BubbleGun returns this month with the 4th issue. Is it worth picking up to continue learning about the story of Molli and her friends? Well, you'll learn in this straight forward review.
Writer - Mark Roslan Artist - Mike Bowden Publisher - Aspen Review by Jeremias de Leon Story
The story in this issue builds up on the previous three and sees characters returning along with character growth for Molli. This time we see Molli really starting to come into her own and make big moves to get her sister and Asher, the cyber boy, back.
The dialog feels a lot more fluid and though there's a little bit of cheese but it makes sense. It's a bit hard to explain but given the situations the characters get in you would see that indeed it does make sense.
It feels like the story elements introduced in earlier issues has started to culminate into something awesome. Molli's character growth, the character reintroductions, and the stakes that they raised really make this issue feel fleshed out and worth reading.
Art
The art in this issue is wonderful. On top of Molli's wonderful character design the other characters look a little more defined in this issue. Their defining features seem to be enhanced more and it lets you know that each one is an individual that should be recognizable and not lost in the shuffle.
The action sequences are well done too, they look like they're taken straight out of an animation. Explosions and the like look like they are really damaging and that there is a lot of energy in them.
Verdict
This issue with it's great character designs, nice action sequences and a story that's starting to become much more interesting and makes you want to read the next issue as soon as it comes out. I have to give BubbleGun issue 4 a 9 out of 10.
We're back with another issue in the escapades of the duo Archer and Armstrong. So far it's been nothing short of fantastic how does this issue stack up?
Review by Jeremias de Leon Story
The story of this issue has explanations and twists and turns like ypu wouldn't believe. Explanations about Armstrong, twists about Archer and explanations about some mysteries that happened in the world they live in that are quirky and, especially in the universe they live in, seem plausible.
The land of the Faraway is one crazy place with what seem to be aliens, dinosaurs and tribes of native Americans all living in the same place. Archer goes off on his own and Mary Maria and Armstrong are off on their own and get into their own adventure. There are story building elements and also enough explained that make this a real meaty issue.
Archer meets some people, gets some things explained only to run into another mystery. Armstrong and Mary Maria run into their own problems as they try to just figure out what to do next and Armstrong has to try and deal with Mary Maria's violent instincts.
Art
The art in this issue does two things fantastically. One are the facial expressions, as can be plainly seen on the cover but also throughout the issue. The second are the action sequences. The movement when Archer or Armstrong or Mary Maria or Armstrong fight, run, jump, or shoot are done so well, and everything looks like it's making an impact when it should. The art gets an A plus because of these characters movements and expressions.
Verdict
With this issue adding to the mystery behind Archer's origins and shedding light on other things in their universe while at the same time still offering big laughs and plenty of action, there's really only one way I'm going with this verdict. I'm going to have to give it a full recommendation with a perfect score of 10 out of 10. Pick it up, laugh look at the cool action scenes and tell your friends to do the same.
This is Jeremias back with another countdown after such a long time. My last countdowns sure got an interesting response. Let's see what I came back with this time!
We're looking at the women in anime that can kick butt. Either by being a great leader, tactician, or just being downright strong and can physically beat their enemies if they're tough in any of those ways they're eligible for the list. Here we go!
Number 20 Masane Amaha Series: Witchblade We'll kick things off with the tough bad guy beating Masane Amaha. It's surprising that she can also move as fast as she does considering how much her chest must weigh her down. But, it is anime, physics usually takes a back seat. Considering what she does with her skimpy armor I'd say she's pretty tough forgoing more protection and taking out enemies as strong as robots with just a sword. She's usually seen around the net with pictures and figures focusing on her attributes, but she really can fight too. As seen here.
Number 19 Misaki Tokura Series: Cardfight Vanguard Not all the females on this list are physically kicking butt, but it doesn't mean they don't kick any less butt, just in different ways. She basically has photographic memory, is extremely smart and has a fierce competitive spirit. One thing to note as well, is that unlike some other female allies in other anime is the fact that she does not drag the hero down and can and does win on her own. As seen here
Number 18 Saya Series: Blood+ Saya, a tough sword wielding, super powered woman who isn't really human. She'd make the top list on a lot of top female characters in anime, or heck, top character countdowns period. She has a lot of great fights throughout the series and in terms of being tough, as in, being able to not only dish it out but take it, she passes the test with flying colors.
Number 17 Sailor Mars Series: Sailor Moon For many growing up in the 90s in the U.S Sailor Mars was probably the first or one of the first females that was tough. In the early episodes Moon and Mercury definitely knew how to fight but Mars was the one that had the personality to match a major butt kicker of evil. She has a "fiery" personality (eh? eh?) and never backs down from a fight.
Number 16
Emma Sheen Series: Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
Emma Sheen is the no nonsense female pilot that was originally a Titans pilot then switched to the A.E.U.G she is willing to smack sense into the main character and doesn't ease her position when she stands for what she believes in.
Number 15 Shizuru Series: Godannar The ecchi and hot blooded mecha series Godannar has quite a few standouts in terms of tough. But for the females Shizuru is a stand out for being a strong pilot and sniper from the beginning of the series to the end.
Number 14
Yuri Series: Dirty Pair Yuri from Dirty Pair is one heck of a powerhouse for a human woman. Along with her partner she has a reputation for destroying a lot of property. Yuri being a highly trained "Trouble Consultant" also has a lot of know how to fight people either with her hands or with a multitude of weapons.
Number 13 Sailor Jupiter Series: Sailor Moon Sailor Jupiter like Sailor Mars is the kind of girl who's really aggressive but is also shown to be really physically strong as well. When fighting evil she can hold her own even without using her powers.
Number 12 Kei Dirty Pair Flash Kei and Yuri are both awesome and tough, but just personally, since I'm a fan of red heads and tomboys and Kei is a redheaded tomboy I had to put her slightly higher on the list. She's like Yuri in being more than capable to take out people with her hands or with weapons but she also has an added spark to her with her personality where she's more aggressive.
Number 11 Balsa Seirei no Moribito Balsa is a stoic woman who does what she say she does and won't run away or stop for any reason. Plus she's one heck of a martial artist and is pretty much second to none with her spear, in terms of "classic" tough Balsa can be the poster woman for it.
Number 10 Haman Khan Series: Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam/ZZ Gundam Haman is more cerebral than a lot of the other women in this countdown, and usually uses her charisma and leadership to get things done. But she is not squeamish and she is one heck of a mobile suit pilot as well, defeating Char in battle which is quite a feat.
Number 9 Lina Inverse Series: Slayers Lina is incredibly strong she also seems to be a bit of a ditz but boy, is she strong. The beings she can call upon for power pretty much makes her able to stop just about anyone. Check her out.
Number 8 Allenby Beardsley In a universe with extremely strong male mecha pilots that can not only fight in their robots but with their bare hands Allenby gets major points for being able to hang with them being a smaller, young girl and not only hang with them but prove that she's a powerhouse.
Number 7 Revy Series: Black Lagoon Revy is one heck of a woman. She not only can kill with ease but she has no problem in doing it. She's also crazy skilled and some would say she's even more manly than a lot of male characters in anime today.
Number 6 Faye Valentine Series: Cowboy Bebop Faye's toughness comes from her intelligence. Being able to escape from situations by always having a plan and having the fortitude to follow through on it no matter how dangerous.
Number 5 Motoko Kusanagi Series: Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex Kusanagi was a major in the military and seen countless battles. In her unit of the police she currently works for, Section 9 she commands the respect of her operatives. She is no nonsense, most of the time, and her toughness can be heard in her commanding voice as well as her actions. Also, she freaking took on a mech and won.
Number 4 Shaina Series: Saint Seiya The men in Saint Seiya are known for being incredibly strong but for some of them on the road to being strong, especially the new Pegasus saint Koga have her to thank for training them and making them strong. Also of note is her emotional strength since she was an antagonist to Seiya and the rest but later redeemed herself and was able to move on and be a great ally.
Number 3 Ryoko Series: Tenchi Muyo Ryoko is this high on the list because she isn't just strong enough to take out a mech or a gang of people, she can take down battleships with her power. She's also very mulitfaceted and in the different Tenchi series shows off other things she's able to do besides blows stuff up. But it really is what she's best at.
Number 2 Erza Scarlet Series: Fairy Tail Erza is pretty much the essence of the kind of girl that comes to mind when you think of tough/strong women. She's incredibly physically strong, she's not compromising and she can lead her teammates to victory. She's also a strong magician and has a MULTITUDE of ways she can fight from summoning tons of weapons to summoning so many different types of armor she makes the top fashion designers of the world blush.
Number 1 Pirotess Series: Record Of Lodoss War Those who have seen my countdowns before know that I like to throw a few curveballs. Here's my number one, anybody expected it? Pirotess is a dark elf with extremely good skills as a rogue. She is extremely dangerous and in the movie that takes place after Lodoss, Legend Of Crystania she even helps fight what is essentially a god. So with that all said, especially the last part that certainly makes her my number one.
Here is the official press release from WW Inc from earlier today:
Wizard World, Inc. appoints John Macaluso to Chairman of the Board
NEW YORK, October 23, 2012 – The Wizard World, Inc. (WIZD) board of directors elected John Macaluso chairman of the board, effective October 10, 2012, succeeding Michael Mathews who is stepping down from the board to pursue his passion of early stage technology ventures. Macaluso will continue to serve as the company's Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Macaluso has overseen Wizard World's impressive growth in its pop culture Comic Cons in 2012, including enjoying its most highly-attended and successful events in Philadelphia, Chicago and Columbus, Ohio. Macaluso has shifted the company away from the prior management’s singular focus of being the purveyors of the new next thing towards a more fan-centric and balanced approach of delivering a great experience for all constituents – the talent, the sponsors and the attendees. With this shift in strategy and business practices, Wizard World is experiencing growth in all areas of its business, from attendance, to viewership of wizardworld.com, to sponsorship sales and activations, and merchandise sales.
This broader vision has also helped Wizard World create a number of “once in a lifetime experiences” for attendees, including meet and greets with first gathering of the Captains in all five iterations of the “Star Trek” franchise, as well as the first U.S. reunion of the cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Wizard World comic cons are now attracting the next generation of global film stars such as Marvel’s The Avengers headliners while continuing to secure industry legends like Stan Lee and William Shatner, and industry favorites like Will Wheaton, Eliza Dushku, Scott Bakula, Gillian Anderson and WWE® Superstar CM Punk®.
John Maatta, COO of the CW Network and a director of Wizard World, Inc. stated “As CEO, John has worked tirelessly to instill best practices in the company’s operations, and we look forward to having his leadership and vision at the board level.”
So now Wizard World Inc has a new Chairman. What does this mean for future Wizard World events? Time will tell but if this last year is any indication, they will get better and better.
If you haven't been following X-O Manowar I recommend reading Frankie Rodriguez review of issue 1 and my review of issue 4
Review by Jeremias de Leon Story
Aric has been attacked by Ninjak in the previous issue and was knocked out. This issue follows it up with what seemed like a victory for Ninjak into more fighting and also more plotting by not only the Vine but by Manowar and what just might be a new ally.
The story moves at a brisk pace but doesn't go too fast as too confuse the reader. If you haven't read the previous issues especially issue 4 where a certain event happens that gets referenced a lot you might not get as much out of what goes on in this issue but you still won't be lost as there's a handy recap at the beginning of the issue. Things are starting to get really interesting now as loyalties are tested and there seems to be a buildup of people who are going to stand up to the Vine.
Art
Lee Garbett does a fantastic job with showing action and this is some of my favorite art in a comic all year. Seeing Ninjak and X-O Manowar square off is really awesome, it's all so well drawn. Their bodies don't seem too exaggerated when moving and the effects of the Manowar armor and Ninjak's gadgets looks well, just, cool.
Verdict
X-O Manowar is certainly building up to something huge with the Vine showing the type of allies they have on Earth. After some of the Vine's allies clash with Aric in the suit seeing their loyalty tested and wondering if something formidable is coming together to stand up to the Vine. This issue is a turning point in X-O Manowar's story and it shouldn't be missed, definitely pick this one up. With the story recap you won't be lost and the action just can't be missed. Ninjak is pure awesome and the X-O Manowar suit is always a spectacle. I wholeheartedly give this a 9.5 out of 10.
The Pandora Construct is a science fiction tale set in a post apocalyptic world that is heavily reliant upon synthetic automatons and artificial intelligences. When the synthetics decide to revolt the infrastructure collapses and anarchy rushes in.
Join the Sentinel, Gareth and the rogue AI, Dora, as they try to prevent a world already on its deathbed from taking the final plunge into chaos.
The Pandora Construct written by Darryll 'YTC' Carter
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.
The title I am reviewing is Terra, and I must say it is a pretty good long-running web comic. You can read it completely on the web and, to support the creators, you can also purchase the first volume. This book is pretty cool, because you get this space opera that deals with the expansion of the human race across the space sphere. It reminds me of what the European settlers did when they spread their influence to the west as they eradicated the Native Americans that had taken root in the Americas, and brought them to a tragic end. In this story, the humans are greedy as usual, and they are taking up the space killing everything off, and there is a force that wishes to kill off the humans and hates them. The force is called Shadow Cabal, and members of this force want to spread a virus/illness that would kill the population. The military wants to kill the aliens and expand. The book has a nice flare that makes it an easy and swift read. The main characters are Agrippa Varus who is an alien from the race called Azatoth who is an agent of the Resistance, and his partner is Grey O’Shea who is a human being trained by Agrippa to be an agent. There are also two other human main characters. Alexis Hawke was once a slave under the evil Solus. Alexis’s army buddy Rick McFarlane is a military guy who just wants to get back home to his wife and daughter.
The book is created by both Holly Laing and Drew Dailey, and it is very consistent and colored very beautifully, and it has an even flow. I must say it is a great and engrossing book that has very little flaws in it.
The web comic is full color, and it updates weekly on Wednesdays and sometimes on Fridays. If the book goes on hiatus, the creators let you know.
ART: 4 STARS
The Writing
The creators of this book have done a great job. I love how they have a prequel to the first book and how they draw it together to give you further insight into the main characters. I also like how they go back and forth in certain chapters to give you information on where each character has met or where the characters stand on certain principles. The story is what I call space opera at its best. Agrippa and Grey are partners. Alexis and Rick, whom were part of the military that took the resistance head on, got caught behind enemy lines and have come into contact with Agrippa and Grey whom were their enemies. They have befriended them and are slowly growing closer together by each passing page. I love how these people have come together due to needing each other, not because they wanted to, and have slowly grown closer with one another. I love how each side has their own agenda. The villains want to kill the humans and stop their expansion while the humans want to expand further and use the planets. I think the book is wonderfully written. I truly enjoy it, and I will continue to follow it.
WRITING: 4 STARS
Originality
Terra has a nice flow to it, and it uses space and some people may think of Star Wars, but I actually think they are doing something quite original here by pushing this dark side that people have. That is what the authors of this book are trying to emphasize. Look at it this way, when the Europeans came to the Americas, they destroyed everything in sight, and so I could see humans going into space leaving their mark on everything and just swallowing it whole. I could see a set of people so sick of it that they want to rebel and kill the humans. That is what the Native Americans did; they grew tired and they fought back. It is only natural.
The premise has been done, but the story is still original, and I enjoyed it.
ORIGINALITY: 5 STARS.
Grand Total: 4.3 Stars
The Pros
It has the same creative team from beginning to end. It has a great story, great artwork, and very nice visuals. The colors jump off the page and it is breathtaking. It has a European-like art style that you would find in France of Italy. The art is beautiful, and I love it. I know I will look forward to the next page when it is posted.
The Cons
Sometimes the word bubbles don’t firmly go up to the characters mouths and can be kind of confusing. This is also due to some heavy exposition, which is not a bad thing. It reminds me of an old Chris Claremont comic where he would shove in the text, and you got your money’s worth. This is the only minor issue, and it can be easily ignored since it does not destroy the enjoyment of the comic.
My Final Word
This is a great web comic. Check it out and support these great creators. You won’t be sorry. Keep it up, guys!
The comic updates on Wednesdays (sometimes on Fridays). Check it out here:
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.
