Week In Review : Cyber Force #1 + DC Universe Presents #13 + G.I.Joe:Snake Eyes #18

Another new week and more new comics! Welcome back and here's our picks of the weeks from amongst the flood, enjoy!- Editor

Cyber Force #1 (Image/Top Cow)

Story : Marc Silvestri & Matt Hawkins

Art : Khoi Pham

(Reviewed by Akshay Dhar)

It's interesting to see the relaunch of Cyber Force in the wake of all the other Top Cow Universe titles being given the revamp after all the madness over in Darkness, Witchblade and Artifacts.

I've been a big fan of most of the Top Cow books for a long time, but somehow Cyber Force never quite caught on as much – I keep meaning to sit down and reread the lot properly or some such, but never gotten around to it and now I'm glad!

This new volume of creator (and Top Cow founder) Silvestri's flagship team-book actually is off to a very promising start.

THE GOOD in all this is that we've got an intriguing new storyline that I think would be fun regardless of whether or not you've ever read the series before – creating a dystopic new future for us all that carries echoes of concerns we all have about the future of our world and society and throwing in a healthy amount of intrigue, mystery, twists, action and concepts. By the end I was very much wanting

C2E2: New Comic News!!

Good day one and all!

Apologies for a hectic week and not enough comic-y goodness for all of you (largely my fault, but I blame the IPL and various other things for our shortcomings!) but we intend to make up for it and then some in the days to come!

For those of you who follow this stuff, there's a HUGE load of comic news that came out during the recent Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, popularly known as C2E2 amongst fans. I've been keeping an eye on their news and announcements and have for you here a sumptuous feast of some of the most choice and tender treats to tickle your taste buds!

This post is a special recap where I've tried to put together as much of the news as possible for your geeking-out pleasure (in alphabetical order for general ease of use!).

So let's just get to it shall we?

To kick things off, from the strange and frighteningly awesome Avatar offices:

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Michael DiPascale’s new project announced at C2E2 is Hero Worship which will premier in July. Keith says that Avatar Press rarely does superhero comics, noting the exceptions by Warren Ellis, and Christos Gage, saying they don’t do them unless there’s something unique about them. He then describes Hero Worship a bit, telling us Zak Penn will be writing, and it’s a six issue miniseries and is about society’s worship of superheroes and how that can be used to screw the system. The main characters are Adam and Zenith. Adam is a normal boy and Zenith is a Superman-style superhero. Adam is Zenith’s biggest fan, and the book is not really about him, so much as the world around him.

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

Witchblade: The Indian connection (Part 2)

We revealed a pin up of Witchblade  by Abhishek Malsuni and Shashank Mishra for Witchblade annual here

Now we reveal another Witchblade pin up by Shashank Mishra for the same annual. Please click on the image to see this fine piece of art in all its glory.

 

 I really like the concept of this art piece. As we can see, Witchblade is drawn here as vanquisher of evil forces . This art is a confluence of western character and eastern sensibilities.

For me, one of the best facet of this art is the expression on the face of the Witchblade wearer and the flowing hair. She seems to be channeling a divine goddess who has just emerged victorious in a fierce battle with a demon and is still seething with anger.

If there is one fictional character that is suited for such a portrayal, it is definitely the bearer of the Witchblade.

For the uninitiated, to get a brief idea about what the Witchblade is all about , please refer to our previous post on Witchblade : here

And once again congrats to Shashank Mishra from the adventures team for this doubly whammy on Witchblade annual.

Witchblade : The Indian connection

-By Manks

Abhishek Malsuni / Shashank Mishra.. An indian artist/colorist duo have contributed to the up-coming Withcblade Annual... Here is the result of their Hardwork

Kudos to them.. Is Indian Talent finally getting recognised abroad?

For people who do not know, Witchblade is one of the Top properties of Top cow Publications ( under Image banner)... These days its being written by Ron Marz ( an industry stalwart and excellent writer).

Witchblade is a story of a police detective Sara Pezzani, who finds herself the wielder of a mystical artifact - the witchblade. The witchblade has had many wielders ( all women) throughout history and Sara is just the latest one.

The activation of witchblade causes Sara's clothes to malfunction ( as you can see in this pinup as well ), which lead to initial comics of the series using this as an excuse to showcase as much of Sara herself as legally possible ..

I can however state that Ron Marz has turned the series on its head . He has not only added depth to Sara's character but also to the mythology of Witchblade itself.  I recommend reading the following trades to catch up on some of the best stuff done on Witchblade yet!

First Born

Broken Trinity

Artifacts

The last storyline recommended ( Artifacts ) is actually running currently. The art duties for the most Part is handled by Stjepan Sejic, and let me say the art is just incredible.

Here is a look at Stjepan's handiwork:

Hope you agree.

Heartiest congratulations to Abhishek Malsuni and Shashank Mishra once again. You guys have made us proud.