Cow Boy Vol. 1: A Boy and His Horse

“Justice ain’t got no age.”

Nate Cosby (Pigs, Jim Henson’s The Storyteller) and Chris Eliopoulos (Franklin Richards, Misery Loves Sherman) present Cow Boy, the all-ages story of a young bounty hunter determined to send his entire outlaw family to jail. He travels the Old West on a horse that ain’t his, and won’t stop til every one’a his kin’s in the clink.

Good old stories of the rough and tumble from the Wild West are plentiful and loved by many.  Let me tell you, partner, this is not your typical John Wayne tale.  Not at all.  Last I checked, there are none anywhere like that of Archaia's Cow Boy, as you'll quickly see starting in Volume 1: A Boy and His Horse.

Boyd Linney is a man 10 year old boy on a mission to clean up a handful of bounties through the West.  They're not just any bounties, as he's set his iron sights on that of his own family members, starting with his own father.  Armed with his custom "pea shooter" shotgun, he does not take no for an answer, and shows no remorse for bringing in his kin.  Also scattered in between each story of his bounty trackings are some great super short stories by various creators.

I don't know what exactly it is about the artwork for this book, but I loved it.  It has more of the cartoony look to it, yet still packs quite a punch.  It's gritty, it's hard, yet it comes off with a lot of emotion underneath it all.  While Boyd is never slow on the draw with his words, the art is just as effective in speaking as loudly without having to say a thing.

Justice has no age, and neither does the fan base that this book can gather.  It doesn't matter how old you are, what kind of books you lean towards, this is one you'll enjoy.  This little guy has more attitude in his short stature than most adults, and he'll be very upset if you don't pick up this book.  Y'hear?

For more on Cow Boy or other Archaia titles, check out Archaia.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.

Gunnerkrigg Court Vol. 1: Orientation

Orientation is the first in a series of books about Antimony Carver, a girl who attends school at gloomy Gunnerkrigg Court, and the people she meets, the strange things that happen, and the things she causes to happen as she and her new friend, Kat, unravel the mysteries of the Court. Antimony and Kat deal with the everyday adventures of growing up at a school that has robots running around along side body-snatching demons, forest gods, and the odd mythical creature.

Of the many things I would like to put aside more time for, the multitude of webcomics are high up there.  I've come across quite a few volumes of them after the fact and wish I could have seen them from the start.  My newest example of just such a desire is the first volume of Gunnerkrigg Court, yet another series I will hope to one day catch up on from start to finish.

This first collection of the ongoing webcomic from Tom Siddell introduces us to Antimony Carver and the start of her new life at the Gunnerkrigg Court school.  Throughout these opening chapters, we get to see many of her adventures during her first year.  Along with her new best friend Kat, they deal with everything from robots and ghosts, to dragons and demons.  Life in school is definitely more interesting when the science fair has anti-gravity machines and off-limit areas have the danger of demons.

As many webcomics are when they first start off, the art for this series has a more simplistic look.  Even so, there is still such an endearing appeal to it that you can't help but love.  The colors are also fairly basic, yet provide enough pop to liven the linework.  What's interesting is that often times there is a great amount of detail in the backgrounds where the characters still retain their simple feel.  Admittedly, I took a peek at the current webcomic, and as I'd imagine, the artwork definitely evolved so wonderfully.

There are a lot of great fantasy, sci-fi and even mythological influences to Gunnerkrigg Court that make it so interesting.  Some of them are quite obvious, while others you might not catch right away or even need to look into further.  With just this first volume of the webcomic, I certainly find myself drawn in enough to want to dive in more, whether it be more volumes or jumping to the webcomic.  I'd like to support Tom by grabbing more of the volumes as available, and would gladly recommend you do so as well.

For more on Gunnerkrigg Court or other Archaia titles, check out Archaia or follow along with the webcomic.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.

The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths Vol 1

Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths Vol. 1 is an original graphic novel hardcover set one thousand years before the crystal cracked, before the world of Thra fell to strife and destruction. Original Dark Crystal movie concept designer Brian Froud plots, provides the cover, designs characters, and art directs this beautiful hardcover.

Of the many beautiful things to be brought to us from the mind of Jim Henson, The Dark Crystal is one of my favorite.  I'm sure this can be said for many a fan of his work or just lovers of fantasy in general.  Now, with The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths and this venture into Vol 1, we get to see another side of the story that I never expected.

Before you even go any further, if for some terrible reason you've never seen The Dark Crystal, DO SO NOW.  I beg of you, do it.  Not only because everyone should, but this will ruin the movie for you before you even see it.

The first volume of this prequel collection shows us the world of Thra we know from the movie, but many a moon before.  Many a moon as a thousand years before the events of the movies giving us an opportunity to follow a previously unseen history of Thra.  We are treated to all kinds of stories from the "birth" of Aughra, the history of the Crystal, to multiple tales of Gelflings all collected in this initial batch.

Even before I got to the first actual page, I was eager to see the art throughout this book.  I had very high expectations and they were absolutely met and more.  The fantasy world of The Dark Crystal is spectacular in the movie and it is easily as great here.  All the characters and the world itself all the stories are told from are perfectly illustrated as far as I'm concerned.

As someone who grew up adoring The Dark Crystal, this was a book I absolutely could not wait to read.  By the end of it, I was very much pleased with how it turned out.  I am very anxious to check out number two as soon as possible.  I would completely suggest that everybody grab this as your next comic purchase, which should be immediately.

For more on The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths or other Archaia titles, check out Archaia.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.

The Collector HC

Far from the auction halls of the elite, The Collector seeks out rare and mysterious artifacts across the world. He is at home in the salons of Paris as he is in the jungles of Borneo. Set against the backdrop of late 19^th century colonialism, The Collector is a delightful, swashbuckling adventure!

While I may have loved comics since I was a child, I must confess that there are a lot of gaps in my geek cred in that area.  In this particular case, it may be shocking to hardcore comic fans that I never really knew of Sergio Toppi before now.  Fortunately for me, I can now say that I’m at least somewhat familiar with his work thanks to The Collector.  Granted, I don’t know if any of his other work has been translated into English before this one, so I may not have to feel so bad.

This hardcover collection puts together five adventures of the extremely determined traveler known only as The Collector.  We follow along with his typically risky and often near death experiences seeking out rare and meaningful treasures, ones which he refuses to not acquire.  As hazardous as his travels are, he always finds a crafty, sometimes fantastical way of getting out of trouble.  In the end, he always gets what he wants, no matter what the method.

As the foreword so strongly emphasizes, Sergio Toppi was known above all else for his masterful artwork.  His particular style of line work is really unlike anything I’ve ever been used to before.  The way that Sean Gordon Murphy describes it in his foreword is probably the best way it can be, so I’ll leave it to you to read that.  The three words I would take from Murphy to sum it up: hallucinate, disorder and pioneer.  That’s Toppi in a nutshell.

These stories have been around for quite a long time, but again have never been translated into English.  So, unless you happen to have read the originals, this is something you definitely have to pick up now.  If you don’t do it for the wild writing or unique artwork, do it to make yourself a better fan.  Either way, you’ll be better off having read this book in the end.

For more on The Collector HC or other Archaia titles, check out Archaia.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.

Tale of Sand: The Illustrated Screenplay

Between 1967 and 1974, Jim Henson and his longtime writing partner Jerry Juhl developed three drafts of a screenplay for a feature-length film called Tale of Sand. It is the only feature-length screenplay written by Jim Henson that he was never able to produce in his lifetime. In 2012, Archaia published a graphic novel adaptation as realized by illustrator Ramón K Pérez which went on to win three Eisner Awards and two Harvey Awards. The Illustrated Screenplay features the complete and final 1974 draft of the project with Jim and Jerry’s handwritten edits as well as layouts and inked pages from the adaptation in gorgeous black-and-white, and never-before-seen sequences that were cut during the production of the graphic novel, newly illustrated by Ramón K. Pérez.

After just having the great opportunity to read The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow, being able to have a shot at another lost Henson treasure was so exciting.  As soon as I started in on the foreword, I knew that I was in for something quite different from this one.  I never actually read the full graphic novel that came out some time ago, so I dove right into The Illustrated Screenplay of Tale of Sand with anticipation.  Boy, was I completely unprepared for what was before me.

To say this is one of the most unusual stories I’ve read in some time would be an understatement.  But, I mean that in the best, most complimentary way possible.  Honestly, it’s hard for me describe exactly what this lost screenplay is about.  Like Ramon says in the foreword, everyone will see it how they want to see it.  It is a bizarre, fantastical, emotional journey of a man in a desert unlike anything you’ve ever read before and has to be experienced in your own way.

Although this version is primarily just the screenplay, we do get to see some of the artwork used in the full graphic novel.  For me, never having seen it gave me a nice glimpse of what I missed (and provided all the reason to grab it).  Just that small amount shows the fantastic job that Ramon did and even those who read the novel get a whole new bunch of unseen originals from the creative process.

Regardless of what you personally take out of this story, it is a treat to see this atypical piece of Henson creativity.  If you’ve already read the original novel, this is still worth picking up to see the final draft of the screenplay itself and the behind the scenes art.  If you haven’t, I can confidently say this is a great way to introduce you to this crazy adventure before you grab the graphic novel.

For more on Tale of Sand: The Illustrated Screenplay or other Archaia titles, check out Archaia.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.

The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow

Turkey Hollow is a picturesque town where hundreds of years ago, unbeknownst to the citizens, a meteorite landed nearby a small brook on the outskirts of town. One Thanksgiving, while young Timmy Henderson practices his guitar, he’s accompanied by strange, unearthly, musical sounds. That meteorite wasn’t a rock at all but an egg holding seven furry, goofy monsters, each with a unique musical sound. After the initial shock, Timmy befriends the lovable creatures following him all around Turkey Hollow. Not everyone takes a liking to the visitors though and it’s up to Timmy to protect his new friends and save Thanksgiving!

Many of us know and love the wondrous things that came from the brilliant mind that was Jim Henson.  The influence and adoration of all his work is still prevalent today, and will likely continue to for generations to come.  This week, I had the pleasure of reading one thing he created that never came to life.  Now, thanks to Roger Langridge, we get to see what we missed with The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow.

This previously unseen story is one that looked to tell a tale of Timmy, a young boy who discovers a group of adorable musical monsters who landed in his small New England town many moons ago.  Quickly becoming friends with them, he then has to defend and even rescue them from the local old grump, Mr. Sump who claims they’re bad news.  Along with his sister, kooky aunt and even the sheriff/mayor/store owner, Timmy heroically works to find out just who the bad news in the town really is.

The wonderful artwork that Langridge uses to bring this screenplay to life is exactly suited to a Henson project.  It’s like something out of a book I’d have read as a child, as if it was originally meant to be a comic in the first place.  The one thing that made it difficult to completely translate is the heavy musical theme, but that’s to no fault of the artist.  There’s only so much you can do to illustrate music.

I really enjoyed this adaptation of this lost piece of Henson work and applaud Langridge for letting us experience it.  While this may just be a fun, child oriented story, all of us can benefit from the feel good nature of it.  For many, it will be almost like a trip down memory lane, and is worth the read just to make you smile.

For more on The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow or other Archaia titles, check out Archaia.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer..

Hacktivist 2

Hacktivist Issue 2 Review

Writers:

Collin Kelly

Jack Lanzing

Alyssa Milano

Artists:

Ian Herring

Marcus To

Published by:

Archaia

To say I wasn't overly happy with issue 1 was an understatement; an ode to the power of the internet, it had its heart in the right place but it fumbled the implementation at almost every step. Issue 2 goes some way towards implementing changes that alleviate these problems.

For one, things start to unravel. The announcement of the offer made to them last issue by a US Government drives a firm wedge between our two protagonists Nate and Ed. What was a playful,
occasionally bitter bromance is now shattered, as Nate takes the agencies offer and pulls off a successful mission. Ed just sulks in his office listening to Fight the Power and plotting.

This leads to some payoff to the scene of Ed drawing circles on the windows from last issue. It turns out, he's so smart and focused on looking for patterns that he's found a way to implement that on macro (the much vaulted computer hardware they have) and the micro scale, as he plans his escape from a company he no longer trusts using patterns in people and events he has observed.

Naturally, he does all this whilst causing as much damage as possible; quite why he just doesn't walk out the door of the office building he owns and disappear discreetly doesn't occur to him I
guess. I'm guessing the writer wanted to make their message of 'F@%* Big Government- Go Big Business our Saviours' just a little more obvious after hitting you over the head with it for an issue and a bit.

One thing I do have to compliment, is how during those pages, there's a sense of dynamic flow and energy that just isn't in the rest of the issue. Perhaps it’s a case of tune in for the action, but just try to phase out the message?

In the end, I did enjoy this issue more. There are a lot of things happening in this issue as it heads towards the half way point of the mini series. It just seems very confused about what its trying to say, with no real exploration of the nuances of the situation. I get that mini series have to streamline themselves a bit due to the limited pages they are allowed, but the writer has spent two issues focusing on everything but the 'activist' part of Hacktivist.

Perhaps the next two issues will bring a reversal of fortunes. But following the message lain down by this comic, William Gibson's Neuromancer is a world to aspire to, rather than horrible nightmare.

Now tell me that's not an example of a bungled idea.

You can buy Hacktivist #2 from Comixology, or all good comic book stores.

Reece Morris-Jones knows you can't trust the system. Help him overthrow something with hashtags and humour @ReecemJones

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this comic for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.

Hacktivist 1

Ed Hiccox and Nate Graft are young, brilliant, and the co-founders of YourLife, a social networking company that has changed the way the world stays connected. In secret, these best friends are also "sve_Urs3lf," the largest, white-hat hacking group on the planet, exposing information and sparking revolutions across the globe.

Writers:

Collin Kelly

Jack Lanzing

Alyssa Milano

Artists:

Ian Herring

Marcus To

Published by:

Archaia

Hacktivist has an interesting setup and poses a great question. What if people had the power to change the world, in a way only master hackers can in films, yet were operating in the real world?

When you think of world events in the past few years and how the internet is slowly reshaping entire countries and cultures under its idea of a place free of control and oppression, I can see why this idea would stick and make its way into a comic.

Which is the first hurdle Hacktivist trips over on. Because the reality, Havktavist suggests, is that our saviours are white billionaires, no matter how messed up they are. Be it the autistic nature of one of the characters (or at least, heavily implied autism) to the naivete of the other, Hacktivist shows a world where all the biovating that Silicon Valley heads come out with is a reality. But that

it looks like said world would crash down around the weight of their own self importance.

You may have noticed I've been bit negative. That's because I have a lot of issues with Hacktivist. For one the opener. It starts dynamically enough with an overthrow of an oppressive regime thanks to the power of social networking. It's a fresh way of tackling a comic and it could have make a powerful statement about the power of working together in a way that’s not really been attempted in human history before. That quickly gives way to scenes where it's basically two white dudes saving the day for poor foreigners (who appear to be every bit as computer literate as our main characters I might add) who can't.

Now perhaps this chain of events would be more acceptable in a world where we didn't have real life parallels to compare this to. But we do. And it was 'those poor foreigners' who did it, by using technology to organise and stay one step ahead of those who opposed them, whilst the western world stood back and watched. In comparison, Hacktivist comes across as the author (and by extension the Western world) wished it had happened.

Next, there’s the use of technology as magic and situational autism as magic. Now admittedly with Ed it was implied that something else is going on and that appearances were deceptive. It also establishes that the two main characters became who they are off the back of Ed's smarts and

Nate's ability to then market whatever ideas he comes up with. That certainly bears some relation to how many large tech companies became successful.

Even if the two friends are pretty cavalier about their actions (which lead to them being noticed by government organisations) and seem to be barely getting on, there’s still the implication that the reader is meant to accept all that happens in the issue and think two rather unlikable characters are the best thing since sliced bread because 'White People+Technology=Amazing'.

It left a bitter taste in my mouth and one I've not shaken a week later.

Now as Issue 1 ends we see the wheels start to come off and perhaps this is the miniseries point, that people like this would burn out or be corrupted were they a part of the 'real world'. I shall certainly be picking up issue 2 to see where things are going, as I want to see if that is the creative teams entire point. If in the long term it's a massive subversion of everything presented in issue 1, I'll happily say I should have been more patient.

But off the strength of this first issue, I can't say I would recommend this. It's a noble idea of the internet being a tool to liberate us, hijacked by writers who feel the need to dress up a very interesting topic in a cape and cowl.

You can buy Hacktivist #1 from Comixology, or all good comic book stores.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this comic for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.

Mumbai Confidential

Once, Kadam was a rising star in the ranks of the Mumbai Encounter Squad, a secret unit tasked with carrying out extrajudicial executions of wanted criminals.  However, the death of his pregnant wife triggers a downward spiral that leaves Kadam a shadow of his former self.  When Kadam is the victim of a hit-and-run he goes into a coma for a month.  After waking up, he finds a new sense of purpose and pursues the investigation into the identity of the driver on his own, when the police close the case for lack of leads.  Kadam finds out that the driver was Balwan Khan, an over-the-hill Bollywood B-Movie actor.  This brings him into direct confrontation with his ex-colleagues, who are now de facto gangsters in uniform and use Khan's movies to launder their money.

Crime noir, how can you not love it?  Well ok, maybe it’s possible, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s such a fun genre.  It’s dark, dirty, in your face and always putting you on the edge of your seat.  Wrap all that up and throw it into the naturally harsh environment of Mumbai, and it’s bound to be a recipe for success.  These ingredients are exactly what came together for Mumbai Confidential, and wonderfully so.

Without revealing too much of this riveting story and leaving the twists intact, I can say for sure that you’re in for a hell of an adventure.  Our not so heroic “hero” is the product of his environment and unfortunate events, leaving us with a washed out, broken man with nothing to lose.  The fallen versus the corrupt, a typical scenario for sure, but put them in Mumbai and you have a whole new game.  There is certainly no shortage of ass kicking, back stabbing and everything else you’d expect from this kind of story that’s for sure.

The gritty, bleak feel that this city was sure to have during this time is more than expressed in the artwork.  We see a different art style than you’d be used to with most books, but that is completely welcomed here.  It’s just like something out of an old pulp fiction magazine, and to me that was absolutely perfect for this book.

Once again, I have to give it up to the creators here for offering up a piece that feels like a movie in book form.  It’s always such a pleasure to read something like this that transports you into the story, and pulls you along for the whole ride.  With it being coined as a Book One, I’m fully anticipating another.  Even if this doesn’t happen, you’d be wise to grab at least this first collection.

For more information on Mumbai Confidential or other titles, check out Archaia.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.

Strange Attractors

A young graduate student discovers that his aging professor has been saving New York City from collapse by a series of “adjustments,” a la the Butterfly Effect, only to be informed that he must be the one to take over keeping the city alive. A grounded sci-fi thriller in the vein of Source Code and The Adjustment Bureau.

Every once in a while you pick up a book with no idea of what you’re getting into and finding yourself hooked really fast.  That certainly ended up being the case for me with Strange Attractors after just a few minutes.  I love a more fictional approach to stories as much as the next guy, but this more reality driven tale was a great new read for me.

Stories like this that sit so close to possible always seem to be that much more interesting, as it really drives your imagination into high gear.  Our main character is just an average guy, but his life quickly becomes not so average when his unforeseen quest to save the Big Apple begins.  This fast paced, sci-fi ride set in the world we all live in may be fiction, but the compelling story Soule tells almost makes you wonder how real it could be.

The artwork here actually has a few strong components that should be mentioned.  The main story imagery throughout the book is quite nicely done, in both pencils and color work that the respective artists offer up.  The other component that I personally enjoyed was the mathematical additions with the complexity maps.  These added a nice touch that really drove home the major focus of the story.

If there’s one thing that can set the bar higher for me personally, it’s when I finish a book and wish it would get turned into a movie.  That says something when a story is that enjoyable in the graphic novel format that it would be worth seeing on the big screen.  That likely won’t happen of course, but it’d be great if it did.  Needless to say, this gets two thumbs up for me and a definite suggestion for you to get a copy to check it out.

For more information on Strange Attractors or other titles, check out Archaia.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.