Morrison & Robertson Tell You To Get Happy

  

( From the Image Comics Site)

NEW MORRISON & ROBERTSON SERIES WISHES YOU MANY "HAPPY" RETURNS

Posted on July 20, 2012

 HAPPY! debuts in September from Image Comics

Nick Sax isn't what you'd call a "winner." The anti-hero of the newGrant Morrison and Darick Robertson comic mini-series HAPPY!has been fired from the police force, turned on by his own employees in his murder-for-hire business (well, what would you expect?), is constantly drunk, and is waging a hopeless battle against the agonies of eczema. Sax seems beyond redemption, but saviors often take strange forms, and, in his case, it's the form of a tiny blue, feathered pony named Happy.

Oh, did we forget to mention that? Yes, besides being heavy with violence, profanity, and sex, HAPPY! is also a tribute to the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

"HAPPY! is a story I’ve wanted to write since hit-man Nick Sax and his ‘partner’ Happy the Horse appeared fully-formed in my head two years ago," said Morrison. In an interview at Newsarama , he described the impetus of its development: "I wanted to do a classic Christmas story – like A Christmas Carol or It’s A Wonderful Life – but with all the junkies, killers and pedophiles which make our modern world so colorful!"

In the same interview, artist Robertson talked a bit about the mysterious, eponymous Happy the Horse, about whom the two creators are being enticingly elusive. 

"Happy had a complete transformation from the initial drawing to what he became and what he became is one of the most enjoyable things I've ever designed to draw," said Robertson. "I hope readers will have as much fun with this as I've been having.

HAPPY! is Morrison and Robertson's first Image Comics series. It was announced at this year's Image Expo in February, which celebrated the independent publisher's 20th anniversary. Recently, Morrison commented on the experience of working on a creator-owned project.

"As much as I enjoy making monthly superhero books, there’s something very exciting and inspiring about creating a complete, original story from whole cloth and I’m grateful to Image Comics for seeing the potential of this project and giving it a home," said Morrison. "After a banner year for creativity at the company, Darick and I hope we can round 2012 out on a high note with the most twisted Christmas crime story you’ll ever read."

HAPPY! #1 will be in stores on September 26 and is available now for pre-order. The four-issue miniseries will culminate with an issue released Christmas week

NEWS EDITION #30 - FINCH HOSPITALIZED, ROBERTSON'S WORKS AFTER THE BOYS, GHOST REVIVES

The news edition for the week of April 4th, 2012 (sorry about it being late. There were some technical issues).


DAVID FINCH HOSPITALIZED

by Frankie Rodriguez

     Our top story is that fan-favorite artist David Finch was hospitalized last Thursday in Mexico. The Batman: The Dark Knight artist was rushed to the hospital after being struck by serious food poisoning Thursday in Mexico City. The artist was in the city to attend a convention . 

    News of Finch's illness hit the internet as creators such as Marc Silvestri, Greg Capullo and more showed concern for their fellow creator on Twitter and other social media. 

   The Convention staff posted on their facebook  that Finch was out of danger during the weekend and was spotted at the convention late in the weekend. We all wish Finch to be in good health. 

DARICK ROBERTSON'S PREQUEL BOYS WORK AFTER IT ENDS

by Frankie Rodriguez

        Darick Robertson is gonna be very busy this year and next as the artist recently announced that he is drawing the final issue of the series he co-created with Garth Ennis, The Boys. Along with that, the veteran artist is writing and drawing a 4 issue miniseries based on the Boys' character A-Train. The member of the superhero group the Seven, A-Train is the catalyst that has beloved Boys' member Hugie join The Boys and sets up the long running plot line in the series.


  Along with that project, Robertson is working a book called "Happy" with Grant Morrison. This 4 issue mini-series will be released later this year. Finally, Robertson will be doing more prequel The Boys miniseries and an independent property with current Avengers Academy/X-Men Legacy scribe Christos Gage on a super hero series called "The Power of Attorney" that will hit racks during 2013.

 The Boys final issue, written by Garth Ennis with art by Darick Robertson will hit shelves later this year.



DARK HORSE & DECONNICK HAUNTS VILLAINS WITH GHOST

by Frankie Rodriguez 

    The popular character that debuted back in Dark Horse Comics Presents comes back in this new revival this September. Ghost is about a super natural hero who fights crime in the city of Chicago. The revival will be written by Kelly Sue DeConnick with art by Phil Noto. Originally a 3 issue miniseries, the book has extended to 5 issues, with a #0 issue.

   The #0 issue, revealed by DeConnick, will open with a perspective by photo journalists point of view, Vaughn Barnes, who has been described as a fallen from grace character. DeConnick described to Newsrama what genre would she put the book:

 I'd call it a supernatural mystery. And while she's not a traditional team-affiliated cape, I confess it's not hard to make the argument that she actually is a superhero. I mean, she is super powered and she's is fighting for truth and justice, you know? It sounds corny when you phrase it in this way, but it's true.

Ghost # 0 written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and art by Phil Noto will hit stores this September.







ON SALE NOW:

Michael Turner Wizard World Hulk # 1 Variant

Iron Man, Ultimate Extinction, Ultimate Origins

Spiderman Books including first Black Costume appearance

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE: Including Avengers (Volume 1) # 16, 1st Wonder Man & More

Action Comics # 1 & 2 SIGNED WITH VARIANTS

Death In Comics SET

Yugioh Lightsworn Cards

X- Saber Cards

Yugioh DESTINY Hero DECK!!!

Wind Up Rabbit Cards



VIDEO OF THE WEEK

A special Static Shock fan film that looks good. 






BROUGHT TO YOU BY . . .


COMING THIS MAY!!!!

One of the few Tokusatsu Reviews I know. Great guy with a good set of reviews, a few countdowns and some specials. Tokusatsu is special effects in japanese but it is what the genre of live action stuff like Power Rangers and Kamen Rider Dragon Knight are based off of. Toku Time or Reviewtopia: Toku Time is where you can find him.

It's the new, BRAND NEW, Super Mario Dubstep Album. Listen as your favorite music from Super Mario has been transformed into remixes. The album is so addicting, you will feel like you're an addict!

GREEN MUSHROOMS & SUPERSTARS

From J1's own Shinigami (Ray Riley) & Forafire (Forrest Shamlian). FREE TO DOWNLOAD! NOW! 

FREE ALBUM DOWNLOADS

And don't for get the recently released Sonic Remix Album, SPIN DASH AUDIO is also available now.

RAJIO NIHON . . . the internet Toku Station where they play songs from tokusatsu, anime and give you in depth looks into the world of Tokusatsu. RAJIO NIHON  Take a listen as CBC's Frankie Rodriguez guests stars on a special 2 & a half hour podcast where he, Toku Time's EZ Rider, Oga of Rajio Nihon & Alex "Aznable" Smith talk about Sentai Music vs. Kamen Rider music and more. 

And don't forget to catch the Ikaricast from Reviewtopia!! Please look forward to it as CBC's Frankie Rodriguez comes in as a guest stars in Season 4, Episode 11.

NEWS EDITION #3 - DCnU SUPERMAN IS DIFFERENT, TMNT & EASTMAN ARE BACK AND NEW ULTIMATE SPIDEY TO BE REVEALED

Welcome to the 3rd CBC News Edition. We got news from all over and things are really starting to shake up as San Diego Comic Con starts this Thursday, July 21st 2011. So let's get down to the news.



DCnU's SUPERMAN SINGLE, ALIEN & ACCESSIBLE?

    The relaunch of the DC Universe line has been mired with many controversies and interesting announcements. Yet, while Batman and Green Lantern will be seemingly unchanged by the events of the relaunch . . . Superman will be going through some of the biggest changes. Chief among them is an overhaul of his powers and origin. It seems that when Action Comics by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales starts out . . . Superman will be starting out with a Superman shirt, jeans and a cape with the fact that he can't fly so much as leap over buildings. Didio stated that it will begin 5 years ago, at what they call the Dawn of Superheroes and that Clark will not be able to fly and not as strong as he is now. 
     Not only that, but that Ma and Pa Kent will be, at the beginning of Action Comics, deceased. This radical change was prompted by the creators in order to bring Clark down to Earth and feel more isolated, according to many in DC administration. So Action Comics is gonna give us how Clark got to be who he is in the present but will find himself still finding his way in the world. 
   Over in Superman, George Perez promises to examine many of the relationships that Superman has with people which leads to another big change for the Man of Steel: Lois Lane and he will no longer be married. In the DCnU, Lois Lane will be in a relationship with someone else.
    Jim Lee commented on the reasoning behind that to NR:


Marriage brings about a certain degree of comfort and security in one's life. If you have a life partner, you always have someone to rely on. So from a story conflict point of view, it makes for a less dramatic story. I think a lot of writers can agree that one of the most dynamic periods of Superman's history was that period where there was a love triangle between Clark Kent, Superman and Lois Lane. There's a lot of tension and interest you create in the characters by having that kind of dynamic.

Didio added, from NR:

He's had so much learning and understanding from the days with his parents, but the rest of the discovery is on his own. If we had him married to Lois right now, he would always have a strong base to work from. We wanted to explore much bigger and wider stories with him. It's really the learning and growing of this character that is going to be the basis for so much of what Grant and George are going to be doing with their series and with Superman.


Grant Morrison writer of Action Comics said this about the DCnU Superman:


I was really looking at different techniques to find a way to do the series for a modern audience and also to take the core values of Superman and represent them in a way I hope we haven't seen before. And it's all there in that original story: what Superman is all about as a champion of the oppressed basically. I thought it'd be good to get back to that. It's a much more blue collar Superman, a Bruce Springsteen Superman. [Laughs] He's in a t-shirt and jeans, and he's fighting for poor people and people on the breadline who have been messed over by big businesses. It's back to that original Depression-era hero but updated to our current Depression era.




And thus, to give Superman a more sense of being alien while exploring the world and his own humanity, these are the reasons behind the changes; according to Didio and Lee. And Lee hinted that Morrison and Perez have plenty ideas to update the Superman mythos for both Superman and Clark Kent. How will these changes stand up? The two hope that it makes the character not only more accessible but actually add to the legend. Even the reasoning behind Clark taking up the new Superman uniform is to get in touch with his Kryptonian heritage.  We will see how these changes stand come September as Action Comics # 1 and Superman # 1 will make these debuts in stores. 


THE BOYS' BUTCHER ON HIS OWN

Coming from Dynamite, the cult favorite The Boys has already had 2 spin offs from the series and The Boys inch themselves to its final issue, which will be issue #60 which will be released late this year or the beginning of 2012. Now, its been confirmed that the mysterious asshole that is the leader of the Boys, Billy Butcher will be recieving his own miniseries.

  Butcher, Baker, Candlestick maker will feature the history of Billy Butcher as we see him grow up, travel the world and "kill interesting people." The Boys creators Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson are extremely excited about this new miniseries, as they will also be together to create the story.

Robertson commented on the miniseries to CBR:

This mini series is essential to the "Boys" legacy. The script is one of Garth Ennis' finest, (personally my favorite since our work together on Marvel's Punisher: Born). It answers a lot of questions about who Butcher is and why he is the way he is. It is heartbreaking, and yet has the kind of action and humor you'd expect from the two of us. If you're a fan of the series, this is the story you've been waiting for!

Ennis himself added:

This is the story I've been waiting to tell since the very beginning of The Boys.  A good, long, disturbing look into the dark.

Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker #1 by Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson will hit stores this week.


EASTMAN ON IDW'S NINJA TURTLES ONGOING

IDW seems to have all the licenses of the 80s, doesn' t it? Well, most of them. It has G.I. Joe, which all those sets of books, except for G.I.Joe: Real American Hero, all restarted this month with new # 1s and embroiled in the new Cobra Civil War storyline. They have True Blood, Doctor Who, Star Trek and even Transformers. And now . . . they can add another fan favorite property to their ranks as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are coming with a new ongoing series.

In partnership with Nickelodeon, the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series will pick up where the original comic book series left off. The turtles will be back with their cast of Spinter, April o' Neal and more as they face a brand new enemy, a mutant cat named Old Hob as well as retell the origin of the turtles, setting up things to come. And who is with us on this ride? Co-creator and writer Kevin Eastman! Yes, Eastman returns to pen the series he created nearly 3 decades ago with all new adventure with hot new artist, Dan Duncan with covers by legendary artists Walt Simonson and Sam Keith.

Get ready as the Heroes in the Half Shell are ready to bring the pain back to this game.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles # 1 written by Kevin Eastman with covers by Simonson and Keith with art by Dan Duncan will be for $3.99 and hit stores this August. 




NEW SPIDER-MAN FALLS OUT IN ULTIMATE FALLOUT #4




    Recently, Marvel did something in the Ultimate Universe they could never do in the regular Marvel Universe . . . kill Peter Parker. Yep. I am serious. Ultimate Peter Parker died saving Captain America doing the now landmark "Death of Spiderman" finale in Ultimate Spiderman #160 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley. 
    Ultimate Fallout, the current miniseries that deals with the repercussions of the "Death of Spiderman" storyline is also being used as a launch pad for all 4 new Ultimate books that start in August and September. And while some buyer thought it does not matter, it has been confirmed that a new Ultimate Comics Spiderman will start as one of the 4 new Ultimates titles. 
    And while Brian Michael Bendis, the man who is behind Ultimate Spiderman since its inception is keeping the identity of Peter Parker's successor a big secret, fans won't have to wait long. Ultimate Fallout # 4 will feature a small part of it where Bendis and recent Ultimate Spiderman penciler Sara Pichelli will REVEAL to the world who the new Ultimate Spiderman will be.
    After that, jump on the Ultimate Comics Spiderman # 1 for the beginning of the new Spidey's adventures, written by Bendis and penciled by Pichelli. And while there has been NO confirmations on who the new Spidey will be . . . it has been rumored it would be Ultimate Ben Reilly, who, is not a clone but a young African American teen who is friends with Peter and whose family has connections to Peter's parents. We will have to see if it is Ben Reilly. 
   Ultimate Fallout # 4 is due out this August written by Jonathan Hickman, Brian Michael Bendis & Nick Spencer with art by Pascul Ferry, Sara Pichelli and Dustin Nguyen.






And its a small news week, due to most of the surprise will be coming out of the Comic Con this weekend. So expect a LOT of news for next weeks blog. And if you are in Philly during the second Friday in August. . . 


WWW.J1STUDIOS.COM

The J1 Culture Force is having their 1st official J1 An-Ex (Anime Experience)!!

You remember us from our Anime Events, but since we are growing/changing I figured we should get a new name as well.

It’s going to be at the Hawthorne Recreation Center (in Philadelphia, PA) on 12th and Carpenter St., which is six blocks down from South St. and two blocks East of Broad St. (near where CAPA and McDonald's are located)

$2 AT THE DOOR (free for children under 12).

TABLES WILL BE PROVIDING:
- art for sale (commissions as well)
- food
- comics and action figures
- Yugi-Oh cards
- Prizes

Things to expect:
-Anime to watch
-Snacks
-Trivia
-Commissioned artists
-Accessories/Jewelry for sale
-Gaming
-3DS Streetpass Meeting
-Card battles are welcome (Yugi-Oh, Naruto, Pokemon and Magic)
-Cosplay contest
-$2 Raffle
-PSP and DS players are welcome
-BETA TESTING A CARD GAME BEING REMADE!!!!
-Comic books, graphic novels and manga for sale

Hopefully we'll see you there!




See you next week all.