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.

Marvel NOW ! What's coming your way..

With the release of Uncanny Avengers #1 this week Marvel NOW is officially here. To help you fine folks to keep tab on the relaunches ( "Refresh " as Marvel would have us say) we at comic addicts have  prepared a handy list of Marvel Now titles coming your way in next few months..

Marvel NOW Montage

Which NOW series are you most excited for , sound us off below..

Review : I Am Kalki - The Red Book

Vimanika comics newest offering I am Kalki: The Red Book maintains the quality standards Vimanika has set itself in the Indian comic book industry.

Every religion has a worldview on how the world will end.  For Indian Mythology this concept is rooted in Kalki . As per the Indian folklores, During the end of the world another avatar of Vishnu will arrive to fight demons and cleanse the world from evil . That avatar would be called KALKI.

Vimanika comics takes this concept of Kalki and puts their own unique spin on it, which is how mythology comics should be done. We have all seen mythology comics being done before in India, I mean  Amar Chitra Katha is prime example of mythology tales done right.

But now Indian audience wants more out of their mythology tales and our comic companies seem ready to quench the reader thirst for such comics. 

Remembering Ian Abercrombie

Ian Abercrombie may not be a name that you recognize. You may recognize the face, but are having a hard time to really place him. Ian Abercrombie is a character actor. He's known mostly for playing butlers such as in 'Jurassic Park The Lost World' or 'Garfield a Tale of Two Kitties'. If you were ever a fan of the show 'Seinfeld' he was Elaine's boss.

So why are we here at Comic Addicts paying tribute to a butler? Ian Ambercombie made two great contributions to geek culture. Actually he's made about four or more, but there are two that truly stand out. Having said that, we'll tell you what those contributions were.

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? 

COMIC ADDICTS VS BOOK WORMS : An Unfair Fight

EPISODE 1: The addicts strike back

This war has been going on since ages from the day the first comic got printed. Through the years it has become fiercer than epic rivalries like Ram vs Ravan, Moses vs Ramsis, the Corleones vs the 5 families, Marvel vs Capcom, DC vs Marvel, Star Wars vs Star Trek etc. In fact in its comparison the war between the titans and the Olympians almost looks like children performing a sort of a role play.  They (the bookworms) think of us as kids who will be perpetually be kids while we (the comic addicts) know that bookworms are nothing but pseudo-intellectual posers just jealous of the kind of culture we have.  Thus to settle this for once and for all we have in the blue corner the comic addicts and in the red corner the bookworms, let the slaughter fest begin.

Comfort in Comics: 100 BULLETS

I haven't written anything for 3 months. By written I mean, I haven't written any comic book scripts, nor have I drawn anything. When that happens I usually escape into sci-fi and fantasy based stories. Reading or watching something that has nothing to do with reality always seems to bring me out of the depths that I end up digging for myself.

   So, I did a lot of reading and watching. Being in the dark mode I was in, I picked and ruffled through the pile of graphic novels I have and then got hold of the complete trade paperbacks of 100 Bullets. Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso's tour de force is a classic crime series. The high concept is thus : A man with a suitcase filled with 100 untraceable bullets would offer you a chance to use it for whichever purposes you wish. What would you do if you were afforded such an opportunity?

Armageddon Expo 2011 (Auckland, New Zealand)

Myself and my awesome helper Renee

Again awesome Renee here with my other awesome helper fellow comic book creator, Susan Rugg.

I had been planning to launch our Online Comic Store at the Expo, which has been running now for a number of years. I had placed it in the top priority slot as its the biggest in Australasia. Numbers can usually vary around 18,000 and up - but this year it crossed 40,000!

This year was the third time I had attended but the first time I was there as a retailer myself. Being a retailer you get to see the amount of work that goes into putting in a such a huge effort into the smooth running of the events. I had a couple of very amazing young ladies help me out over the three days that we were there. The event itself was four days long. But I realised on Day 2 that it wouldn't be possible for me to stay the fourth day, so by the end of Day 3 we had packed up and left the venue, elated with the turnout and the response to us being there.

Comic Addicts Presents: The First Indian "Minicon"

If you have been following our social media platforms ( Facebook/Twitter) then you are already aware of the minicon. If you aren't , before proceeding to tell you all about it , let me ask... Why aren't you with us on our social media? See the link on the right there ... yep , the facebook page pluggin, click and join us!

Now, self promotion done. Lets talk about our little project that we call "Minicon" .

Abstract Comics? An interview with NZ artist Draw.

Still ness #01

As a comic fan and creator I stay within the safe confines of what a comic book or comic book page is "supposed" to look like. We have the panels and then the speech bubbles and text. But New Zealand comic creator, Draw has taken a different view of what a comic book page should or could be. 

Because its something new and fresh, I had been meaning to discuss Draw's comics and so it was interesting that he approached me when I asked for submissions from New Zealand Comic Creators on the Facebook site.

COMIC ADDICTS: Tell us a bit about yourself, as most of our readers wouldn't know
who Draw is.

DRAW: Draw is my pen name; I've been making comics since the early 1990s. I
live in the North Island of New Zealand. I try to spend as much time as
I can making comics. Some influences and inspiration: Blakes 7; Harry 
Clarke; Guido Crepax; Arthur L. Guptill; The Dead C; Chris Foss; Charles
Dana Gibson; Jandek; Pre-Raphaelites; Dick Whyte; Lebbeus Woods; and 
Jean Rollin.

Coast City Comic Con; I Love It When A Comic Con Comes Together

We geeks certainly love a good comic con. The vendors, the guests, the artists, the events, and of course being able to congregate with fellow comic enthusiasts. Have you ever wondered what goes into putting on a comic show? Well we here at Comic Addicts had a chat with Tristan Gallagher and Ross Kearney at Coast City Comics (CCC) in Portland, Maine about what went into their comic con happening next week starting November 11.

A little background on CCC: Coast City Comics is located on Congress Street right in the business district of Portland. They are actually two shops in one. They also have Monster Fun Box Emporium which sells unique t-shirts that they make themselves, retro video games, and most importantly, toys that will bring you back to your childhood. Of course also being a comic shop the have the latest figures, hero clix, and other comic merchandise as well as the latest issues of the weekly comics.

(Ross Kearney [left] & Tristan Gallagher [right])

EVENT REVIEW : FEAR ITSELF

“There is nothing to fear but Fear Itself”

5 QUESTIONS with Graphic Novelist Dylan Horrocks

5 QUESTIONS is were I ask 5 questions of New Zealand Comic Book Creators, Writers and Artists. 

This week I asked DYLAN HORROCKS the questions. DYLAN lives 
 and works in Auckland, NZ. He teaches Art at Auckland University of Technology and advises on Comic Writing at Auckland University. His '10 issues of his comic book Pickle were published by Black Eye (1992-97) and his graphic novel Hicksville was published in 1998, also by Black Eye.  Hicksville has since been reprinted by Drawn & Quarterly and has been translated into French, Italian and Spanish'. Hicksville was Nominated for two Ignatz Awards (best graphic novel and best art) and one Harvey Award (best reprint collection). Winner of two Goodies Awards (best graphic novel and best writer).  Named a Comics Journal 'book of the year.'  

5IVE QUESTIONS with Graphic Novelist & Illustrator ANT SANG

5IVE QUESTIONS 

This new segment dear readers, is where I ask five questions of New Zealand Comic Book Creators, Writers and Artists to find what makes them tick.

This week I asked ANT SANG the questions. Ant lives and works in Auckland, NZ, He is an award-winning cartoonist and amongst his comic works is a series called, Dharma Punks and recently had his graphic novel, Shaolin Burning published ny HarperCollins New Zealand. Ant is well known in the New Zealand comic scene. And due to his creative work on the Bro'town TV Series, he has stamped his place in NZ Moving Images scene as well. 

C.C.E.MUMBAI Cometh!!!

It was some seven months ago I found myself roaming through New Delhi's “Dilli Haat”, dressed as a cheap homemade version of Batman with a paunch, along with my little brother who was a much more convincing Wolverine. Some people were even staring at us as if we were recently let loose from an asylum and were being allowed to mingle with the general public!

Most of the stares openly showed their displeasure at this freedom being given to delinquents like us, but did we care? At that point in time we wouldn’t have cared if the public had started stoning us or even if the cops locked us up.

We were on our way to The Indian Comic-Con!!!

India’s FIRST ever Comic Convention!!!

This was something I had dreamt about for several years but had expected it to turn into reality in at least my lifetime! But hey, what do we know? Dreams have a almost nasty habit of being realized overnight, when you least expect it!

Something magical had happened a few months ago. Facebook had informed us that there was a plan for a potential Comic-Con in Delhi. The word was enough to get me interested and I started following it up. Joined the page, asked the questions, responded to each post, argued, gossiped and spread the word, forced people to join, made them aware and pretty much everything I could think of doing – short of walking on the roads with a biggammajammi banner over my head! And I’d have done that too, but just didn’t think about making/finding a banner soon enough.

Review: SHAOLIN BURNING graphic novel by Ant Sang

ANT SANG lives and works in Auckland, NZ. He is an award-winning cartoonist and amongst his comic works is a series called Dharma Punks and he recently had his graphic novel, Shaolin Burning, published by HarperCollins, New Zealand. Ant is well known in the New Zealand comic scene. And due to his creative work on the Bro'town TV Series, he has stamped his place in the NZ Moving Images scene as well. 

Crowdfunding: The Circle Graphic Novel

Crowdfunding is when a whole bunch of people you know and most likely don't know, have an opportunity to support your project. Whatever the project might be. From a short film to a tuition fee to get you to a special course to further your skills, to getting a new computer application off the ground.

Recently there has been a huge variety of websites across the West doing really great things for Creators and Artists as well as for amateurs.  So, I decided to give it a go to see if I could get support to get my graphic novel printed.

(Click on here for my project on Pozible.)

Having tried to get onto the US Kickstarter website, after the initial acceptance of my project, I found out I had to live in the United States or have a US bank account to qualify. So, when I heard about the Australian site, Pozible.com which is a bit closer to myself here, in New Zealand, I decided to have a go.

Will the real Captain America please stand up?

Jack Kirby (& heirs) Vs. Marvel Comics

Yes, I am going there. But for all the right reasons. For a little while now, a court case has been under way to get back the rights or at least get royalties from Marvel Comics for the late Jack 'King' Kirby and his heirs from the 100s of millions made from creations which without Kirby would not exist, such as Hulk, Fantastic Four, and oh, that money spinner, X-Men. Every comic fan/reader must know about Kirby for it goes without saying, that he is as important to American/Western comics as Leonardo Da Vinci is to modern art and as Anant Pai was to Indian comics.

A Hell(Blazer) of a week.

I have been reading comics as mentioned the other week for close to 30yrs. And a small portion of that time I have spent a small fortune buying, selling and re-collecting, after my first collection was burnt in a fire. Amongst those were the Uncanny X-men run from #180-295. Some of the greatest X-Men stories told were written during those years. But I am digressing. Anyway, I restarting collecting 10yrs ago and haven't stopped since. As well as you know writing and creating my own. 

Hellblazer Pandemonium Jami Delano is a Must Read.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon Review

Alright, so this exactly new news, but late is better than never right? So here it is, a review of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Besides, think of it as a nice break in all of this Harry Potter madness.

So lets start with the obvious; Megan Fox isn't in it. So how does her replacement Rosie Huntington-Whiteley do? Well in the first half of the movie she does well; however, once the action really kicks in she seems very lost. Perhaps she would do well in romantic comedies, but Ms. Huntington-Whiteley should refrain from action films. Overall though, very attractive and the accent is also nice, but when it all hits the fan she really doesn't have much of an effect at all.