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STAFF PICKS :: LONE RANGER GOLDEN BOOK CLASSIC :: MAY 22, 2013

May 20, 2013 at 9:34 am By: Rico Renzi

ANDY’S PICK :: LONE RANGER GOLDEN BOOK CLASSIC: Wanna get the kids fired up to go see the new Lone Ranger movie with ya? Wanna see what we used to read before our parents let us read comic books? Wanna see a classic in a beautiful and affordable original-sized edition? If you answered yes to one or more of the questions above, then Lone Ranger Golden Book Classic is for you. In this delightful romp from 1956(!) our stylishly dressed vigilante and his Native American partner (you see what I did there?) fight bandits, bring justice to the untamed west and still find time to help a young boy find his missing brother. This is a book you won’t mind to reading and re-reading and re-reading to your young cow-hands aged 2-6. Hi-Yo!!

Filed Under: DISCUSS, Staff Picks

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STAFF STICKS: The Classic Comics Crepitation

May 15, 2013 at 9:00 am By: Andy Mansell

ANDY’S PICK :: BAZOOKA JOE AND HIS GANG HC: Quickie Quiz– what was the first mini-comic? If you said The Tijuana Bibles, then you sir or madam have entered the wrong site. If you said Bazooka Joe and his Gang, well then you are most likely suffering from the same dental issues and gingivitis that have plagued me for decades. For those of you who don’t know, Bazooka Joe comics were the inside wrapper of every twin(!) piece of Bazooka Bubble Gum. This was in the years before the Bubble Yum Revolution and, I swear, I still get residual TMJ pains just thinking about gnawing that rock hard 1 cent piece of “gum” into a soft enough mass to effectively blow bubbles. But it was the comics with the corny jokes along with the Foreboding Fortune (Don’t look behind you!!) located below each punch line panel that made each jaw dropping (ouch!) experience so memorable. BAZOOKA JOE AND HIS GANG HC is a beautiful new book that provides the history of both the Comic and the Gum and collects several hundred of the ‘best’ of the Bazooka Joe Oeuvre. Now I know comic folks who collect everything comic-related. In fact, I know one guy who saves and bags the entire run of Comic Shop News in MINT!; but I don’t know anyone who collected the Bazooka Joe comics. It was rather difficult to keep them for any length of time, since they were usually carried away by ants if left out in the open for any length of time. So this book is a true 20th Century artifact–a testament to taste over, well…taste. BAZOOKA JOE AND HIS GANG HC is a collector’s dream. The only thing missing is that glorious bright pink sweet smell.

Filed Under: DISCUSS, Staff Picks

Tags: BAZOOKA JOE AND HIS GANG

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STAFF PICKS :: THE DREAM MERCHANT #1 :: MAY 15, 2013

May 14, 2013 at 5:12 pm By: Rico Renzi

RICO’S PICK :: THE DREAM MERCHANT #1: I don’t know the premise of this new series by Nathan Edmondson and Konstantin Novosadov but the art stopped me cold. The drawing, composition, and color are inspired. This issue is double sized so it’s like getting the 1st 2 issues of a series for $3.50. Let’s check it out and let’s see where it goes!

Filed Under: DISCUSS, Staff Picks

Tags: image comics, Konstantin Novosadov, Nathan Edmondson, THE DREAM MERCHANT #1

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HEROES INTERVIEW :: ED PISKOR

May 14, 2013 at 9:40 am By: Seth Peagler

With HeroesCon less than one month away, I’m happy to bring our blog readers this interview with the talented Ed Piskor. Ed’s already had a notable career, including work on original graphic novels like Wizzywig and collaborations with Harvey Pekar on The Beats and Macedonia. You may have heard industry rumblings about Ed’s newest project, Hip Hop Family Tree. Aside from being one of the most comprehensive sequential studies of a genre that’s ever been undertaken, it’s a work that’s already receiving due respect and acclaim from both the comics and music communities. Make sure to stop by Ed’s table next month at HeroesCon and see why everyone’s talking about this book.

Seth Peagler (SP): Ed, I’ve known you for a few years now, and it seems like every time I’ve run into you, we’ve talked a little bit about this book-in-progress. Through those conversations and preparing for this interview, I realized that Hip Hop Family Tree is something you’ve been living with and building toward for a long time. How long do you think you’ve been consciously or subconsciously developing this book, and what made you want to collect it in this format now?

Ed Piskor (EP): I’ve been drawing comics incorporating classic Hip Hop imagery for as long as I’ve been drawing comics. I remember some of my earliest comic attempts in High School were like Hip Hop wannabe versions of Love and Rockets. Looking back at old interviews and stuff I found this interview from 2009 where I talk about wanting to do a Hip Hop comic. http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/books/ed-piskors-graphic-novel-creates-sensation-among-genres-fans-346662/

“While working on “Wizzywig,” Piskor listens to old school hip-hop music for inspiration. When “Wizzywig” wraps, his next big project will be a history of hip-hop that focuses on the Boogie-Down Bronx and DJ Scott La Rock. He promises it will be exhaustive.”

Because it’s going to be an all encompassing and comprehensive work, it’s going to take forever to tell the entire story the way I want it to be told. In this day and age of the ADHD internet attention span, I felt it best to produce maybe one book a year to keep up a presence. Otherwise, I’d have to disappear for a decade and emerge with a doorstop of a comic, and that’s not quite sustainable or necessary. Some eras are more important to some people than others. A 100+ book per year feels right.

SP: A big part of the draw of the book for me is that you’re going back to the real roots of Hip Hop and tracing its progression over the years. Even though I know you’re a fan, did you consult many sources outside of the music? Are there many definitive histories of Hip Hop that you could even consult?

EP: There were some interesting things to look at while writing the book. It’s necessary to know the political/economic climate at the time. The fine art scene plays an integral role in the development of early Hip Hop as well, which many people might not know. If it wasn’t for the downtown scene gravitating toward graffiti culture it could have all died out in the early 80s.

There are several good books to reference out there, but, there are also 30 years of interviews with everybody who matters which are accessible either online, in magazines, or youtube. My goal is to take all the best stuff I can find from everywhere and distill it into a fun comix narrative. A tough goal, but, it’s what I’m shooting for, nonetheless.

SP: Along the way of writing and drawing the book, did you stumble across any lesser known artists whose stories you felt you needed to include? Since it’s essentially a history of the genre, did you feel compelled to tell it chronologically, or did you allow yourself to veer from that path at any point?

EP: Being a fan of Rap music already, this project gives me the chance to fill in the gaps of my knowledge. I’m not necessarily discovering new people to cover, but, I’m discovering what makes certain, more obscure people, important in the greater scheme of things.

This first book is fairly linear but we’re going to veer off and project things into the future here and there as the project moves forward, because I will be talking about certain people who may not have contributed much in, say 1982, but went on to do great things by 89 and if we handle it linearly, you’ll have forgotten their intro. Not sure if that makes sense. I guess the best example would be one of the newer strips I’ve done which will be in book 2, about the Jonzun Crew. http://boingboing.net/2013/04/23/brain-rot-hip-hop-family-tree-55.html

SP: As a musician and someone who is just starting to write comics that incorporate elements of music within my stories, I’ve run into some difficulty conveying the gravity of rhythm and melody on a page. I’ve seen several of your pages where you seem to not only capture the energy of specific artists and their charismatic stage performances, but also convey the communal aspects of an impacting live show. How did you go about capturing the specific musical identities of these performers through the art of comics?

EP: During such sequences the characters need to be larger than life and maybe even downright Kirbyesque if/when possible. The Hip Hop Family Tree, however, is more about the actual relationships that went into creating hip hop rather than just focusing on the music.

SP: I’d like to bring up one of your earlier books, The Beats. For those who aren’t familiar with it, in it you collaborated with the late, great Harvey Pekar, one of comics’ true innovators of journalism and memoir. Of course, the Beats chronicled historical and cultural figures within the Beat movement, but I’d imagine you learned a lot from working with Pekar on that specific book that might have been beneficial for you on this project. Were there any memories of collaborating with Pekar that resonated with you while you worked on Hip Hop Family Tree?

EP: I think working with Harv on The Beats gave me a strong clue into how to move the narrative along. Between each panel, days, months, or years can go by, and deconstructing Harv’s work gave me a roadmap for how to keep things tight. How to choose the correct moments to cover. Things like that.

SP: From what I’ve seen and read, Hip Hop Family Tree kind of stands alone as a unique chronicle of music in comics form. I’m excited that Fantagraphics is publishing the book, and I know you’re already receiving critical praise from comics journalists. Have you had much feedback from Hip Hop artists and journalists who cover the music?

EP: Yep, my phone number now seems to be within a network of rappers and journalists because I will randomly get calls from people at any hour of the day or night and it’s always a pleasant surprise. I don’t want to be a name dropper though. Everybody seems really into it and it’s creating a situation where I’m able to get some precious info that will enrich the story and that’s a cool bi-product that I wasn’t expecting. It’s cool too when different musicians tweet the strips. It helps propagate the material and spread the work.

Now that I have a handful of really cool people into the comic, whenever some random schmo has silly stuff to say, it gives me ammo to cut them down like “Oh that’s too bad you don’t like it, as long as “x” likes it, I guess I’ll just have to deal with that.”

SP: Finally, I’m wondering if you’ve allowed yourself to think about what kind of project you might want to work on next?

EP: Another thing about this project is that with the scope of the story I’m trying to tell, I know what I’m going to be working on for the foreseeable future.

SP: Thanks again to Ed for taking time out of his busy schedule for an interview. Make sure you make it a point to stop by his table next month at HeroesCon. His original art is something you’ll definitely want to see. Remember to pick up Hip Hop Family Tree when it hits the shelves. Rest assured, myself and other Heroes staffers will be talking about it when it does.

Filed Under: DISCUSS, Guest List, HeroesCon, Interviews

Tags: ED PISKOR, fantagraphics, Hip Hop Family Tree, Wizzywig

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HEROESCON 2013 GUEST LIST UPDATE :: ROY THOMAS! SKOTTIE YOUNG! & MANY MORE!

May 13, 2013 at 10:32 am By: Rico Renzi

It’s getting close! Just a little less than a month from now HeroesCon will be in full swing at the Charlotte Convention Center!

Heroes Convention is in Charlotte, North Carolina, June 7-9 2013. Get your 3 day passes today! Our full guest list (so far) is here.

We still need volunteers too!

PATY COCKRUM – Artist: The Cat, Nightcrawler

DEREC DONOVAN – Artist: Youngblood, Adventures of Superman, Bionic Bombshell, Connor Hawke

JOHN FLOYD – Inker: Batman: Mortality, Django Unchained and Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child

MARCUS HAMILTON - Artist: Dennis the Menace

ANDY MACDONALD - Artist: Time Warp, Zoo, Terminator 2029-1984

MARK NELSON - Artist: Aliens, Feud, Blood and Shadows

JOEL PRIDDY – Writer/Artist: Pulpatoon: Pilgrimage, The Preposterous Voyages of IronHide Tom

AFUA RICHARDSON - Artist: Genius, Cyblade, Captain Marvel , Native American Classics, 24/7

TIM RICKARD – Writer / Artist: Brewster Rockit, Space Guy!

MARK SPARACIO - Artist: Heroes for Hire, Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion, Omega Paradox, Overstreet Price Guide

DOMINIKE STANTON - Artist: Deadpool, Fanboys vs Zombies

ROY THOMAS - Writer: Conan the Barbarian, The Mighty Thor, Uncanny X-Men - SATURDAY ONLY

DOUG WAGNER – Writer: Arrow, Witchblade/ Red Sonja, Thundercats, I.C.E., The Ride

SKOTTIE YOUNG - Artist: Ozma of Oz, Iron Man & The Armor Wars, Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Filed Under: Guest List, HeroesCon

Tags: AFUA RICHARDSON, ANDY MACDONALD, DEREC DONOVAN, DOMINIKE STANTON, DOUG WAGNER, JOEL PRIDDY, JOHN FLOYD, MARCUS HAMILTON, MARK NELSON, MARK SPARACIO, PATY COCKRUM, ROY THOMAS, skottie young, TIM RICKARD

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HEROESCON 2013 :: NEW HOTEL ADDED!

May 10, 2013 at 3:53 pm By: Rico Renzi

With our first two host hotels mostly booked, Courtyard Charlotte City Center has offered us a block of rooms at a lower rate than previously available!

Act fast for the HeroesCon group rate of $115/KING & $119/DOUBLE

Call to reserve: 1-888-839-1758 and request the HeroesCon 2013 rate for your dates.
OR
Book online at www.marriott.com/cltup, click on “Special Rates & Awards” then “Group code” and input in the group code section HCNHCNA Standard King Beds and HCNHCNB for Two Queen Beds.

Filed Under: HeroesCon

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STAFF PICKS :: REGULAR SHOW #1 :: MAY 15, 2013

May 9, 2013 at 4:09 pm By: Justin Crouse

JUSTIN’S PICK :: REGULAR SHOW #1: When the Adventure Time comic materialized, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Where’s my Regular Show comic?” Little did I know, my future self answered, “Right here, you crybaby!” Much like its aforementioned Cartoon Network cohort, Regular Show boasts a wildly colorful cast of characters sure to attract the best talent comics has to offer. Worth the price of admission just for the inevitable Rigby/Mordecai trash talk. OOOOOOOOOH!

Filed Under: DISCUSS, Staff Picks

Tags: regular show

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STAFF PICKS :: Classic Comics Cavalcade :: MAY 08, 2013

May 7, 2013 at 4:28 pm By: Andy Mansell

The Classic Comics Cavalcade reaches some kind of high-point this week:

JOHNNY HAZARD DAILIES HC VOL 02 1946-1948:

Johnny Hazard by Frank Robbins began its syndicated life as juest another WWII Fighter Pilot strip. Sure, there was solid storytelling with terrific Caniff-school art, but nothing that really set it apart; that is– until the title character returned to civilian life and tried to find himself a decent job. For the next 31 years, Johnny Hazard fell head first from one adventure to another. The transitions between stories– plane hijackings, mistaken identities, misplaced luggage, femme fatales in desperate straights– were as much fun as the actual adventures themselves. Hermes Press offers two years of dailies (1946-1948) and it is a non-stop roller-coaster ride of fun and excitement with page after page of fabulous art. Johnny Hazard is my all-time favorite comic strip. Find out why! You won’t be sorry!

HELLBLAZER TP VOL 05 DANGEROUS HABITS NEW ED:

Collects: Hellblazer #34-46. Still haven’t given old John Constantine a try? Here is the absolute perfect place to step in and sample a terrific horror comic as it hit one of its many artistic peaks. The writer who would go on to produce Preacher– Garth Ennis began his long tenure on Hellblazer with this justly famous story arc that featured our trench-coated anti-hero fighting off both Lung Cancer and the Devil. This story-line is a true classic. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, The Hellblazer Library is just chock full of great horror stories and exciting art. Try this book– you will become a JC fan for life and the chances are good this storyline will force you quit smoking as well! Chilling– and one of the single greatest endings to any comic story. For the hundreth time, I do not exaggerate.

Last, but not least…

WALT DISNEY DONALD DUCK HC VOL 01 THE OLD CASTLES SECRET:

Collects all the Donald Duck stories from 1948. Although these stories are a year or two away from his peak, the earliest Barks output is far superior to the work of almost any other comic artists. These 3 20-page stories, ten 10-pagers and numerous single-page gag strips are more that just exciting, funny Donald Duck comics, together under one cover, they create a veritable text book for budding cartoonists on design a page, how to tell a story and how to make the reader laugh. These are all must have volumes and if you’ve been sitting on the fence about the great Duck-Man, he is your chance to dive in.

Filed Under: DISCUSS, Staff Picks

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STAFF PICKS :: JETPACK AND ROCKET EDITIONS :: MAY 8, 2013

May 7, 2013 at 9:51 am By: Seth Peagler

SETH’S PICK(s) :: JETPACK AND ROCKET EDITIONS: In perusing the list of the week’s new releases, I couldn’t help but see a theme. Thus there are three books I’m recommending, all bound by their common thread of including jetpacks and rockets among their subject matter. First up is Tom Gauld’s latest, You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack. This is a collection of Gauld’s single page strips from the Guardian, and a fine place to start reading his work. Whereas in books like Goliath you see Gauld’s fine line work on display, from what I’ve seen of this book, you get an even greater sense of his skill at humor writing.

Secondly, it wouldn’t be a Jetpack and Rocket edition of staff picks if I didn’t mention my favorite, The Rocketeer. This week wraps up IDW’s latest mini series, Hollywood Horror. Like the two volumes of Rocketeer Adventures and last year’s Waid/Samnee Cargo of Doom miniseries, this one has plenty to be happy about. With Roger Langridge and J. Bone at the helm, if this series doesn’t make you want to go re-read Dave Stevens’ classic Rocketeer stories, you may not have a heart.

Finally, though you won’t find it on the New Releases section of our website, I am excited to remind you about a new book by a talented local creator. Stan Ford’s Jet-pack Jenny and the Factor of 01 just arrived in the store last week, and it’s a new book you should pick up. Stan’s a longtime member of Sketch Charlotte, and has always impressed me with his skills as an inker and storyteller. There are also lots of extras in this one, like pinups and process pages. It’s well worth your time.

Filed Under: DISCUSS, Staff Picks

Tags: Jet-pack Jenny, Rocketeer: Hollywood Horror, Stan Ford, Tom Gauld, You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack

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HEROESCON 2013 GUEST LIST UPDATE :: ADAMS! NILES! WRIGHTSON! & MORE!

May 6, 2013 at 1:06 pm By: Rico Renzi

Free Comic Book Day at Heroes was a GREAT time! Thanks to all the fans who joined us and thank you to all the talented creators who tirelessly drew sketches for those fans too! That said, we are full steam ahead on HeroesCon from now until June 7th! Here’s another fantastic guest list update for you guys!

Heroes Convention is in Charlotte, North Carolina, June 7-9 2013. Get your 3 day passes today! Our full guest list (so far) is here.

We still need volunteers too!

JOSH ADAMS – Artist: Doctor Who, House Of Mystery, Adam and Eve and Steve

NEAL ADAMS – Artist/Writer: Batman: Odyssey, Green Lantern, Superman, X-Men

PAUL AZACETA – Artist: Graveyard of Empires, X-Men, Spider-Man, Grounded
SCOTT CHANTLER – Writer/Artist: Two Generals, The Captive Prince

STEVE CONLEY – Writer/Artist: Bloop, Team Cul de Sac , Star Trek: Year Four, Astounding Space Thrills
STEVE ELLIS – Artist: The Extinguished, The Only Living Boy, High Moon

JOHN FLOYD – Artist: Archer, Unsupervised, Cartoon Network
KERON GRANT – Artist: Transformers, Son of Vulcan, Gazillion

TOM HEINTJES: Hogan’s Alley Magazine
GREG HORN – Artist: Red She Hulk, Ms Marvel, Emma Frost

ERIK JONES – Artist: , Hi-Fructose Magazine, Juxtapoz, Unknown, Elric, Witchblade

STEVE LIEBER – Artist: Underground, Alabaster: Wolves, Superior Foes of Spider-Man

LAURA MARTIN – Color Artist: Avengers, Wolverine and the X-Men, Planetary, The Rocketeer

CONOR MCCREERY – Writer: Kill Shakespeare
ERIKA MOEN – Artist/Writer: DAR!, Bucko, Adventure Time, Stripsearch

STEVE NILES – Writer: 30 Days of Night, Mystery Society, Frankenstein Alive, Criminal Macabre

MARK SABLE – Writer: Graveyard of Empires, Unthinkable and Two-Face: Year One
IRENE STRYCHALSKI – Artist: Deadpool, Archer
BERNIE WRIGHTSON – Artist: Dead She Said, Swamp Thing, Frankenstein, Batman: The Cult