The only blog on the 'net where Zombies, Blood, and Fights matter.
Showing posts with label pulp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pulp. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
FIGHTS: Repost from BISH'S BEAT: FIGHT PULPS
Check out these outstanding fight covers from the 20s and 30s pulp magazines collected at BISH'S BEAT: FIGHT PULPS
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
BLOOD: Review - 'The Shadow: Fires of Creation' TPB scores
LEGENDARY PULP ICON RETURNS IN DYNAMITE TITLE
by
Bowie V. Ibarra
I'm not going to sit here and tell you I'm the end-all be-all of 'The Shadow' knowledge. Truth is I was drawn in by the cover of one of their most recent issues featuring his pursuit of another vigilante called 'The Light'. I really enjoyed that story arc and decided that since the comics weren't in that deep yet that I'd catch up with the trade paperbacks of the series. The TPB for the first six issues of 'The Shadow' rebirth through Dynamite Comics was already available and I picked it up. I'm glad I did. I had already enjoyed TPBs from Dynamite that include The Spider and Masks, so I felt I couldn't lose with this one.
Briefly, (and if I got this wrong, let me know), in this comic story told by the noted comic writer Garth Ennis, The Shadow is the altar ego of a rich socialite named Lamont Cranston, who once led a life by the name of Kent Allard on the Shanghai waterfront, forming a little piece of the criminal pie of the city. But its intimated that after a few years, Allard disappeared. Years later, a bizarre purge of the criminal underworld of Shanghai occurred, with the big time crooks being massacred effectively and en masse. A survivor claims to have seen a dude named Lamont Cranston years later in New York and found the same trail of dead when he was around. The survivor claims Allard went off to a place in the Himalayas to be trained and purged of his sins to be sent out to the world to be a scourge against evil.
In this book, Cranston is recruited to return to the far east to fight against a sinister plot by Imperial Japan during the 1930s to develop a 'Death Ray'. It's was an exciting read that I enjoyed.
Garth Ennis is a gritty writer known for his 'The Boys' and 'Jennifer Blood' series from Dynamite, as well as work on 'Preacher' and 'Punisher' comics from DC Vertigo and Marvel. Having had experience with vigilante types before, Ennis brings a gritty historical drama to the page as Cranston tries to beat the antagonists to the minerals that will help create the death ray.
Alex Ross, the super-popular and brilliant comic artist, brings his talents to the covers of the books, while Aaron Campbell takes care of the interior to illustrate Ennis' brutal story.
The fun of a TPB also comes in all the extras. Even though I missed all the comics, the book includes every alternate cover in a gallery in the back. It also includes sketches and the first script of the comic for the illustrator.
All I know is I might be a 'noob' when it comes to 'The Shadow' adventures and history, but I'm certainly not going anywhere. I loved it!
With 'The Shadow' being one of the original inspirations for some of the most popular superheroes around today including Batman, it certainly meets my broad appreciation for comic book history. And it definitely meets my standard for ruthless superhero and defender of good at all cost. 'The Shadow' comic book series from Dynamite Comics fills my need for a great crime-fighting action/adventure story, and I look forward to more.
And, yes, I've already put together a pretty sweet 'The Shadow' costume.
'The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. Crime does not pay. The Shadow knows!'
The TPB of 'The Shadow: Fires of Creation' is ZombieBloodFights.com approved, and highly recommended for new readers.
And if you like superhero stories, check out these south Texas superhero stories as well from ZombieBloodFights.com. Codename: La Lechusa, Room 26 and the Army of Xulhutdul, and Tejano Star and the Vengeance of Chaplain Skull. Get a copy today via paperback or kindle today.
by
Bowie V. Ibarra
I'm not going to sit here and tell you I'm the end-all be-all of 'The Shadow' knowledge. Truth is I was drawn in by the cover of one of their most recent issues featuring his pursuit of another vigilante called 'The Light'. I really enjoyed that story arc and decided that since the comics weren't in that deep yet that I'd catch up with the trade paperbacks of the series. The TPB for the first six issues of 'The Shadow' rebirth through Dynamite Comics was already available and I picked it up. I'm glad I did. I had already enjoyed TPBs from Dynamite that include The Spider and Masks, so I felt I couldn't lose with this one.
Briefly, (and if I got this wrong, let me know), in this comic story told by the noted comic writer Garth Ennis, The Shadow is the altar ego of a rich socialite named Lamont Cranston, who once led a life by the name of Kent Allard on the Shanghai waterfront, forming a little piece of the criminal pie of the city. But its intimated that after a few years, Allard disappeared. Years later, a bizarre purge of the criminal underworld of Shanghai occurred, with the big time crooks being massacred effectively and en masse. A survivor claims to have seen a dude named Lamont Cranston years later in New York and found the same trail of dead when he was around. The survivor claims Allard went off to a place in the Himalayas to be trained and purged of his sins to be sent out to the world to be a scourge against evil.
In this book, Cranston is recruited to return to the far east to fight against a sinister plot by Imperial Japan during the 1930s to develop a 'Death Ray'. It's was an exciting read that I enjoyed.
Garth Ennis is a gritty writer known for his 'The Boys' and 'Jennifer Blood' series from Dynamite, as well as work on 'Preacher' and 'Punisher' comics from DC Vertigo and Marvel. Having had experience with vigilante types before, Ennis brings a gritty historical drama to the page as Cranston tries to beat the antagonists to the minerals that will help create the death ray.
Alex Ross, the super-popular and brilliant comic artist, brings his talents to the covers of the books, while Aaron Campbell takes care of the interior to illustrate Ennis' brutal story.
The fun of a TPB also comes in all the extras. Even though I missed all the comics, the book includes every alternate cover in a gallery in the back. It also includes sketches and the first script of the comic for the illustrator.
All I know is I might be a 'noob' when it comes to 'The Shadow' adventures and history, but I'm certainly not going anywhere. I loved it!
With 'The Shadow' being one of the original inspirations for some of the most popular superheroes around today including Batman, it certainly meets my broad appreciation for comic book history. And it definitely meets my standard for ruthless superhero and defender of good at all cost. 'The Shadow' comic book series from Dynamite Comics fills my need for a great crime-fighting action/adventure story, and I look forward to more.
And, yes, I've already put together a pretty sweet 'The Shadow' costume.
'The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. Crime does not pay. The Shadow knows!'
The TPB of 'The Shadow: Fires of Creation' is ZombieBloodFights.com approved, and highly recommended for new readers.
And if you like superhero stories, check out these south Texas superhero stories as well from ZombieBloodFights.com. Codename: La Lechusa, Room 26 and the Army of Xulhutdul, and Tejano Star and the Vengeance of Chaplain Skull. Get a copy today via paperback or kindle today.
Bowie V. Ibarra (1975- present) was born and raised in Uvalde, Texas, to a school principal and a book keeper. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and a Master of Arts in Theatre History.
Network with Bowie at his official website, ZombieBloodFights.com.
Monday, August 5, 2013
ZOMBIES: Dynamite Comics brings back 'The Spider'
A 1930's ERA PULP CRIME FIGHTER REBORN,
FIGHTS ZOMBIE QUEEN
by
Bowie V. Ibarra
Dynamite Comics has been digging through the old relics of comic book/pulp fiction's past to bring some old properties to the new era. With such big names as The Phantom, The Green Hornet, and The Shadow returning to shelves, its The Spider that comes across as a 'rip-off' of the Marvel title. But that's far from the truth. And thought I judged it at first glance, I decided to give the series a chance when I saw one of the first supervillains he was fighting was 'The Zombie Queen'.
Zombies, you say? Count me in.
The character shares some similar costume designs as the Peter Parker 'Spider Man', but its really Spider-Man that borrows from this 1930s classic. But the cape design and spider emblem is where the similarities end.
The gritty vigilante crime-fighter 'The Spider' is actually Richard Wentworth. Like the original title, Wentworth is a modern war hero who returns to his hometown to fight crime as a 'freelance advisor' to the cops for the cities more 'bizarre crimes'.
Like all good superheroes, he's got allies. Ram Singh is a lawyer who knows his secret identity, but is a valuable resource for his intelligence and fighting skill. He's got a scientist on his team named Ezra Brownlee as well, who works at the university.
But even some of his friends run the line between ally and adversary. The police commissioner, Stan Kirkpatrick, thinks Wentworth is The Spider but can't prove it. There's also a love interest named Nita, yet more names straight from the classic stories, who is engaged to one of his friends. The Spider knows it has to be that way to protect her.
At any rate, the first story arc for the series featured a madwoman named Anput, who uses an Egyptian villain gimmick with a male buddy of hers to attack the city with a poison gas. The Spider suspects the gas might have been a project his rich father had bankrolled. So its up to the spider to find the answers.
Noted author David Liss writes the stories, and Colton Worley provides an amazing palette of illustrations for the series. The story is top notch, and has plenty of people affected (not infected) by the 'zombie gas' that The Spider has to decide if there's a cure for it. Since its gas released and spread, thousands are affected before the stories end.
And how does it end, you ask? You need to pick up the trade paperback and see for yourself. The trade contains the full story arc and the beginning of a second arc that continues to build up the Spider Team as they face yet another villain threatening the city.
'The Spider' is a great tribute to its origins, and an outstanding series that should not be missed. I was not disappointed in the least. Great art, great story, great covers. If the first story arc and art are any indication, 'The Spider' has some serious set of legs to take it into the future.
==================
Leave a comment below using your Google+ or Blogger account.
Follow Bowie on Twitter @wingback20
Follow Bowie's Facebook page.
You can network with Bowie and read about his Tex-Mexploitation stories and check out his book trailers at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.
FIGHTS ZOMBIE QUEEN
by
Bowie V. Ibarra
Dynamite Comics has been digging through the old relics of comic book/pulp fiction's past to bring some old properties to the new era. With such big names as The Phantom, The Green Hornet, and The Shadow returning to shelves, its The Spider that comes across as a 'rip-off' of the Marvel title. But that's far from the truth. And thought I judged it at first glance, I decided to give the series a chance when I saw one of the first supervillains he was fighting was 'The Zombie Queen'.
Zombies, you say? Count me in.
The character shares some similar costume designs as the Peter Parker 'Spider Man', but its really Spider-Man that borrows from this 1930s classic. But the cape design and spider emblem is where the similarities end.
The gritty vigilante crime-fighter 'The Spider' is actually Richard Wentworth. Like the original title, Wentworth is a modern war hero who returns to his hometown to fight crime as a 'freelance advisor' to the cops for the cities more 'bizarre crimes'.
Like all good superheroes, he's got allies. Ram Singh is a lawyer who knows his secret identity, but is a valuable resource for his intelligence and fighting skill. He's got a scientist on his team named Ezra Brownlee as well, who works at the university.
But even some of his friends run the line between ally and adversary. The police commissioner, Stan Kirkpatrick, thinks Wentworth is The Spider but can't prove it. There's also a love interest named Nita, yet more names straight from the classic stories, who is engaged to one of his friends. The Spider knows it has to be that way to protect her.
At any rate, the first story arc for the series featured a madwoman named Anput, who uses an Egyptian villain gimmick with a male buddy of hers to attack the city with a poison gas. The Spider suspects the gas might have been a project his rich father had bankrolled. So its up to the spider to find the answers.
Noted author David Liss writes the stories, and Colton Worley provides an amazing palette of illustrations for the series. The story is top notch, and has plenty of people affected (not infected) by the 'zombie gas' that The Spider has to decide if there's a cure for it. Since its gas released and spread, thousands are affected before the stories end.
And how does it end, you ask? You need to pick up the trade paperback and see for yourself. The trade contains the full story arc and the beginning of a second arc that continues to build up the Spider Team as they face yet another villain threatening the city.
'The Spider' is a great tribute to its origins, and an outstanding series that should not be missed. I was not disappointed in the least. Great art, great story, great covers. If the first story arc and art are any indication, 'The Spider' has some serious set of legs to take it into the future.
==================
BOWIE V. IBARRA is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuster. His latest story, 'Room 26 and the Army of Xulhutdul' is the story of a young woman who is granted superpowers while being assigned to oversee a museum in San Antonio, Texas, that holds great secrets. The book is now available in paperback and Kindle here.
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Leave a comment below using your Google+ or Blogger account.
Follow Bowie on Twitter @wingback20
Follow Bowie's Facebook page.
You can network with Bowie and read about his Tex-Mexploitation stories and check out his book trailers at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.
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