The XII - The Father #1

The XII - The Father Issue #1

The XII is written by Patrick Trahey, art by Luis Suarez, lettered by MaGnUs and published  by SOL Comics. The XII (as in 12) is a post apocalyptic series that I picked up on Kickstarter and had sitting in my "to read" pile (which was continually getting larger) for a few months and when I finally got around to reading it I was annoyed that I wasted so much time not reading them because they were fantastic and I now eagerly await the release of issue #4.

The story begins with an unknown man being chased by by heavily armed, gas mask wearing men screaming asking what happened to his family and seems to meet an unfortunate end. We then flash back to a week earlier to find out how this man got into such a glum predicament. We find out that this man, our main character Caleb, is the leader of a small group of survivors consisting of his wife, Anna Bell, their 5 children, his brother-in-law, Alvin, and friend Hank. The adults of the camp are concerned how they will make it through winter with a failing crop and so many mouths to feed that they begin to consider going out of the "dead roads" despite Anna Belle's objections. These problems quickly take a back seat when a suspicious old man turns up requesting food or harbour saying that "The 12", a dangerous group that murder and mutilate travellers, are on the road. Caleb and his group know better than to trust strangers and dismiss The 12 as a ghost story. Their suspicions proven true as the old man and his group steal their livestock and burn their house to the ground. This forces Caleb and his family to move to their secret base and they now have no other choice then to head out on the dead roads to search for some kind of salvation.

Not exactly looking promising

The thing that distinguishes the characters and their situation from other post apocalyptic titles is that these characters have already established a way of living without modern comforts and begun to truly work for a better future by farming and teaching the children to read and how to prepare for the future. These characters have their problems and disagreements but still have some semblance of a functioning family.

The art of The XII is black and white with the only colour present being orange, usually for fire. The characters are all different in design with the children being incredibly cute and the adults having a tough hardened look about them as you would expect people who had scraped a living out of nothing to look.

The XII is a great comic that has heart warming family moments, tragedy and fear all topped off with a little hope. Every struggle that Caleb and his family face they still have hope that they will some how make it, as the series progresses their hope and resolve will be tested as dark futures come to pass and darker pasts are revealed.

I give The XII 4 out of 5 flaming arrows.

Find out more about The XII here.

Bizarro #1 - It Am The Worst!

Bizarro #1

Bizarro #1 is an all ages six part miniseries written by Heath Corson, art by Gustavo Duarte & Bill Sienkiewicz, colours by Pete Pantazis, letters by Tom Napolitano and published by DC Comics. Bizarro is an warped copy of Superman, created by Lex Luther, with a child like mind who speaks in a muddled up backwards English. I was a little unsure when I first picked up Bizarro as to what on earth could fill a six issue mini series that wasn't just pretty pictures for kids but I was pleasantly surprised that Bizarro #1 was a fantastic mixture of innocence, comedy and charm.

Bizarro #1 begins with Jimmy Olsen and Bizarro on a road trip together as Jimmy narrates that he is taking Bizarro to "Bizarro America", also known as Canada, as he is causing too much trouble in Metropolis despite his good intentions. Jimmy hopes to publish a coffee table book about the trip but within two hours of leaving Metropolis Jimmy has already decided that this was probably a mistake. After a car accident caused by Bizarro's pet chupacabra, Colin, totals Jimmy's car they come across the evil used car salesman King Tut who uses his mystical powers to hypnotise everybody in town to buy his (slightly) used cars.

The character of Bizarro is just adorable and reminds me of a little brother that follows his siblings around wide eyed, doing their best to help but usually just getting in the way. Bizarro is constantly telling Jimmy how much he likes him in just a way that makes it impossible to not to love him. Jimmy, despite being constantly annoyed with Bizarro, is extremely patient and never yells at him or puts him down making him a really likable character.

Every parent in the world has pulled that face

The art has an endearingly goofy quality to it that seems to fall somewhere between children's book and comic. Duarte & Sienkiewicz have done a really good job making Bizarro's face expressive despite the design of the character not allowing for a huge amount of detail. I love how Colin is randomly placed in panels either sitting on Bizarro's shoulder, hanging off his arm or just watching the commotion from the sidelines, it's adorable.

I want a Colin

I'm not really much of a Superman fan so when I heard about Bizarro I didn't take too much notice and just happened to pick it up because I thought the art looked cute and I wanted to show it to a friend who is a big Superman fan, after reading issue #1 and enjoying it so much I decided that I would just recommend it to her and she could buy her own copy because I wasn't about to hand over mine.

I give Bizarro 4 out of 5 Chupacabras

Find out more about Bizarro here.

Marvel Zombies #1 - Super Zombies need super brains

Marvel Zombies #1 - Battleworld.

Marvel Zombies is part of the Battleworld titles in the current Secret Wars event. Marvel Zombies is written by Simon Spurrier, art by Kev Walker, colours by Frank D'Armata and published by Marvel. Battle World is a patchwork planet made of several different universes with several very different regions including the Deadlands which are inhabited by Zombie superheroes kept at bay only by the shield and the soldiers who serve on it.

The story begins with the commander, Elsa Bloodstone, "comforting" a dying solider after he is bitten by a zombie as the endless horde of undead attempt to breach the shield. During the battle Elsa begins to fight a zombie called the Red Terror with the power of teleportation and during the fight gets teleported far away from the shield into the middle of the Dead Lands. As Elsa regains consciousness she finds a young child in the supposedly uninhabited Deadlands. The child has no memory of why he is in the middle of why he is there or even his name. Elsa impatiently dubs the child Shuttup as they begin heading north trying to make their way back to The Shield despite Shuttup's objections that he feels they should go south. As Elsa and Shuttup head towards The Shield they come across an impenetrable wall of millions zombies and realise their only option is to head into the unknown in the opposite direction of the safety of the Shield.

The art of Marvel Zombies is great with the zombies being wonderfully putrid with looks ranging from almost fully intact to almost completely rotted away with barely a torso remaining. The only human characters in the entire comic are Elsa and Shuttup and are done with adorably expressive faces, even when Elsa is angry (all the time) her facial expression is clear but in and incredibly cute way.

Elsa is both hilarious and engaging in everything she does and says, she drinks tea, swears like a sailor, is sarcastic, grumpy and despite all his does try to offer young Shuttup a little comfort despite having almost no idea how to offer comfort. The flash backs of Elsa's childhood and her relationship with her father give us a lot of insight into why she is so inpatient with people's emotions and her iron clad sense of duty.

Marvel Zombies has a fantastic first issue that is both funny and horrifying making it an extremely engaging and interesting comic that will make you both chuckle and make you afraid to turn the page.

I give Marvel Zombies #1 4 out of 5 Zombie Juggernauts.

Find out more about Marvel Zombies #1 here.

My top 5 Geeky Items If I Was Rich

Being a geek is an expensive hobby we feel the need to collect everything with our chosen brand printed on it and we will pay twice as much for these things just to complete the set or because it would just look soooooooo good with my other 20+ Game Of Thrones Figurines. These are my top 5 items I would buy if I was as rich as Tony Stark and had more money than sense.

I've spent more than I'd like to admit on Game Of Thrones collectibles

#5 Game Of Thrones - The Iron Thrones
Cost: $30,000

Who doesn't want to sit on the Iron Throne and imagine they rule all of Westeros without the constant danger of getting your head chopped off. Put it in your living room, put it in your bedroom, hell even put it on your front lawn and rule over your neighborhood.

#4 Fantasy - Remote Control Fire Breathing Dragon
Cost: $60,000

I've always wanted a pet dragon and since gene splicing hasn't been perfected yet we will just have to settle for a remote control flying dragon that breathes fire and takes 1/2 a gallon of jet aircraft fuel for 10 minutes of flight. This cool toy will not drain your bank to buy it but you may need to get a second job just to keep it running.

#3 Jurassic Park - Life Size Velociraptor
Cost: $2,288.85

Note: Chris Pratt not included

I love dinosaurs and wouldn't it just be great to have one in your yard? Of course not it would eat you the first chance it got so you know what would be better? Having a life size replica in your yard 100% guaranteed not to eat you or your family.

#2 Batman - Batmobile
Cost: $1,000,000

You know you want a batmobile anybody who says they don't is a liar. Unfortunately this one has been discontinued so you will have to find something else to spend your million dollars on.

#1 Back To The Future - Hoverboard
Cost: $382.99 

Back to the future is one of the greatest movie trilogies ever, with one of the greatest gadgets being the hoverboard . The reason this one placed at #1 on the list despite being the cheapest item is that after you dish out your $382.99 and receive your beautiful replica hoverboard you realise that you just spent almost $400 on a piece plastic that does zero actual hovering.

Neverboy - Just remember drugs are bad mmmmkay

Neverboy Issue #1

Neverboy is written by Shaun Simon, art by Tyler Jenkins, colours by Kelly Fitzpatrick, letters by Nate Piekos and published by Dark Horse Comics. I heard that Neverboy deals with the concepts of imagination and reality, which caught my interest, but what really made me pick up Neverboy was the cover, I just love the way the face melts away into a mix of psychedelic colours, pills and faces.

Trippy

The story begins with our main character lazing about in a hospital emergency room waiting for an opportunity when he receives a call from his wife, Rachel, asking if he could pick up their son from school. As he leaves the hospital he sees his opportunity and steals a pill out of an over dosing patent's pocket saying he will "save this for tonight". As he leaves the hospital we learn that our main character's name is Neverboy.
At home Neverboy's wife, Rachel, and son, Ben, complain of being ignored by their friends. Neverboy begins telling his son about Sam, a friend he had when he was younger, and we begin to wonder if perhaps there is a reason people are ignoring Neverboy and his family. Things begin to unravel as we learn that Neverboy was Sam's imaginary friend and has been using drugs so him and his family can stay in the real world now that Sam is gone, Now the imaginary world are trying to pull them back.

The only character we have had any chance to get to know yet is Neverboy and despite the fact that he is "imaginary" when he talks about Sam's death he sounds lost and sad like any person would be losing someone so important in their life, it just feels so genuine that you can't help but be a little choked up by it.

The art of Neverboy is really interesting with dark outlines and odd shapes using a very simple unfinished look to the background so that your eye is always drawn to the character in the panel. The greatest credit to the art is how the colours and backgrounds become brighter and more psychedelic as reality begins to unravel. The concept of Neverboy opens up almost endless possibilities and should make for a thought provoking and emotional read.

I give Neverboy 3 out of 5 Fluffys.

Find out more about Neverboy here.

Gotham Academy - Endgame One Shot

Gotham Academy Endgame One Shot

Gotham Academy Endgame is a one shot comic written by Becky Cloonan & Brenden Fletcher, art by Jenny Donovan. A one shot comic is a self contained story that will often involve the characters from the comic but doesn't usually carry on with the regular story arc. The DC event Endgame, taking place in the Batman comics, featured several one shot issues including Batgirl, Arkham Manor and Gotham Academy. While I don't read much Batman I do read Batgirl and Gotham Academy so I picked up the Endgame one shots and they were actually pretty good.

The story begins with the students of Gotham Academy all gathered in the school gym to be kept safe as the entire city of Gotham has been infected by the Joker's virus. Maps, Pomeline and Olive begin telling scary stories to pass the time. All of the stories the children tell, in classic Gotham style, are heavily influenced by the Joker and are far scarier than I expected. By far the best story told is Macpherson's Story about a wandering jester with a horrifying twist to his act, written & art done by Joy Ang.

Gotham Academy End Game has several different art styles, the regular adorable style of Gotham Academy, where Maps makes adorable faces, and one for each of the different tales the students tell. All the art styles are bright, colourful and despite being different all have incredibly expressive faces switching between cartoonish over the top faces to very subtle realistic facial expressions. Overall the art of the Gotham Academy series is simple, refreshing and unusually non-gritty for a Batman related title.

The thing that is so appealing about Gotham Academy is that it's the often very dark and somber world of Batman told through the eyes of children giving it a much brighter and innocent tone that is just so different from any other Batman title. It's very interesting to see how the everyday people of Gotham dealing with crisis after crisis the same way regular people deal with a traffic jam.

I give Gotham Academy 4 out of 5 Joker smiles.

Find out more about Gotham Academy here.

Oz Comic-Con 2015

This year I attended Oz Comic-Con held at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre and cosplayed as Princess Ulga of the Princess Ugg series. While I had a wonderful time enjoying the atmosphere, the exhibits, the stalls and all the fantastic people, I felt that there was a little bit of the Oz missing from Oz Comic-Con.

On the Saturday the line for the entrance moved fairly quickly with plenty of volunteers to scan tickets and pass out wrist bands but only a few windows open to sell tickets for the day so as I always say pre-purchase your tickets if possible because it will save you a staggering amount of time. As always when I walked through the entrance doors the excitement of the day is overwhelming and it took all my strength not to begin running around squealing like an excited 4 year old but its best to stick to a system and go aisle by aisle so you don't miss anything as you can always come back to any stall that looks interesting.

By far my favourite costume of the weekend

OCC had all kinds of stalls ranging from the usual comic book stores, figurines and costumes, the crafty home made jewellery, sketches, art and art supplies, to the unusual special effects make up, prosthesis and even 3d Modelling. While there were some fantastic local comics on display including From Above, That Bullet Proof Kid, Franken Comics, The Soldier Legacy and others it really felt to me that the convention was a little lacking in the amount of local comics in a convention called OZ Comic-Con I did however get a brilliant sketch by Craig Bruyne creator of From Above. Fortunately All Star Comics had an event on with the local comic creators that couldn't make it to OCC doing free sketches and selling their comics which gave me my local fix.

The only instructions I gave was "dinosaur making pancakes"

There was always something to do at and see including the Adam West Batmobile, Captain America's shield, Thor's hammer, the Hulk Buster and the Iron Throne. By far the most entertaining thing to watch was the stage with the Wii game Just Dance as it was hilarious watching people flail their arms and legs around trying to match the instructed movements as the crowd good naturedly cheered and laughed along.

Worthy!

On the Sunday I had my photo session with Jason Momoa at 9:30am and considering that OCC only opened at 9am I knew I would have to be there right on time or be stuck at the very back of the line, even though I arrived at 9:06am there were still people lined up ahead of me not including the people with priority passes. Now I am torn between how efficiently the line moved through and how you only had a few seconds for the photo then were shuffled out where as at previous photo opportunities at different conventions the line moved slower but you were given a few seconds to say thank you to the guest, but overall I'm going to say that meeting Jason Momoa was pretty exciting and was run rather well and ensuring both the guest and attendees did not spend their entire day waiting. I hear it was a very different story for meeting Bruce Campbell with incredibly long lines but I hear they were handled well.

Fangirl grin!

Overall the weekend went very well, was enjoyable all around and my cosplay was even filmed by the folks at It's Japan Man!.  I would have liked a little more local talent to be on display but couldn't complain about the great ones that were there.
I give Oz Comic-Con 2015 3.5 out of 5 Captain America Shields

Check out more photos from the day here,