Saturday, July 30, 2011
Will the real Captain America please stand up?
Batman: The Killing Joke Deluxe Edition Hardcover
Writer: Alan Moore, Brian Bolland (2nd story)
Artist: Brian Bolland
Collects: Batman: The Killing joke, with a short story by Brian Bolland from Batman: Black and White Vol 1

Apologies to all for axing my previously planned post concerning Shade, The Changing Man, Vol 2. The single issues of Shade are too hard to read....psychologically. They are almost one & done stories, but take too much effort, I'm halfway through the trade, and hopefully you will see a review next week. In the interim, I read through one of my recent buys this week, and it was a doozy!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Raj Comics Exclusive Preview: 72 Ghante
The upcoming set includes a thrilling and spine chilling script, with none other than Mr. Sanjay Gupta featuring as the co-writer along with inimitable Tarun Kumar Vahi!
| Credits | |
| Imagination | Vivek Mohan and Anuragh |
| Script | Sanjay Gupta and Tarun Kumar Vahi |
| Art | Image Studios |
| Inking | Sagar Thapa |
| Calligraphy | Harish Sharma |
| Effects | Shadab |
| Editor | Manish Gupta |
xxxHolic
There are some Manga that are so popular, that they don’t even need an introduction, let alone a review. Yet, I've seen a lot of people shunning away from these amazing pieces of works either due to a misleading title or a shoujo-ish outer appearance. Case in point - xxxHolic.
So for all those who are lingering around this manga without enough confidence to start reading it, I’m here to give you a brief overview of this cult classic.
Plot – The story opens with a young high school boy, Watanuki Kimihiro, who has supernatural powers to see demons and spirits (no, it’s not the usual cliché story of saving the world; there’s much more to it in this one!) being, as usual, followed, trapped and tormented by a bunch of spirits, while he does everything in is power, which is next to nothing, to get rid of them. While he is busy performing this feat, he ends up landing in front of a strange, old styled building that is squeezed between two modern sky scrapers.
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| xxxHolic 1 Cover
Click on the image to view full size
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Monday, July 25, 2011
Monday Manga Madness: The Bare Neccesities - II
Captain America: The First Avenger Review
The Adventures of Karen Ross (Part 10)
"A fact that I'm still getting used to, sorry I haven't had time to read the manual yet."
"Your training starts now." he said sheathing his sword.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Shade, The Changing Man Vol 1: The American Scream
Artist: Chris Bachalo
Collects: Shade, the Changing Man issues 1-6
Review by Aalok Joshi
Welcome back to another edition of Deciphering DC. Right now, we’re moving out to the fringes of the DC Universe. In the late 80s/early 90s, there were a lot of experimental titles, most of them treading new genres (remember, Vertigo as an imprint wasn’t around back then) like The Question, Suicide Squad, The Spectre, Green Arrow, Skreemer, Time Masters, Doc Savage, Sandman, Hellblazer, The Books of Magic among others.
Friday, July 22, 2011
STEWART'S SLATE: REVIEW OF SECRET AVENGERS Volume 1 MISSION TO MARS

MARVEL CATCH UP - SECRRET AVENGERS Volume 1: MISSION TO MARS premier edition hardback
Collects Secret Avengers #1-5
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Art: Mike Deodato, Will Conrad, David Aja, Michael Lark and Stefano Guadiano
Published by Marvel Worldwide
Review by Stewart Loud
Okey Dokey! With Fear Itself in full swing now, I'm going to be collecting together and writing about some complete runs of Marvel comics released between the end of the Siege and now to recap on what's been going on in the Marvel 616 Universe in an effort to bring you all up to date and maybe give you some ideas of what you might want to read before I write about the Fear Itself storyline (all spoiler free I promise). Not going to be scoring any of them, just saying weather or not I enjoyed them and giving you a brief idea of what to expect.
A Hell(Blazer) of a week.
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| Hellblazer Pandemonium Jami Delano is a Must Read. |
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Rajat Reviews Alibaba and the Forty Thieves - Reloaded
La Mangafique: Anime species: Part I
Anime species: Part I

Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Exclusive Raj Preview: Mrityujivi
The upcoming set includes this blockbuster the concluding sequel to the spine chilling Infected
Credits
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| Script | Nitin Mishra |
| Art | Hemant |
| Inking | Amit |
| Calligraphy | Harish Sharma |
| Effects | Shadab |
| Editor | Manish Gupta |
Give heed to The Marvel Cosmic! (Part 2)
Welcome back folks to our final round-up of all things Marvel Cosmic! It's been great fun for me to dig back into my archives and my brain and reminisce about all the fun I had the first time around reading these comics.
So without any further rambling, lets get down to business and pick up where we left off, for anyone that missed the last one click HERE and check it out - the rest of you follow me:
(and as always the images I've used are as high-res as I could find so click to enjoy or download!)
6) GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (ongoing 2008-2010)
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| Guardian Time b****es!! |
Together this rag-tag bunch were what he called The Guardians of the Galaxy and Star-Lords intention was to have a team that would be proactive in helping people and saving the galaxy instead of waiting for something like the Annihilation Wars to happen and simply reacting defensively. Its like they say: a good offense is the best defense!
They take up residence in a place called Knowhere which is (and I quote): "Located within what appears to be a severed head of a Celestial floating along The Rip (the extreme outer edge of all Spacetime with no specific physical location), Knowhere acts as a make-shift port of call and observatory of the End of the Universe for intergalactic travelers of all species and from all times." And the stations head of security is another new addition to the character list who has become a fast-favourite not just for me but for fans around the globe - Cosmo the Russian space-dog. Don't ask his back-story, he's a dog in a space suit but has power that I would say is approaching Jean-Grey and Cable's in some regards - he's a powerful telepath and and even more powerful telekinetic capable of knocking out two, count em TWO superteams with a single TK blast. Plus a whole load of other stuff, trust me - not a canine to mess with.
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| You go Cosmo! |
Auckland Zinefest 2011 part 2
So, as I mentioned the other day, I was quiet sick and wasn't feeling too good having spent the previous day locked up in my hotel room with the blanket over my head coughing and blowing my nose every ten minutes. But I made it up to the event after being dropped off by my father who had driven me down.
I was really interested to see what the turn out for this event would be like, since it was my first ever Zinefest. All day there was an even amount of people flowing through the tables, looking and buying books and items on display. I bought a ton of items myself.
But being my first Zinefest, I wasn't aware of the difference between a comic book and a zine. So, I sat in on a panel, which was being held below the event at an adjacent room to a wine bar.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Monday Manga Madness: The Bare Neccesities - I
And yes, when I say anywhere I mean the realm of the Elder Gods too.
Right, so here it is. This isn't my list of favorite manga mind you. I'm not sure I like them too much. I prefer my manga more light hearted and funny, and these are pretty serious in both content and delivery. But these manga, have surpassed the norms and cliches that hold down other more commercially viable manga out there. These works have transcended into a realm where they are now truly without exception masterpieces of fiction. Each series presented here is a hallmark blend of brilliant story writing and excellent artwork. They are surreal, and moving to such a degree that I assure you....go through this list of manga and you will not come away unmoved.
Let us begin.
Auckland Zinefest 2011 (Saturday pics)
Sorry about no captions. More pics with all juicy details to be added soon... Stay tuned.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon Review
The Adventures of Karen Ross (Part 9)
Saturday, July 16, 2011
A DCnU view - Deciphering DC
Hey, Welcome back to another edition of deciphering DC. Today, I try to make sense of the reboot and actually tell you why the DC reboot is good for you. Yes, you heard that right. And I also stress on the parts that might go awry, or just be bad.
Friday, July 15, 2011
STEWARTS SLATE: REVIEW OF CROSSED 3D GRAPHIC NOVEL

CROSSED 3D Volume 1 hard back graphic novel
Writer: David Lapham
Art: Gianluca Pagliarani
Published by Avatar Press
Review by Stewart Loud
A stand alone short story graphic novel released after the original 6 issue Crossed mini series by Garth Ennis telling the story of a small group of grizzled, well armed fighters on a suicide mission to rescue a medical team and their supplies who've become trapped in a skyscraper in the centre of New York, a city completely over run by the Crossed. There's heaps of graphic violence, guys getting their cocks out, a scene where dozens of lunatics pelt the stories main characters with handfuls of their own poop and the whole thing is presented in stunning 3D. Greatest comic ever printed then? Well it's not bad.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Give heed to The Marvel Cosmic! (Part 1)
Welcome back one and all to another edition of the Wayfarer - and this week Im going to have to get right to it as we're going to be covering some titles and events that have been requested by many readers and comic-fans out there looking for guidance. And we are ready to provide it!
| CLICK TO ENLARGE!! |
For a science fiction fan such as myself it was an absolute blessing because (and I say this to in the spirit of honesty) while DC's work on the space books with the GL titles has been great, its basically Lantern-centric space opera - more Star Wars then Star Trek if you will. And maybe its just me but as much as a good dramatic space opera can be fun, there's nothing quite like the mind-bending awesomeness, the creativity, the blurring of lines and unavoidable tight-rope walk of disbelief and clear understanding and the familiar.
In this Marvel in my opinion has actually crafted a far superior mythos through the able and masterful craftsmanship of the legendary team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning - lovingly known to fans as DnA because of their long history of excellent work together in comics across the industry.
Building on a base set up over the years by Jim Starlin, Keith Giffen and other legendary story-tellers this new set of Cosmic tales are a pleasure for readers both old and new - if you like me have read all the old books like The Infinity Gauntlet then its brilliant, but in a twist on tradition, if you've never read anything of them before you can still jump right back into the middle of things here with no trouble!
What Im going to try and do is break it down for you into the basic bits and order so that you can be caught up in no time and today like me be hankering and waiting Gollum-like for more tales of space adventure and entertainment with some of the more compelling and well crafted characters and stories from The Big Two comic publishers in quite a while.
So come, sit back and let your eyes wander over this quick little burst of the Power Cosmic (as the Silver Surfer puts it) and maybe if I can do this just right you might find yourself compelled to get past that little hesitation that always comes when trying a new book.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
La Mangafique
Anime: The who, the what, and the where (and other nitty-gritty’s)
Who is Aru, anyway?
The first memory of ever seeing or reading a comic book was in, Nacovi, Nadi Town in Fiji. It was two different ones, an Archie and a Walt Disney Comics, with Goofy etc. Its reading these comics at the age of 7 or 8yrs old that has become the focal point in my life. Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Exclusive Raj Preview: Alter Ego - The return of Super Commando Dhruv!!!
Great news for all your Dhruv fans out there!
Super Commando Dhruv is back with a bang with a new kickass look and a story which looks dark, dangerous and like a perfect platform for a comeback for our favorite Commando!
Credits
Script Abhishek Sagar
Support Mandar Gangele
Art Hemant
Inking Amit
Effects Rasheed
Caligraphy Harish Sharma
Editor Manish Gupta
Check out the exclusive preview of the upcoming Dhruv issue - Alter Ego!
Monday Manga Madness Redux: Aishiteruze Baby
Manga Madness: On Dinosaurs...

Today on Manga Madness, I would like to invite you all to the Jurassic era. A time when Dinosaurs roamed the earth. A time when ferocious monsters ruled this very land. A harsh time. And unfortunately a time of which we know little. All denizens of that age perished in some unknown doom that visited Earth all those years ago. But wait, what if one survived? What havoc would it unleash upon the unsuspecting next age of the Earth.
As it turns out, it can unleash quite a lot of havoc. Welcome to the world of Gon. The pint sized dinosaur who has a big attitude. And a bite to match. A hilarious manga based around the adventures of said dinosaur. Each chapter delves into the exploits of Gon. As he interacts with the paleolithic world around him. A new world, a changed world. Interactions wary from villainous predators who underestimate Gon at their own peril, to even newly made friends, and even an adopted family. A rich beautiful world ripe for exploration is explored. As Gon can be spotted in a myriad of places, the setting continually changes. One can expect a tropical rainforest in one chapter, and a savannah in the next. But Gon's role itself surprisingly keeps changing. From tormentor of lions, to forming a posse of abandoned cubs who have lost their mothers. The manga is mature in content. For Mother Nature is cruel if impartial. Many times the outcomes are gory, and death is pretty graphic when touched upon. But that should not keep you away from the manga. For their is comedy too.
The comedy in the manga is exceptional, with some scenes so good that you will be in splits. And that's not the only great thing about this manga. Gon has absolutely no dialogues. Since for obvious reasons, a manga dealing with a dinosaur's interaction with different animals would have no need for dialogue. Such a simple implementation of basic fact renders infinite beauty and depth to this manga. I know I hanker on about depth to no end. But depth is important to a manga. For now without dialogue, the artist has to work that extra mile to convey emotions. And boy does the artwork deliver. It is a treat, a unique visual experience which feels very fresh as opposed to traditional manga art. A lost world unfolds before the reader. A world where man has no place. A world of animals and an age of nature. Now gone forever.
Gon is almost an experimental read of a manga. And perhaps the fanatical manga reader will not enjoy it. But if you like comic books, then you will fall in love with the adorable dinosaur. But dont be fooled, step on his tiny toes even a moment and he will take a BITE out of you.




















