Comics News: Cosmic Waves Returns in April 2014

COSMIC WAVES returns APRIL 2014, via FUNDANYTHING.COM!

With his first original graphic novel set to be released by Dark Horse Comics next year, and a resume which boasts published work by such prominent comic book companies as DC Comics, Drew Ford is now setting out on his own, in an attempt to publish a collection of homespun tales of mystery and wonder!.  And he needs YOUR help to make it happen!

Twenty years ago, inspired by both contemporary and classic collections of genre comic book fiction, Ford had the idea to produce a new comic book anthology, which would feature all-new fantastical stories...the name of that comic was Cosmic Waves.

The original Cosmic Waves #1 was released into a very different comics landscape than what exists today.  For that reason, Cosmic Waves struggled to find it's audience, and eventually fell by the wayside.

Times, however, have truly changed.
The current mainstream popularity of comics throughout society, mixed with crowd-funding and the addition of new digital distribution possibilities, allows for comics such as this to have a real shot at succeeding!  Because of this, Ford has decided that now is the time to breath life back into this anthology of comic book goodness.
Ford is hoping this new, upcoming issue of Cosmic Waves, featuring a diverse mix of characters, stories and creators, will be embraced by readers of such popular, contemporary anthologies as Dark Horse Presents and Popgun, along with fans of such classic EC favorites Tales From The Crypt, The Vault of Horror, Weird Fantasy, and more...basically anyone who loves a good fantastical collection of stories!
The ability to publish this new incarnation of Cosmic Waves will depend heavily on the success of the fundanything.com campaign, which has already begun to help facilitate it's 2014 publication.  Anyone interested in seeing this new issue of Cosmic Waves spring to life is strongly encouraged to go to the campaign website, and make a contribution here:
https://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/cosmic-waves-a-comic-book-anthology.
The anthology itself will be a mix of both stand alone and on-going stories.
On-going story lines include The Unseen (a horrific crime drama), The Light (a bizarre twist on the superhero genre), Phenomena (a contemporary ghost story) and The 10 Percent (a science fiction thriller).  Examples of interior artwork from each story can be seen below.
If you are interested in thoughtfully written, expertly drawn stories of science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, crime and more, Cosmic Waves is the place to be.
Again, anyone wanting to help us publish Cosmic Waves can make a contribution here: https://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/cosmic-waves-a-comic-book-anthology

Please send all questions, including interview requests, to: cosmicwavescomic@gmail.com

(sample page from The Unseen - artwork by Jaime Martinez Rodriguez and Santiago Ramos.)

(sample page from The Light - artwork by Hoyt Silva)

(sample page from The 10 Percent - artwork by Ruth Garcia Martin and Roberto Cota.)

(sample page from Phenomena - artwork by Cristian Baez and Victor Nava)

(possible cover to Cosmic Waves #1)

(possible cover to Cosmic Waves #1)

 

Comic News: Sci-Fi Anthology COSMIC WAVES Returns!!!

COSMIC WAVES: 90's INDY COMIC BOOK ANTHOLOGY RETURNS!

Cosmic Waves originally collected stories back in the 90's from the genres of science fiction, fantasy, horror and beyond!  This new incarnation of Cosmic Waves will continue to present all new stories of mystery and wonder, from a group of talented creators from all around the globe!

Aside from their general all-consuming love of comics, the contributors have a special place in their heart for comic book anthologies.  From the early horror and mystery collections to more modern anthologies such as Negative Burn and Dark Horse Presents, they are huge fans! 

 

Aside from massively enjoying the format itself, they also believe that anthology titles are incredibly important to create and support because they offer creative opportunities to young or under-appreciated creators from all walks of life.  This also means that fans get to see an insanely diverse group of artists, who might never get a chance to work together, all under one incredible roof!

Cosmic Waves need your help to make this anthology a reality.  You can contribute here: https://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/cosmic-waves-a-comic-book-anthology

With your generous contribution, you will ensure the publication of the first issue of the all-new Cosmic Waves comic book anthology!  Also, what you are really doing is allowing Cosmic Waves the ability to print a larger number up front, so that they can lower the cost of each individual book in the future.  The more they can print up front, the less each one will cost.

Cosmic Waves is asking for $3000.00, which will cover design, printing and distribution and shipping on the first issue of Cosmic Waves.  If they are lucky enough to raise more than the initial goal, those additional funds will be used to promote, advertise and market this first issue.  If, for some reason, Cosmic Waves far exceed what they are asking for, those funds will be used to produce future issues.

First Impressions: Zombie Hamlet

Shakespear Shaken
 “Zombie Hamlet”
Written by Jeremy Whitley
Art by Gabriel Dunston

Red Stylo Media

FLIPPING THROUGH:

            This is the first time in a LONG time that I read an anthology. Yet, cause of the size of the anthology, I am only reviewing Jeremy Whitley’s Zombie Hamlet.  Many of the key moments of the classic play were in this satirical adaption.  We saw people dying. We found that Hamlet’s father was actually turned into a zombie. There is a lot of modern dialogue to translate a lot of Shakespear’s original lines. Modern sensibilities to go along with this classic work.

            After Hamlet becomes a Zombie, the main characters continue to blanantly give you hints as to the fact that Hamlet’s uncle had his dad killed. The twist of Hamlet’s father being a zombie and making Hamlet one speaks volumes. And I will get into that when we talk about the writing.


ART:

   Gabriel Dunston’s cartoon style, at first glance, would make feel like it is wrong for something like Zombie Hamlet. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH! Dunston’s simple, cartoony art really help fit the themes of Hamlet being dumbdown for the understand while being witty artistically.

            The simple pencils and inks really allow readers to take this work for what it is … a satire. But, there were enough images that were some what frightening. When Hamlet first got bitten or when Hamlet bites the fingers off of Ophelia. This combination of creepy-ness and comedy really work to make the work stand out. Kudos to Dunston on a job well done.


WRITING:

            Jeremy Whitley … you magnificent bastard I read your book!! And boy, there is a lot to be said with the piece. Whitley gave a very entertaining view of Hamlet but also really made some resounding statements about many people/readers today of contemporary works. Hamlet was a tragedy that told of betrayal but that story of betrayal was layered with the current, feverish fascination of the undead that much of American is having.

            If you don’t believe me …. Two words: Walking Dead.

            All other arguments are invalid after that. Anyway, Whitley makes plenty of statements which include the following in just this story: Many readers/viewers want to have their hand held/spoon fed information; they do not want to figure it out. This was proven with the sheer amount of obvious and funny statements with many characters throughout the story.

            Another statement was how just because something is zombie, many readers will flock to it. Whitley even says as much at the beginning of the story. Obvious statement is obvious indeed. Also, another statement on society and acceptance of fallen marriages and betrayal: as if many people, but not all considering Hamlet BEFORE he became a zombie, are pretty much desensitized by a man’s own brother is sleeping with his wife. And said wife just seems to wave it off.  The gore itself was a statement, continuing the desensitizing of readers/viewers. And the final panel is its own statement.

     All this within 20 pages of a satire of a classic work. Mr. Whitley, I salute you.

OVER ALL IMPRESSION:

            Zombie Hamlet proved itself to be a radical, fresh work that was both fun and eye opening. Dunston’s art really complimented Whitley’s statements extremely well. And the over all pacing of the story worked within the confines of the 20 pages it had. Whitley’s humor shined through and made the horror within the story gripping. Well done to both of them.


 I give Zombie Hamlet …. A 9.5 out of 10.

Film News: V/H/S DVD & Blu-Ray release in December

Reported by Bloody-Disgusting.com's, Brad Miska (Mr. Disgusting), the horror indie film, "V/H/S" will be released on both DVD ($ 26.98) and Blu-Ray ($29.98) on December 4th, courtesy of Magonlia Pictures.

Available to view on VOD (video-on-demand) services and released in selected US theaters today, October 5th. V/H/S is a American anthology horror film that was shot with the "found-footage" motif in mind.

Synopsis:

"When a group of petty criminals is hired by a mysterious party to retrieve a rare piece of found footage from a random house in the middle of nowhere, they soon realize that the job isn't going to be easy as they thought. In the living room, a lifeless body holds court before a hub of old television sets, surrounded by stacks upon stacks of VHS tapes. As they search for the right one, they are treated to a seemingly endless number of horrifying videos, each stranger then the last."

DVD/Blu-Ray Extras:

• Deleted scenes

• Visual Effects feature

• Behind-the-scenes feature

• AXS TV: A Look at V/H/S feature 

• Trailers

The directors that take part of  this horror anthology piece:

- Adam Wingard (You're Next, A Horrible Way to Die, Pop Skull)

- Simon Barrett (You're Next, Dead Birds, Red Sands)

- Ti West (The House of the Devil, The Roost, The Innkeepers)

- David Bruckner (The Signal)

- Joe Swanberg (Silver Bullets)

- Glenn McQuaid (I Sell the Dead)

- Radio Silence Productions "Chad, Matt and Rob" (YouTube partner)

The production team for this movie was Bloody-Disgusting Production, a film production company created by both Mr. Miska (the co-owner/co-founder of the aforementioned site) and the Collective management firm. The production subsidiary was announced and debuted last year.

The film made it's official debut at this year's Sundance Film Festival, during it's midnight movie run.

Trevor Groth, the programmer of the festival block talked about the film, stating:

"I give this all the credit in the world because conceptually it shouldn't have worked for me. Personally, I'm bored by found-footage films, which this is. And omnibus attempts rarely work. But this one does. It's terrifying, and very well executed."

During the film festival, Magnolia Pictures bought the US theatrical/DVD rights to the film for almost over one million dollars.

Again, V/H/S is now available to view on VOD services and in selected theaters nationwide. I recommend the film, go check out. It's a great movie and a great way to start getting into the holiday spirit.

For all your film news, updates in the industry and film culture, please stay tuned to the broken infinite.


What do you guys think ? Leave your comments and thoughts in the comment box below.

Source:

- Bloody-Disgusting



twitter:

- @bradmiska


- @BDisgusting

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, please leave some creative criticism below in the comment box as well. It will help me get better and improve in future articles, editorials and reviews. 

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Next-Gen podcast - Season 2: March 2013

#49 - CHAMPION OF CHILDREN

And now,  brand new CBC writer, Devin Walker and his first review. 

Champion of Children 

Written & Art by Various

Review by Devin Walker

Introduction:

Have you heard of Ghostwerks comics? No? I don't blame you they are a very small comicbook company that started out in 2001. They were so small I didn't even notice them until my dad gave me one of their comics. Though the Ghostwerks has a few titles under their belt, their launch title was a comic called "Champion of children". The comic's first issue is actually a combination of three stories centered around a school of super powered kids, some heroes and some villains. Among all those though is one hero with the responsibility of protecting the other little kids, and that is the Champion. 

First story:

The first story in this comic is "I'm known as The Champ" written by the Holy One, pencils by Bigsteelo and inks by The Big Prodigal Ape. Yes, the writers and artist all use code names. The story starts out with a five year old little girl named Little Mad Skillz; yes, you read that. Who is getting ready for her first day at school and is going to be the new champion, just like her older brother, Jr. Raw, was before her. Once at school, Little Mad Skillz shows what she can do by not only beating up a bully but his dad as well. Afterwards, she is accepted as the new champion by the other kids.

           

            This story was a pretty good if not standard introduction of the characters and their world. It's not groundbreaking in the slightest, pretty much introducing the hero of the story like in any other standard comic. The hero is introduced, they fight someone to show off how cool they are, and the people love them. It's a pretty simple concept but it's done in a fun way; with the characters acting like real brother and sister in a pretty fun way. The art has a real fun feeling to it but the way when the art is drawn and placed makes the page feel a bit crowded. Coupled with the black and white style the art may be good but it's a bit discerning, especially at first glance.

Simply put its a 7.5/10

Second story:

This story is titled "Da old school" and is a story told completely by breaking the 4th wall. This story is written by Corance, and art by Samax and Khalid (my father's co worker). The story is about Jr. Raw telling the reader about how cool he was back when he was champion, but has his mom clearing up some of the "problems" of his stories.

           

            Unlike the first story, this story is a pretty creative and funny way to go into the history of a character. Also unlike the first story the art was not as crowded and a bit more creative. This story also has one of the best page in the comic; where one half of the comic is Jr. Raw's side of the story and the bottom half is his mother's side of the story, which is upside down and the panels make a young and yang symbol. It also helps that the art is great on this page too, but this story's short coming is that even though we get backstory in the end that's all it is. We really don't get to know more about the world, we just to hear about stuff that happens. There's even a villain who is brought up, but we have no idea who he is or what he does. The ultimate disappointment is that we now know both main characters and we don't know what their powers are yet.

But overall a 8/10

Third story:

This story is titled "Frozen", this story is about another kid hero called Black Ice. This is story is written by corance, and art by mike. A hero who is a bit passive when it comes to fighting and controls a bat made of black ice. Like the first story, he's introduced, fights a villain and is loved by the people.

            This story is one of the quickest to run through out of the rest of the stories. Though the story is 8 pages, it's all action. Only one page is dedicated to backstory, the rest is action. The action is pretty good and the art complements the moments quite well though in a few parts you may be ask yourself "how did he do that?". This is also the only character that we get to know what his power actually is.

Other then that it's just a solid 7/10.

Final thoughts:

As a first issue, the comic succeeds at making a good impression though it has a few problems here and there. The comic also has stats on the main characters in the back of the comic book and an extra 3 page story from Tan, other one of Ghostwerks comics. But the only one that matters is the stats, where you actually can read what the powers are for each character, even characters that weren't formally introduced. The comic itself is a kids comic, and a black one at that. There are very few white characters in the comic at all, though this fact has almost nothing to do with the story itself. The story is not bland but very standard with a few good ideas sprinkled in, and you can tell the writers and artist really had fun making this comic. The art is pretty good, and gives the comic a fun feel that if you didn't know better could just pass itself as an stylistic adult comic, instead of a kids comic, but like I stayed early the first story's art is crowded and leaves little room for you to just look at the as you search through the panels trying to see which panel comes in which order at some points. In the end, this is a fun comic that I won't mind reading, the story is charming though standard, the characters are rounded though not as fleshed out as one would hope, and the art is creative at best and just too busy at worse. 

It's an average, yet creative comic that I suggest you check out and gets a final score of 7.5/10  

UNDER THE NET #9 - A MOTHER'S LOVE

Under the Net with Jake Estrada

A Mother’s Love

Welcome to the ninth edition of Under the Net.

I will be rating the elements of the book on a scale of one through five.

One is poor, two is mediocre, three is fair, four is good, and five is excellent.

Hey guys it is your trusty friend Jake at it again. This weeks review is called A Mother’s Love/. The story is written by Sam Costello and drawn by David Hitchcock. The site this book resides is called Split Lip which is a series of anthology stories in the vein of the Twilight Zone or the Night Gallery. All stories are written by Sam Costello, and I could go through them all. Yet I choose A Mother’s Love today.

The Art

I must say that the art from David Hitchcock is very beautiful I love how it had the apprearance as if it was only penciled this story and it wasn’t inked. It had a great vibe to it, it drew the story to that late Victorian period, and it only made the horror so much more surreal and visually stunning. The way the art was drawn made me feel like I was reading the story under candlelight. The story was in black and white, but the sketchiness of it was quick and the story flowered very well. The panels were done nicely and there were many pages that had no dialogue and it kept the suspense high. Mr. Hitchcock is a great artist and I look forward in seeing his artwork in other comics in the near future.

ART: 5 STARS

The Writing

The writing was just as good for this great 16 page story. The story starts in this Puritan period where a woman becomes pregnant with her child in her 40’s and as she is about to give birth something goes horribly wrong. The tale is told by a gentlemen at the gathering, and we learn in the story that the birth took place a hundred years prior. The subtle nature of the story is ever present because at first you think it is a typical story of life entering this world, but we quickly learn the reality of this story as the birth is a horrifying entrance to this morbid world of ours, as the creature known as the Hobbyhorse enters in extreme gory fashion. Mr. Costello knows how to move a story forward, has a perfect sense of suspense and knows how to give us the right amount of gore to keep readers enticed. Plus at the very last second of this monsterous creature you also get a sense of sadness at the very last page. He surely knows how to convey many emotions on his page and knows how to bring the horror home full circle. The story was tremendous and breathtaking in all its madness.

WRITING:  5 STARS

Originality

A Mother’s Love is a very original idea. I love the fact that the story takes place in a time long but forgotten in the pathos of time, and we have it drawn in this old school style where it makes you feel like you are seeing it through a old book being read by a fireplace. Sam Costello knows how to weave a great tale of suspense and merged with the art it only makes it so much better. The sweetness of each page comes flying off the page and it flies towards your face as you attempt to race to the very end to see how this all plays out. I know I was engaged in this story and it is a great tale. I love how the story was told, but the creature in itself was original and horrfying in the highest order as well.

The stark pages, the lush lettering brought the entire package together and it is a splendid joy to read.

I loved how we are given this tale of the creature, then it is pushed off being a old wives tale, and how the one guy running the conference ends up having the creature within his body. I like how the tale was twisted on its head and how it took out the other would be mother.      

ORIGINALITY: 5 STARS.

Grand Total: 5 Stars

The Pros

The art, the writing and its pace were top notch.

The Cons

My only thing here and it made me wonder was how long had the Hobbyhorse been inside Mr. Mudd? Plus how many vicitims did the monster ultimately take out over the years? I guess we will never know.

My Final Word

If you like the Twilight Zone meets the Outer Limits, then you will love this great site with various webcomics.

Check out the hard work of Sam Costello and co at:

http://www.splitlipcomic.com/

Enjoy folks!

Jake Estrada

Email me at estradajake@yahoo.com for website suggestions. Thanks.

Jake Estrada is a published author who holds degrees in Multimedia Design and Criminal Justice. He is a father to three wonderful children and married to his beautiful wife, Beth. You can find his comics at http://graphicly.com/estrada-mediaand other fine online stores.