JENNIFER BLOOD Vol. 1

WARNING: Jennifer Blood is a Mature Readers Only series. 

Garth Ennis as far as I am concerned is possibly one of the most underrated graphic novelist. I know he is well known and has written some classic fiction in the past but as the final issue of The Boys reaches the stands I for one am looking forward to what he decides to do next. When The Boys was published under the Wild Storm (DC Comics owns it now) imprint Ennis and his artist, Darick Robertson were told by DC that they didn't want a mature series about superheroes as it would more then likely be against what DC wanted in their stable of titles. This left Ennis with the choice of taking the series, which had at that time only 6 issues. else where. Which as far am I am concerned it was good move. Both artist and writer then took the series to Dynamite Entertainment. Where the series has flourished over the past 7yrs.

By then there were talks about a The Boys feature film. Lots of interviews and discussion about a movie. which at the moment is still in the air. I have written a review on the first volume of The Boys. Which should be out soon. It is with Dynamite Entertainment that Ennis created his Jennifer Blood series.

Jennifer Blood, a pseudonym of the lead character, is a well crafted action thriller about a house wife who at night goes out to dish out her own justice on a family of Mob related criminals. The story is told through her own narration written in her journal. We follow this mother of 2 young children and a loving husband, Andrew, who are none the wiser as Jennifer. Every night Jennifer drugs her kids and Andrew, so that she can go about carrying out her vendetta on the local crime family. And like any other vigilante she leaves her calling card.

No matter what, Ennis writes, there is always a very strong first issue. And so in the first issue we follow Jennifer as she puts her family to bed and goes downstairs to the hidden enclave which houses weapons and spy equipment that might put James Bond to shame. Weapons from a simple glock pistol to a RPG (rocket propelled gun) and semi-automatic machine gun. Here in her hidden cupboard space she changes from a house wife to a black leather clad female Punisher. (NB: Ennis wrote several volumes of The Punisher through Marvel Comics Max imprint. The Punisher film starring Tom Jane was based on some of that series).
With a black wig to cover her blonde hair she takes off into the night in her Black SUV wearing dark sunglasses. And it is here that we start to see the very different character than the one while she was with her family. With her chosen weapon hidden away in the SUV, she drives to her first victims of her vigilante.

At first glance the first issue looks like a rip-off of a Punisher story. Jennifer Blood being the female Punisher. But its nothing like the Punisher. Jennifer Blood in her own right is a complex story about family, and the criminal under ground. Jennifer Blood is a strong female character. Which I like seeing in comics. Often to sell a comic book a first issue that is mature in content ends up having the female protagonist is over sexualised, but not so in Jennifer Blood. There is a good balance of mature content along with some of the crazy humor stuff Ennis is known for. But that does not take away from the story. I, for one really enjoyed the story.

This story like any many others that Ennis has written before or since Jennifer Blood, is worth the cover price. When you read through the first arc, Ennis only wrote the first volume on the on-going series, you will come to realise that Jennifer Blood is another original story that could easily be made into a movie, and I hope they do, because the whole first series can easily be adapted to a film script.
The artwork by Adriano Batista gives life to the series which the colorist, Romulo Frajardo Jr. clearly set out to show us to show the difference between Jennifer's day life and her night life, using light tones and colors for the Jennifer's day life and dark hues for the night activities. I found the art and color tones to be well planned out.
The first issue includes a two and a half pages of interview with Ennis about the series as well as  five pages of sketches showing the character designs. After Garth's 6 issue run the writing and art chores are picked up by Al Ewing and Kewber Baal. I had only bought the first 6 issues, all Tim Bradstreet 'Virgin Art' Retailer Incentive covers through my comic dealer. Having read all the issues this week, I hadn't even read the series until this week, I wish I had continued with collecting the rest of the series in print form.
If you are a fan of good crime action stories, then may I suggest that you read at least read Ennis' run. Al Ewing continues on with the series with the spirit of what Ennis began.

(ARU), Aruneshwar has a Bachelors Degree in Digital Media -Digital Film-making. Aru is writing and illustrating a graphic novel about the 30yrs of Institutionalised Slavery ofIndians in Fiji from 1885 -1915. He is a prolific script writer and writes in all comicbook genres which include several graphic novels for his own company,Rising Sun Comics. Aru also uploads a digital comic series on Facebook called, Zero as well as finishing off the lettering to his crime-noir graphic novel, The Circle. He is also trying to finish off coloring and lettering a superhero comic book mini-series he co-created with Mike Burbeck called, Incredi-Girl.

Week In Review : Archer and Armstrong #1 + Deadpool #59 + Idolized #1 + Pathfinder #1

Another week gone by and a lovely new load of comics coming your way!We've been busy getting the new avatar of Comic Addicts ready for you so only a few new reviews this week, but we've picked some awesome ones - 3 shiny new #1's for starters! So enjoy and stick around, loads more comic goodness to be had with Comic Addicts.- Already-craving-the-weekend Akshay

Archer and Armstrong #1 (Valiant)

Story : Fred Van Lente

Art : Clayton Henry

(Reviewed by Akshay Dhar)

The world is wiped clean, a new one arise - secret sects, immortals, a spiritual quest, mythos, clever religiosity, fighting. Yeah, this issue has a lot going for it.

Tells the story of a deadly young warrior named Obidiah Archer, trained in multiple martial arts – but looks to be barely out of his teens – who is a religious zealot, trained since childhood by his parents (who are heads of a quasi-religious/christian-y cult/sect) to be a warrior with a mission. And then he is sent out into the REAL world – for the first time in his life. His first “friend” is a familiar looking fellow named Armstrong who drinks and bounces at a bar where Archer... creates some ruckus. And then things start to get crazier and a wee bit scarier – for Archer anyway.

Nicely written out with a sufficient amount of character development and a good mix of plot building, action and a hint of humour, the issue was a joy to read and I was sad to see it finish.

Week In Review : Before Watchman Minutemen #1 + Mighty Thor Annual #1 + Pantha #1 + Voltron Year One # 3

AT LAST IT BEGINS!!
This week's reviews include the highly anticipated and hotly debated kick-off to Before Watchmen by DC comics and we bring it to you along with much more!
Enjoy!

Before Watchman : Minutemen #1 (DC)

Story & Art : Darwyn Cooke

(Reviewed by Anirudh Singh)

Alright, alright, the argument of intellectual property matters for naught to me in comic books. Hence, we shall not have it here. Instead we shall talk about Minutemen, one of my favourite parts about the Watchmen storyline that got all too brief a time in the limelight. 

This first installment from Before Watchmen starts with the story of the Minutemen, narrated through the eyes of Hollis Mason (a.k.a Night Owl). The writing is a little word heavy and Cooke is definitely no Alan Moore, but the art more than makes up for it. And eventually the initial awkwardness of the writing tumbles into a smoother narrative that gels very well with the artwork.

Darwyn Cooke does a marvelous job of bringing back the magic of the Silver Age. With glorious colours and art we get a sneak peek into the comings and goings of the famous mystery men of the day: Captain Metropolis, Nite Owl, Sally Jupiter and Hooded Justice, a vigilante adept at inspiring terror in the criminal element... and even the Comedian gets a brief flourish. Before Watchmen : Minutemen #1 sets the perfect platform for the series and the titles to follow. 

Week In Review : Supreme #64 + The Spider #1 + Voltron Year One #2

Welcome back for more reviews folks! 

After the DC #1 overload yesterday, we've got some great new titles reviewed for you so dive right on in!

Supreme #64 (Image)

Story : Erik Larsen

Art : Erik Larsen & Cory Hamscher

(Reviewed by Akshay Dhar)

This was a very conflicting issue.
For those of you here last month, the last issue was the series' relaunch after the abrupt cancellation of the series right in the middle of Alan Moore's now-legendary run on the character. One, just one script by him remained unproduced and lay in the archives... the misty haze of legend surrounding it and every fanboy and fangirl who knew of it waited for the day it would finally see the light.

Then, Erik Larsen came on board to relaunch the series.

The good news is that he is a fantastic artist and arguably the most dedicated and consistent of the original Image founders, his work on his own series – Savage Dragon – being some legendary stuff itself for a writer/artist.

Anyway, after a pretty decent return last month with Erik on art duties for Moore's script, this month we finally get the first non-Alan script and the one that shows what they new season will be made off... and I gotta tell you, I'm mighty confused as to whether I love it or hate it.

Week In Review : Avengers #25 / B.P.R.D: The Long Death #3 / Batman #8 / Nighwing #8 / Ragemoor #2 / The Shadow #1

 Avengers #25 (Marvel)

Story : Brian Michael Bendis

Art : Walter Simonson

(Reviewed by Anubhav Sharma)

As I’ve said last week, I’m a big fan of Bendis penned event tie-ins, mainly because he gets the level of characterisation and depth stories as big as the events we’ve been seeing for the last half decade which may not fit in well with all the big action in the main books. At face value, one may not see how relevant this issue is to AvX as a whole, but deep down it gives much needed buildup on the Avengers side of the conflict at the core of the event, and serves as a bridge between the recent Osborn storyline and AvX. Captain America and the Protector, in particular, get their motivations fleshed out, which explains some of the former’s decisions in AvX so far and the latter’s solicited actions.

Of course, one can’t talk about this issue without talking about the return of legendary artist Walt Simonson to Marvel. With modern colouring techniques showing is art in a new light, it’s safe to say it as the same level of dynamism he was known for at his best. Also, is Thor particularly looks as majestic as ever.

SCORE : 8.2 / 10

Week In Review: Danger Club #1 / O.M.A.C #8 / Supreme #63 / Voltron Year One #1 (DOUBLE REVIEWED)

Danger Club #1 (Image)

Story : Landry Q. Walker

Art : Eric Jones

(Reviewed by Akshay Dhar)

F*** Yeah!!!

If there's a new superhero comic to try and a new world to explore – this would be it!

It's only the first issue.

I was amused in the first couple of pages which are done very nicely like a good old silver age comic that give us character names (like Kid Monstro and Apollo) and a feel for how this new world works with the superheroes that are like the Teen Titans of this world.

Then it throws it all out the window.

Picture a bunch of characters that are like alternate-universe-young-adult-versions of all your favourites like Kid Vigilante (Batman!), Apollo (Superman, duh!), Fearless (Nick Fury), etc... Now picture an Earth where all the superheroes left to combat some great threat in space months ago and now... well, lets just say that things are not looking good and Apollo has lost his marbles more than a little. I'm not saying the characters are direct rip-offs, but one can see parallels and archetypes at play here when creating the style and characteristics of all of them.

Week In Review: Action Comics #8 / Daredevil #10.1 / Dejah Thoris and the White Apes of Mars #1 / Men of War #8

Action Comics #8 (DC)

Story : Grant Morrison

Art : Rags Morales

(Reviewed by Anubhav DasGupta)

Grant Morrison has written the greatest Superman story of all time. This, however, is not that story. It just falls short of being amazing. It’s not Morrison at his best. It is, however a damn good book.

We’re still in Superman’s early years (He’s just got his suit a few issues back). The comic starts with Superman battling against Brainiac/Collector and a Brainiac-possessed Metallo after he was asked to choose between Metropolis and Krypton City of Kandor (both of them miniaturized!) in the last issue.

Rags Morales’ art is brilliant. I love how everything seems to be in motion, how everything is so fluid and full of life. And Morrison is at times, very good and at times mediocre. Sometimes his writing feels as if some other writer is trying to ape his style. Bits of it seem quite forceful, and that’s what holds this issue back. And I am at a loss when it comes to deciphering Krypton-speak. Maybe we aren’t supposed to understand those bits, but still, it’s headache inducing.

The best part of the comic has to be Luthor’s dialogue in the first few panels of the comic.

Week-In-Review: Army of Darkness #2 / Batman #7 / Kick Ass 2 #7 / Rebel Blood #1

Army of Darkness #2 (Dynamite)

Story : Elliot R. Serrano

Art : Marat Mychaels

(Reviewed by Akshay Dhar)

He's baaaaack!!!

Sweet!

For those who haven't guessed already, Ash Williams a.k.a. the most hard-a** demonite killer and one of the most awesome movie characters of all time finally makes his entrance into the story in this new issue – and what an entrance it is indeed!

We saw the new 'chosen one' last issue getting herself a massive overdose of what she can expect in that role and then some more and still more to follow. That continues this issue as she is looking for the man himself, but thankfully that takes a backseat/cameo sort of role as we get to see the character made famous by the legendary Bruce Campbell (under Sam Raimi's direction...) drive right into our minds again, boom-stick in hand and a whoooole mess of wicked new weaponry to play with and give company to the trusty old chainsaw!

Week-In-Review: Crossed - Wish You Where Here / Deadpool #52 / George R.R Martins A Game of Thrones #4 / The Jungle Book #1

Crossed - Wish You Where Here #1+2 (Avatar)

Story : Simon Spurrier

Art : Javier Barreno

(Reviewed by Akshay Dhar)

It's not conventional to review a web-comic in a new releases list like this one, but I intend to make an exception for this one.

BE WARNED: This series is not for the faint of heart, it's meant for MATURE/ADULT readers and could be scarring to your psyche if horror and the unthinkable are not your cup of tea!

Crossed has been, since its terrifying and disturbing beginning, one of the most gruesome, brutal and in-your-face horror comics I've ever seen and every successive mini-series in the franchise has taken that first step by super-scribe Garth Ennis to heart and built fresh nightmares on top. Soon we have a new mini-series coming out title Badlands by a returning Ennis as we bid David Lapham – who has been helming this franchise for a while now – a thankful goodbye, but in the meantime this FREE web-series was a nice little surprise that almost slipped under the radar.

Week-In-Review: Avengers Assemble #1 / Daken: Dark Wolverine #22 / The Ninjettes #2 / Saucer Country #1 / Scarlet Spider #3

Well folks, here's the last set of new issue reviews for this week - hope you enjoy them! As always, if there's any series you want to know about or see reviewed, just drop us a line.
Till next week, happy readings!

Avengers Assemble #1 (Marvel)

Story : Brian Michael Bendis

Art : Mark Bagley, Danny Miki

(Reviewed by Anant Sagar)

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!!!

I've always wanted to say that, along with a whole bunch of other things.

So anyway, to the point. Avengers Assemble #1. Excellent read. Basically meant to be an easy-to-access series with the team from the upcoming movie meant to serve as accessible to less regular readers.

THE GOOD:

The story is interesting. I like the Avengers cast seen here. I enjoyed the villains that they have. The Zodiac are an interesting concept explored as super-humans, each named after a sigh of the zodiac. So far we see two - one water elemental (probably Pisces) and Taurus. Action sequences are in abundance in this issue, something I really enjoyed, especially since they are really well drawn.

THE BAD:

Week-In-Review: G.I Joe: Annual #1 / Lord of the Jungle #2 / No More Heroes #1 / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Donatello

Welcome folks, to another new week and another load of new comics!! Today we have something special for you - turns out this week we are covering some seriously old school favourites, all in ONE POST! Is this a great week or what?!
And in addition, we have a new addict who is trying his hand at this - Anant Sagar - who is joining us for this weeks 0-day reviewing! Now, without any further drama, lets get to work shall we?
 

G.I Joe: A real American hero - Annual #1 (IDW Publishing)

Story: Larry Hama

Art: Ron Frenz, Ron Wagner, Herb Trimpe, Sal Buscema

(Review by Anant Sagar) 
So, I just finished reading this and I’ve got to say I was quite happy with it. Granted it has its ups and downs, but for the most of it, it was fun. So let’s get down to it shall we?

The Good:

It had the same feel as the old animated TV show that I know, which was a good thing for me, because I really loved that show. The character art has the classic feel to it which kept me happy and I got to see some of my favourite characters like Gung-Ho, Scarlett, Zartan and the Dreadnoks!!

The Bad:

I didn’t really enjoy the plot. It’s not like it was terrible, but it wasn’t all that amazing. I mean a cobra sleeper agent who went off the grid, decides to come back and blow stuff up because he got fired and thinks immigrants in the United States are a curse and they should all be killed. Sorry, but that doesn’t really do much for me.

So the basic plot was disappointing but its saving grace was the dialogue.

Now my favourite part of this issue, THE FUNNY:

Week-In-Review: Fantastic Four #603 / Witchblade and Red Sonja #1 / Prophet #22

Well folks, as promised, we have part 2 of this week's comic reviews for your pleasure and we hope you like the titles we've chosen. As always, if there are any series' at all that you would like to see reviewed as they release - all you have to do is ask!

Fantastic Four #603

Story: Jonathan Hickman

Art: Barry Kitson

(Review by Akshay Dhar)

I've never been the biggest fan of Fantastic Four comics beyond the early years under Kirby and Lee, a few good ones here and there but rarely have I consistently enjoyed what is otherwise one of the most landmark, unique and iconic team books in comics. Until Hickman. From now on when it comes to the FF there is the era B.H. (before Hickman) and A.H. as far as I'm concerned and if you've been following his work from his takeover through the launch of the ongoing FF (a.k.a Future Foundation) and the recent relaunch of Fantastic Four, then you know exactly what I mean.

Not a story-heavy issue, this is just part of the final moments of what Hickman has been building for quite a while now with the multi-Reed storyline, the time and space travelling Richards' children all growed-up and all the other little bits that have been weaving around – not to mention the death and VERY recent return (with style I might add!) of Johnny Storm, a.k.a, the Human Torch. We get some funky science, deadly cosmic weapons, Galactus kicking arse and laying the smack-down, Negative Zone armies now ruled by Johnny, lost kids and twists still forming as others unravel and this is a relatively simple issue for what has been a great time with a book (now two books if you include this and FF both). Barry Kitson does a fantastic job on the art and the massive scale action scenes play out really well while never getting in the way of the story, a nice balance.

Week-In-Review: Army Of Darkness #1 + B.P.R.D Hell on Earth: The Long Death #1 + The Darkness #99 + Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #1

ARMY OF DARKNESS #1

Story: Elliott R. Serrano

Art: Marat Mychaels & Chris Ivy

(Review By: Akshay Dhar)

This review must be prefaced by me informing you that if you have a love for either the Army Of Darkness and Evil Dead movies, Ash Williams and/or the inimitably awesome Bruce Campbell – then you will already relish and enjoy the comic. Also, you should bear in mind this is in essence a horror-action-comedy before you read it and start taking it seriously as you do so. Just enjoy it for what it is, thats what it does.

Taking a new direction on the mythology of the Army Of Darkness with chosen ones and adding in a whole new “Ash” Williams character, a bit of a surprise this time, what with it being a girl and all that. Torn from her time by magic and possibly fate and thrown into ancient Egypt with new and ungodly powers, Ashley is now on her own (more or less) as she fights an survives what is clearly just the beginning of deadly adventures to come as the malevolent big-bad watches from afar. With the original Ash in just a cameo moment, it was a bit of a let-down given the cover which makes you dive in hoping to geekily enjoy seeing the Boom-stick in action. But in the end Serrano has done a good job and the end result is an amusing and well portrayed story in the horror-comedy genre that sets an interesting opening stage, now I just hope he can build on it nicely hereafter.

As for the artwork – I make no bones about the fact that I'm not the biggest Mychaels fan, given his artistic lineage under the tutelage of the man who makes anyone with any aesthetic sensibility face-palm at will, Mr. Rob Leifeld. However he seems to have made some progress and while not spectacular, he does a basicaly decent job and seems to have surpassed that particular teacher for sure – plus I think some nice inking by Ivy also helps in that department quite a bit.

SCORE : 6.4 / 10

Week-in-Review: Battle Scars #4 + Conan the Barbarian (2012) #1 + Fantastic Four Season One GN + The Ninjettes #1 + Scarlet Spider #2

Another week, another set of comics for you to read! Well as we've endeavored to do every single week (and plan to keep doing) my fellow Addicts, we bring you another round of selective bullet reviews of what's what among this week's releases. So without wasting any more time, lets get to it!

Battle Scars #4 (of 6) – Marvel Comics

Story: Chris Yost (with Cullen Bunn & Matt Fraction on plots)

Art: Scott Eaton

(Review By: Anubhav Sharma)

*SPOILER ALERT*

The “biggest secret in the Marvel Universe” gets revealed in the new issue of Battle Scars, and it’s something that pretty much everyone already knew, courtesy the internet. So yes, Marcus Johnson is actually Nick Fury’s son, and he’s poised to lose an eye in the next issue and fill up the reservation for a one eyed African American director of SHIELD just in time for the Avengers. The issue reads a little too fast, with too little happening in too much time. Here’s a summary : He meets Deadpool, Taskmaster, the Serpent Squad and ultimately his father. Scott Eaton’s art has messed up anatomy in plenty of places and generally fails to add any excitement to the fight sequences.

SCORE : 4.2/10

Conan the Barbarian #1 – Dark Horse Comics

Story: Brian Wood

Art: Becky Cloonan (drawings), and Dave Stewart (colours)

(Review By: Rijul Partha)

It has been so long since I last read a Conan comic (nearly 1½ years) and even longer since I read a Conan novel, that I have nearly forgotten the specifics of the Cimmerian's adventures. This, then, marks the return of a lapsed reader. The quality of the Conan comics has always been high (as with other Robert Howard properties - Kull: The Cat and the Skull being a recent example) and for this title, expectations were high, with Wood 

being known for quality storytelling in Demo, Northlanders and DMZ. I am pleased to report that he does not falter, and delivers a cracking first issue to the series.

Week In Review - 6th Feb 2012! Action Comics #6 + Fatale #2 + The Boys #63 + X-Club #3+Dark Horse Presents#8

Hey there all you Comic-addicts out there - young, old, thin, fat and anything and everything in between!
Come, grab a seat, settle back and relax as we bring you another edition of Week-In-Review as we review 4 of our teams picks from the past week.

ACTION COMICS #6

Writer:Grant Morrison

Artist:Andy Kubert
Reviewer: Anupam Sarkar

Take genius and flawless writing, awesome art and an iconic character and mix 'em up.

What you get is Action Comics #6!

Back in Issue 5, readers were introduced to the “Anti-Superman Army” who - for unknown reasons - travel back to the past to steal the power source of the rocket that sent Supes to Earth, a.k.a. Kryptonite, which they intend to use to put an end to Superman!

Issue 6 starts with a meet between the Anti-Superman Army and a scientist who extracted the Kryptonite from the rocket's engine.

He also explains that the Kryptonite can be used to create different colors of Kryptonite , which will have different effects on Superman.

The last issue introduced us to Superman from five years into the future from the Action Comics's time-period as well as the Legion of Super-Heroes' founding members (Cosmic Man, Lightning Man and Saturn Woman).

In this issue, we see the Legion trying to to get the Kryptonite back from the Anti-Superman Army and the scientist who are in a hollow lead pellet inside Superman's brain! (Now that sounds insane)

Readers also get a look at some of Superman's childhood memories which are unlocked when Saturn Woman accesses his memory in order to search for the hollow lead pellet.

The issue introduces some crazy yet awesome sci-fi stuff and all the genius stuff that Morrison is known for, while the art by Andy Kubert is just stunning.

SCORE: 10/10 

This week in comics: What's New :

Lord of the Jungle #1

Writer : Arvid Nelson

Artist : Roberto Castro

Review : Anubhav Das Gupta

I thought I’d give some #1’s a try this week. So, here goes.

I love Tarzan. Everyone does. But only a few have actually read Edgar Rice Burroughs’ amazing novels. And these novels, they are very different from any of the movies or the TV shows. The comicbooks, however, were always pretty close to the source material.  And this one stays close too.

Lord of the Jungle, infact, stays very close to the book. It’s primarily a comicbook adaptation of the first chapter of the book. But is it a good adaptation? 

Week In Review 09.01.2012 : New Comics Mega-post!

Week-In-Review time folks!!
This week it's Animal Man #5 + Batwing #5 + Vampirella vs. Dracula #1 + Witchblade #151 + Avengers Annual #1 + Fatale #1 + The Lil' Depressed Boy #8!


This week three of the team have gotten together to give you one HUGE mega-review post, bringing you the best, brightest and most popular comics out this week!

Anupam's Reviews

Animal Man #5

Story: Jeff Lamire

Art: Travel Foreman

Writer Jeff Lemire's bought one of the under dogs of DC and turned him into a full on horror filled (new) Animal Man! Be it horror,superhero or simply comic book fans, this one shouldn't be a miss. Plus the visuals really set the book apart and puts it in the way too (horribly) dreadful category!

SCORE : 9.5/10

Batwing #5 (featuring a special appearance by Batman!)

Story: Judd Winick

Art: Ben Oliver

I would call this more of a character development story rather than a 'story' I would wanna see in a comic. The art overall gives a very realistic feel, which matches the story perfectly.

And don't get fooled by Bats's special appearance, practically there was no need of him to be there at all! Probably an idea by writer or editorial team to include him in order to raise the sells.

SCORE : 7/10

REVIEW! Game of Thrones comics and more!

George R.R. Martins Hedge Knight

Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to all you patrons of the improbable, the surreal and the fantastical!

Today for your pleasure I bring a little-known treat for most and one I think is most appropriate now more then any time before.

The new comics variants!!

By now almost all of you will be familiar - either completely or at least in passing - with the phenomenon that is "Game of Thrones", the TV series adaptation of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series of books by the amazing George R.R. Martin. We've all gaped in awe, shock and horror as we watched the beginnings of the deadly drama that would set the kingdoms of Westeros to the sword - the noble Houses of Stark, Baratheon, Targaryen and all the others that I'm sure you are remembering vivildy in full gory detail right now! And of course Khal Droga and his Dothraki, not to be forgotten!
Marvelous is it not? And not only was the show such a runaway success that they confirmed a second season after just ONE episode aired, but its become bigger still - recently there was an announcement for a Game of Thrones video game for which we saw the trailer at the E3 2011 event. And on top of that we have the recently released comic adaptation of the books themselves with some pretty awesome cover art by the legendary Alex Ross! (Oh and I have to be an arse here but can't help myself - I got a copy of #1!! Mine, all mine!! muahahahah!)

Anyway, with all this and the next season underway and soon to be back to the screen - anticipated with pounding heart by anyone and everyone who saw the stunning season finale - I decided to bring in a little something extra, something that got forgotten in the shadow of this mammoth saga, one that Martin is still writing to finish!

So without further adieu, I bring you George R.R. Martin's Hedge Knight! Produced years ago by the Image Comics and the now defunct Devil's Due Publishing, this was an adaptation of one of the stories from the Tales of Dunk and Egg, a series of short tales - novellas if you will - that take place in Westeros' past. More specifically these tales are set quite some time before the Song of Ice and Fire and in fact even before the rebellion of King Robert that we know about from these stories. In fact it is set a hundred or so years earlier in a more idyllic time when the vaunted and feared House Targaryen still rules supreme - the blood of the Dragon still on the Iron Throne!