Chris Woo — 胡仲平

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Action Double Feature: Romance Special Edition — Valentine’s Day may have been a couple of weeks ago, but I didn’t have a chance to read this new addition to the double feature lineup until this afternoon.  Although modern comics has relegated romance comics to the indie stacks, they used to be a successful genre of the business, pioneered by comics giants Jack Kirby and Joe Simon.  Although DoubleFeature is marketing this as a special, I honestly hope that Four Star Studios decides to expand their lineup to include something like this, if only to help expand the population of comics readers.  After all, not all comics should be about superheroes. In Other Words — Written by J. , Art by Doc Shaner.  I am a huge fan of Doc Shaner, who is second only to Darwyn Cooke when it comes to period drawing.  Set in 1967, we have a black man and a white woman talking and drinking at a wedding reception.  She’s a bridesmaid and he claims to be the bartender.  They flirt a little, touching on but never acknowledging the race issue.  It’s a good story and there’s a neat little twist at the end. It’s probably my favorite of the two stories included in this issue, but then again I’m a sucker for nostalgia. Two Wheels, Two Feet — Written by Jamie S. Rich, Art by Megan Levens.  This story is something like the opposite of “In Other Words;” it’s about the breakup of a relationship, it’s set in the modern day, and there’s relatively little character interaction.  Most of the story takes place in the protagonist’s head, as he reminisces about a failing relationship.  There’s an interesting story hook with graffiti on a sidewalk explaining the situation, but it’s relatively difficult to describe so read it yourself.To be brutally honest, I didn’t like this story the first time through.  For one thing, shifting around in time made clarity a little difficult.  For another, the graffiti hook seemed a little implausible.  However, on a second read, I liked it a little more — especially after reading in the commentary that the graffiti actually existed on a bridge and that’s where the creative genesis for the story came from.  Oddly enough, I was willing to give the story more credibility once I saw that. As always, Double Feature provides an enjoyable read for an extremely affordable price ($0.99).  Also, the commentaries and special features remain one of the best selling points of the app.  Definitely pick this up if you haven’t already.  If you don’t have an iPad, then you can still pick up the .pdf version for the same low $0.99 price.

Action Double Feature: Romance Special Edition — Valentine’s Day may have been a couple of weeks ago, but I didn’t have a chance to read this new addition to the double feature lineup until this afternoon.  Although modern comics has relegated romance comics to the indie stacks, they used to be a successful genre of the business, pioneered by comics giants Jack Kirby and Joe Simon.  Although DoubleFeature is marketing this as a special, I honestly hope that Four Star Studios decides to expand their lineup to include something like this, if only to help expand the population of comics readers.  After all, not all comics should be about superheroes.

  1. In Other Words — Written by J. , Art by Doc Shaner.  I am a huge fan of Doc Shaner, who is second only to Darwyn Cooke when it comes to period drawing.  Set in 1967, we have a black man and a white woman talking and drinking at a wedding reception.  She’s a bridesmaid and he claims to be the bartender.  They flirt a little, touching on but never acknowledging the race issue.  It’s a good story and there’s a neat little twist at the end. It’s probably my favorite of the two stories included in this issue, but then again I’m a sucker for nostalgia.
  2. Two Wheels, Two Feet — Written by Jamie S. Rich, Art by Megan Levens.  This story is something like the opposite of “In Other Words;” it’s about the breakup of a relationship, it’s set in the modern day, and there’s relatively little character interaction.  Most of the story takes place in the protagonist’s head, as he reminisces about a failing relationship.  There’s an interesting story hook with graffiti on a sidewalk explaining the situation, but it’s relatively difficult to describe so read it yourself.

    To be brutally honest, I didn’t like this story the first time through.  For one thing, shifting around in time made clarity a little difficult.  For another, the graffiti hook seemed a little implausible.  However, on a second read, I liked it a little more — especially after reading in the commentary that the graffiti actually existed on a bridge and that’s where the creative genesis for the story came from.  Oddly enough, I was willing to give the story more credibility once I saw that.

As always, Double Feature provides an enjoyable read for an extremely affordable price ($0.99).  Also, the commentaries and special features remain one of the best selling points of the app.  Definitely pick this up if you haven’t already.  If you don’t have an iPad, then you can still pick up the .pdf version for the same low $0.99 price.

Filed under DoubleFeature Four Star Studios comics iPad reviews

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Action Double Feature #3 — I haven’t done one of these reviews of a Double Feature issue before, but I had to for the most recent issue that I just read.  I’ve explained the concept here, so check that out first before reading any further in the review.  This issue of Action had something of a pulp hero theme with two strong female leads.  Here are the two stories in this issue: Athena Voltaire & The Wings of Death — This wonderful little gem, started its life as a webcomic.  This story is completely original for Double Feature app and does include a few retcons.  However it’s still a rather fun time.  The basic premise is that Athena Voltaire (and sidekick Agent Forsyth) are captured by the villainous pirate-turned-witch-doctor Khir bin Khalid.  The commentary by creator Steve Bryant is pretty hilarious as he explains his creative process. Amelia Earhart: Jungle Princess — Using the real life Amelia Earhart as a starting point, James Asmus has created a throwback to the 30s “Jungle Girl” serials and pulp stories.  What makes this so much better is the fact that Amelia Earhart was pretty badass in her own right, and we do see that here in spades.  It’s probably my favorite story of the two, both in terms of art and writing.  I’m really looking forward to any sequel to the story.

Action Double Feature #3 — I haven’t done one of these reviews of a Double Feature issue before, but I had to for the most recent issue that I just read.  I’ve explained the concept here, so check that out first before reading any further in the review.  This issue of Action had something of a pulp hero theme with two strong female leads.  Here are the two stories in this issue:

  1. Athena Voltaire & The Wings of Death — This wonderful little gem, started its life as a webcomic.  This story is completely original for Double Feature app and does include a few retcons.  However it’s still a rather fun time.  The basic premise is that Athena Voltaire (and sidekick Agent Forsyth) are captured by the villainous pirate-turned-witch-doctor Khir bin Khalid.  The commentary by creator Steve Bryant is pretty hilarious as he explains his creative process.
  2. Amelia Earhart: Jungle Princess — Using the real life Amelia Earhart as a starting point, James Asmus has created a throwback to the 30s “Jungle Girl” serials and pulp stories.  What makes this so much better is the fact that Amelia Earhart was pretty badass in her own right, and we do see that here in spades.  It’s probably my favorite story of the two, both in terms of art and writing.  I’m really looking forward to any sequel to the story.

Filed under DoubleFeature Four Star Studios comics iPad reviews

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Here’s the Plan:

It’s been something like three quarters of a year since I last worked on some comics binding projects.  I have suddenly realized I have enough time this summer to really crank out a bunch of projects.  One of the big problems that I’ve been having lately is trying to figure out a new bindery ever since my previous one stopped doing covers.  I’ve found one, but I need to see how the process works with them.  Here’s the breakdown of what I plan to be doing in the next few weeks:

  • Garth Ennis’ Battlefields v. 1 & 2
  • Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne & Batman: The Road Home
  • The Complete Brightest Day

And when Flashpoint finishes up, I’ll be binding that too of course.  Brightest Day is going to take forever, by the way, because I’m trying to figure out if or where I’m missing issues.  I have a feeling there’s a couple of Titans issues that needs to get tracked down.  Also, because the new bindery can put more issues in a single volume, my terrible idea — though amazing in its own strange, expensive way — will probably not happen.  It looks like it’ll end up being a four-volume set.

Filed under comic book binding comics binding

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An iPad App Review: DoubleFeature Comics

So this app has been featured heavily in two podcasts I listen to (Around Comics #279 and 11 O’Clock Comics #156), and I figured I’d do a review.  It’s a digital comics app for the iPad (no Android yet), which releases a two-story, sixteen page issue each month.  This will not be quick in any way, shape, or form, so I’ll give a quick breakdown and then go in-depth to features I really like.

Pros:

  • Incredibly affordable ($0.99 for 16 pages of content + extra pages)
  • Easy navigation
  • Creator commentary
  • Each page has pencils/layouts, inks, colors (without word balloons), and the final page. 

Cons:

  • Lacks a zoom functionality
  • One-sided commentaries

The ‘Pros’ easily outweigh the ‘Cons’ especially given the nit-picky nature of the Cons.  I definitely feel like this app is the way other companies should be going, both in terms of issue pricing and content organization.  A more in-depth review (with a metric butt load of screenshots) is featured after the break, so hold on to your hats.  It’s going to get interesting.

Read more …

Filed under iPad comics digital comics DoubleFeature Four Star Studios Tim Seeley Mike Norton Jack Kraken The Answer

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OH NO. MY COMICS BINDER ISN’T DOING GLUE-BOUND HARDCOVERS ANY MORE!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Filed under comics binding I'm sad

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Yeah…it’s always fun when the LCS has a 20% off trades sale.  Just to let everyone know what I got: A metric shit-ton of Justice Society of America (featuring my favorite characters Starman, Stargirl, Cyclone, and Black Adam!): The Next Age, Thy Kindom Come I, II, & III, and Black Adam and Isis. Basically the recent Johns run of Justice Society. I’m missing the lightning saga unfortunately… Walking Dead HC #5 The classic Green Lantern/Green Arrow v. 1 from Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams. And some issues from this week and last. Justice Society of America #43, Machete #0, Unwritten #17 (CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE! AWESOME!!!) Batman Beyond #4, Green Arrow 34, and Action Comics #893 (CHLOE FUCKING SULLIVAN!)

Yeah…it’s always fun when the LCS has a 20% off trades sale.  Just to let everyone know what I got:

  • A metric shit-ton of Justice Society of America (featuring my favorite characters Starman, Stargirl, Cyclone, and Black Adam!): The Next Age, Thy Kindom Come I, II, & III, and Black Adam and Isis. Basically the recent Johns run of Justice Society. I’m missing the lightning saga unfortunately…
  • Walking Dead HC #5
  • The classic Green Lantern/Green Arrow v. 1 from Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams.
  • And some issues from this week and last. Justice Society of America #43, Machete #0, Unwritten #17 (CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE! AWESOME!!!) Batman Beyond #4, Green Arrow 34, and Action Comics #893 (CHLOE FUCKING SULLIVAN!)

Filed under comics haul