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Webcomic Wednesday – The Fox Sister

March 13, 2013 by

Hello and welcome to Webcomic Wednesday! Each week I take a look at a webcomic and let you know what I think about it. This week I’m taking a look at a Korean supernatural thriller courtesy of Christina Strain and Jayd Aït-Kaci: The Fox Sister

foxster

The Fox Sister, set in Korea, is probably one of the most impressive looking webcomics I have seen. It’s a beautifully crafted tale of revenge – which in itself is rather contradictory, but Jayd Aït-Kaci’s art is absolutely stunning. Even the more sinister parts of the tale look fantastic, with Jayd Aït-Kaci’s work invoking that of water colour paintings. I cannot recommend it enough on art alone.

Thankfully Christina Strain’s tale is fantastic as well. Following Cho Yun-Hee as she takes revenge for her sister against a Kumiho – a fox demon that takes the form of a woman before it kills- who has taken her sisters form. It’s a take on Korean myth mixed into a classic thriller as Yun-Hee’s mission of revenge teeters on obsession.

It’s not all doom and gloom in Yun-Hee’s world though as the supporting cast of the story produce much needed levity in the form of her dog Soot Bull, and the new American man in town Alex. Both of these- especially Soot Bull- are well realised and contrast Yun-Hee’s often dark personality, elevating The Fox Sister to depths way beyond a horror comic.

The Fox Sister is updated every Thursday. It’s midway through Chapter 3 and you should definitely check it out here

Have any webcomics you want me to check out? Let me know on my twitter @Pipes815, or send me a message via our contact form.

 

Filed Under: Webcomics Tagged With:

Sunday Snippets Issue 3

March 10, 2013 by

sunday-snippets

A regular roundup of interesting bits and pieces from the comic industry worldwide. If you’ve got an event or other piece of news to share, please drop us a line! You can view previous issues right here.

International Women’s Day has just passed and CBR has a great interview with comics veterans Louise Simonson and Ann Nocenti. Also check out this impressive collector’s setup.

Yes, One Direction have a comic book out.

The acrimony over the Sullivan’s Sluggers project on Kickstarter has ended in a pretty sad way.

Here’s an interesting overview of the controversy surrounding Orson Scott Card writing  a Superman run

CNET have a good review of the iOS version of the Marvel Unlimited App which allows you to read more than 13,000 Marvel comics on your iPad or iPhone for around $5 a month (as a special current offer) – an Android version is coming soon apparently.

 

Filed Under: Industry News

Review: Myth #1 – Loniewski / Lauer / Dollman

March 9, 2013 by

myth-issue1I love a good win-win situation. The comics industry has a long history of releasing issues to raise money for good causes- sometimes the quality of those comics can suffer due to the subject content, but a lot of people buy them anyway to help out. Then there are the comics that address the issue of concern whilst also maintaining great quality and standing on its merits as a comic book. Issue 1 of Myth is such a comic.

Published by Alterna Comics, Myth is an engaging tale of a small boy living in a badly run children’s home, who regularly goes AWOL and on one such escape comes across a silent giant who helps him out of a difficult situation. From there, the real adventure begins.

Written by Mike Loniewski, with Dan Lauer on art duties and lettering by E.T. Dollman, this is a simple but absorbing story. Lauer does some great work in black and white here and the story and art, although not stylistically similar, screamed the innocence and expansiveness of Bone. It subtly looks at issues of child neglect without bogging the story down in turgid introspection from its lead character. This is a quest story pure and simple, and it’s delivered extremely well.

All proceeds (the comic is initially free as a preview) from the comic go toward Childhelp.org, with whom the creators have partnered. It’s a 3-issue mini-series, with issues 2 and 3 slated for May and July. The comic has a Twitter account if you want to keep up on progress.

Here’s a teaser video of what you get in issue #1:

So there you have it: do some good and get a great story to read to boot.

You can get Myth #1 from Comixology for free on March 13th. And i think like me you’ll be interested in coming back for issues 2 and 3.

Score: 8.5/10

Filed Under: Independents, Review Tagged With: ,

Webcomic Wednesday: Broodhollow

March 6, 2013 by

Hello and welcome to Webcomic Wednesday! Each week I take a look at a webcomic and let you know what I think about it. This week I’m checking out another horror comic courtesy of Kris Straub: Broodhollow

Broodhollow

Broodhollow is the story of Wadsworth Zane, a highly superstitious, encyclopedia salesman who receives a letter informing him that a distant relative of his has passed away. When he finally reaches the town of Broodhollow, he  starts to succumb to a series of weird occurrences; dreams, visions and hallucinations that lead him to believe that something a bit more sinister is going on in this sleepy town.

Broodhollow draws influences from Lovecraftian horror, with a bit of Twin Peaks mixed in. It has an eccentric cast of characters, each with their own quirks and personality that help to set the tone of the story. Its Lovecraft influences come from the horror, drawing from the human mind as opposed to real life monsters. The constant question of Zane’s sanity, combined with scepticism from his psychoanalyst creates an interesting back and forth for the reader.

Kris Straub’s art style is also a nice touch. The day to day dealings of Wadsworth Zane are cartoony and simple, but not in a bad way – it sets the tone for his daily life, where his interactions are quite unique. When the comic delves into horror, the art style changes to a darker tone that incorporates more detail. It’s not different enough to pull the reader out of the comic, but it’s enough to notice that the events in the horrific parts may not be part of Zane’s world. It’s a subtle way of pointing out that these events may not actually be happening.

You can check out Broodhollow here. It’s an ongoing comic so you should give it a shot. It’s well worth a read.

Have any webcomics you want me to check out? Let me know on my twitter @Pipes815, or send me a message via our contact form.

Filed Under: Webcomics Tagged With:

Hoodlum #1 Review – Hilary Goldstein & John Toledo

March 5, 2013 by

hoodlumMost indie comics I have read in the past few years try to start small, with small casts and simple settings. I’m not talking about the large indie titles like Saga or Nowhere Men, but the smaller ones that slip under the radar like Rachel Rising. Hoodlum #1 takes one look at the more traditional indie titles that play it safe and decides to go in the other direction. Hilary Goldstein and John Toledo cultivate an ambitious start to a unique series, which despite sometimes feeling overwhelming in parts, is a great start for a new writer.

Hoodlum is the story of Riley Brennan AKA Hoodlum, a young thief living in a world where a demonic race runs the government, and look down upon the humans as a lesser race. She’s a regular Robin Hood-like character, stealing from the fascist demon overlords and giving back to her own community. The world is one part magical and one part steam-punk with a bit of high school drama briefly thrown in, and it is very unique. Goldstein manages to set up Hoodlum‘s world and first arc quickly, which at first glance is dense, but it is refreshing for the story to be getting right at it.

Characters throw around slang and colloquial sayings that at first are overwhelming, but once you get into the groove of things it feels natural, as the dialogue ends up being top notch when you finally get used to it.

Toledo’s art is impressive and has an amazing amount of detail in every panel, from character expressions to the environments themselves. While detailed, it can be a bit confusing at times, with so much detail making it hard to distinguish items in the environment, making me believe that the art would have benefited from a colourist or thinner lines. That said, Toledo still manages to impress.

Hoodlum#1 is a fantastic start for a new indie team. While at times it seems that the creative team may be biting off a bit more than they can chew, it’s still an impressive first outing for Goldstein and Toledo, and makes me interested in what is to come.

Score: 7.5/10

Filed Under: Independents, Review Tagged With:

Sunday Snippets Issue 2

March 3, 2013 by

sunday-snippets

A regular roundup of interesting bits and pieces from the comic industry worldwide. If you’ve got an event or other piece of news to share, please drop us a line! You can view previous issues right here.

Digital Spy has a great roundup on superhero movies that never made it to the screen.

Superhero comics aren’t renowned for their ability to stick to one continuity. Here’s a nice summary of the stupidest examples of characters being bought back from the dead.

Some previously unpublished Tarzan stories are set to be published in a graphic novel.

The Huffington Post has an article called ‘The 11 Most Controversial Comic Books‘ and although it has some inaccuracies based on a number of comments on the article,  it’s still worth a look.

Filed Under: Industry News, Opinion Tagged With:

Chewby Chewby Doo

March 2, 2013 by

A quick piece of humour for you on a Saturday:

Chewby Doo

[via The Comics Shop]

Filed Under: Humour Tagged With:

Oz Comic-Con Year 2: Onwards and Upwards

March 2, 2013 by

ozcomicconIt’s only a week or so until 2013’s series of Oz Comic-Cons commence. I attended last year’s Melbourne show and personally had a good time, but there were some fairly significant organisational issues (here’s a piece I wrote last year for Bleeding Cool on it). More on that later, including a response from the organisers, but first the dates for this year’s Oz Comic-Cons:

Perth: 9-10th March at Perth Exhibition Centre

Adelaide: 16-17th March at Adelaide Showgrounds

Melbourne: 6-7th July at Royal Exhibition Building

The guest list for each city from a comics viewpoint has some good variety. And at least with Stan Lee not attending this year there shouldn’t be quite the frenzy we saw last year on the comics side of things – more time not in lines to check out the work of local creators.

Because of the issues from 2012’s event, I contacted the team behind Oz Comic-Con and asked them what arrangements were in place to ensure there isn’t a repeat. Their response:

We’re not trying to make excuses regarding this matter, as we did underestimate just how many people would want to come to the event. However, the venue controlled how attendees were admitted to the event on the day and chose not to put a priority on pre-purchased ticket holders.

However, attendees that claimed they were not able to gain entry, were not happy to wait until doors re-opened. When doors to the event did re-open, everyone was granted access. This year we’re ensuring that there will be more room for attendees at all of our events. And with regards to pre-purchased tickets specifically, we will be ensuring that attendees with pre-purchased ticket will be prioritised for entry at the event.

So there you have it – it certainly seems that this year’s event is going to be bigger and better than last year’s. Will you be going?

Filed Under: Events, Industry News
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