

Volume One available to purchase on Amazon USA and Volume two (Dec 22, 2021) available to pre-order.

Malika Warrior Queen has a Dark Horse behind it to help captivate a new generation of readers about African history and mythology. This work really can’t be read in one night, but in what I could finish, I was amazed and educated at the same time. While the main protagonist is a Xena-like character, if I had to make comparisons, the real inspiration is with Queen Anima of Zazzau, a real warrior queen who lived in the 15th century.

Not everyone will know YouNeek Studio‘s teaser trailer to bring her story into the animated front. It has the feel of Black Panther’s world being further expanded upon. After all, Africa is vast, with many tribal nations covering the jungle and desert expanse. The wars they have amongst one another and within the family say it all. I can only imagine Frank Miller did a lot of research into the outlying regions to get a feel of how terrifying, dramatic, mystic and warlike this world was before deciding that a tale of the Persian Empire is easier. Writer Roye Okupe crafted a tale that’s nicely broken up into units, and I’m not finished with this saga to say how it all cumulates. The fact this this reprint is also venturing off into the future suggests fantastic things when considering the fate of this new ruler.  Continue reading “Malika Warrior Queen Slashes Her Way into Bookstores Today!”