Wednesday, April 29, 2015

ALL STAR COMICS MELBOURNE'S FREE COMIC BOOK DAY COMIC SELECTION 2015!





FREE COMICS!!! Hundreds and thousands of FREE COMICS. But which titles exactly will be on offer and what are the store details on the day? Well read on below and arm yourself if the greatest gift of all, KNOWLEDGE!

PLEASE NOTE: 
Judging from FCBD in the past, there most likely will be lines. Possibly a line to first get into the store, then a line once you are in the store for the comics. The day has only gotten more bigger and bigger and we will be doing our best to get you to your FREE COMICS as quickly as possible. One ways you can help is by making a list of the titles you might want to check out and hopefully it will help keep lines moving quickly on the day. Please be mindful that there could be a wait but rest assure there will be something for everyone!

FAMILY ONLY FIRST HOUR: 9AM-10AM
The idea is families with kids under 12 get the chance to get in early while the store is still somewhat more relaxed. Hopefully this we will make younger fans more comfortable, while parents can also grab some free books for themselves without needing to wait in line for ages. This also gives us the chance to get out from behind the counter and take a few more photos with folks if they are after them!

REGULAR TRADING HOURS: 10AM-5PM
After the Family Only First Hour, the store will be open for regular trading to the general public 10am-5pm.
At this time we will have representatives downstairs to let a limited amount of people into the store at once as a way to control the crowds so it makes for an easier browsing experience. Although this might create a line outside the store , we'll be doing our very best to get FREE COMICS into your hands as soon as possible.

FREE COMIC BOOK STOCK AND STORE LAYOUT:
The all ages and mature reads tables will be located on the first floor, in front of the vintage toy cabinets, while the KIDS SELECTION table will be found on the ground floor, easily accessible for families in front of the New Trades display wall.

The idea here is to make it as easy as possible for people that might be coming in especially with kids and aren’t wanting to wait around in line for too long.

The KIDS SELECTION will have the following on titles on offer:


 The All Star Kids Showbag (limit of one per family with kids under 12) which contains these 12 TITLES!


Other Kids Picks titles available are:


Since we only have a limited number of the showbags, it will only be available to families that come in on the day with kids under 12 with a limit of one showbag per family. Both kids and adults can choose a couple of titles from the second list of Kids Picks as well.





The All Ages and Mature Readers selection will have these titles to choose from:

SECRET WARS #1 (ORIGINAL)


BONUS ALL STAR FCBD SELECTION
CHEW #1 
FLASH NEW 52 #1 
GOTHAM CENTRAL #1
GREEN ARROW YEAR ONE #1
SEX CRIMINALS #1


NUMBER OF BOOKS YOU CAN PICK:
Stock levels permitting, we hope to give everyone at least the choice of 5 to 7 titles.

We strongly recommend that you have an idea of what titles you want to pick up on the day. Click the links, see what you like and write a list. Doing this we can help cut down your time in line and give you more time to look around the store and get a sketch from one of the artists we will be hosting on the day.

ALL STAR MYSTERY CHARITY BAG

As an added bonus we'll thought it might be fun to have the return of the ALL STAR MYSTERY BAG on the day. We'll have Mystery Packs containing 10 comics each (not from the FCBD comic selection), a selection of Mature readers and a selection for All Ages. The Mystery Packs will be available from the ground floor counter for the low, low price of just a GOLD COIN donation.

Best part, ALL MONEY collected from the sales of these Packs will be donated to Childrens Charity Network. CCN do fantastic work within the community, coupled with the three tiers of government (local, State and Federal), they strive to give every Australian child the opportunity to improve their reading and writing skills to reach their full potential in life. A worthy cause we are sure you'll agree.

SPECIAL NOTE: Due to some of the packs containing similar books, there is a limit of one of each type of Mystery Pack per person.

http://www.childrenscharity.com.au/programs_ACLB.html

If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask us here or look for a marked staff member on the day but most of all have a great and wonderful FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!


THE ALL STAR CREW!

Posted by All Star Comics Team at 8:10 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY ALL STAR COMICS ARTIST ALLEY 2015 at 333 COLLINS ST WALKWAY





Anyone who has been to any of our previous FREE COMIC BOOK DAY celebrations will know we love to use the day as a chance to showcase the incredible skills and talents of the local comic creating scene. We are fortunate enough to host a stellar line up of local creators, all ready to draw FREE sketches for you, while you get the chance to meet and greet the creators and perhaps sample some their wares.

Last year’s Artist Alley, hosted at 1000 Pound Bend Cafe was a massive success but having moved store location we needed a new venue to house this powerhouse line up of artists for this year's event.



Thanks to the incredible folks from 333 Collins St, this year's ALL STAR ARTIST ALLEY will be hosted at the stunning and opulent surroundings of the 333 Collins St Walkway. Entry to the Walkway can be found on either Collins St of Flinders Lane and has ramp access on both sides for ease of prams and wheelchairs. It is a beautiful space and we couldn't be more honoured to be able to present to you this stellar group of talented folks on the day!
SPECIAL UPDATE!


Hosting this incredible line up of both new and established local creators, we are trying to do our very best to spotlight and showcase the range of styles and skills in Melbourne's comic scene. We realise it's not enough to bring you talent of today but also see the importance of trying to help foster the new and upcoming talents of tomorrow's comic book storytellers. So it is a great honour for us to announce the youngest EVER artist to the All Star Artist Alley, ARIEL WALKER. Ariel (12) has been keen to get involved with this event since her mum, Lindsay Walker first joined our line up and will be appearing alongside Lindsay in the 2:30pm-4pm. We could not be more excited to give you the chance to meet her and walk away with an original piece of art from one of Melbourne's next comic booking greats!


10am-11:30am 90 minute slot

11:30am-1pm 90 minute slot 

1pm-2:30pm 90 minute slot
Andrew Zile

2:30pm-4pm 90 minute slot 
Jake Lawrence
Michael Wszelaki

SPECIAL GUEST:
Ariel Walker

4pm-5pm 60 minute slot 

That’s over 40 fantastic artists offering up their time to draw for you! 

ADDED ARTIST ALLEY BONUS! 
With a very special thanks to the wonderful people from Madman , Gestalt Comics and Milk Shadow Books, we'll again have  the Gestalt and Milk Shadow sampler book to give away! 



SPECIAL NOTES FOR ARTIST ALLEY ETIQETTE. PLEASE READ!

-Please keep in mind that when you ask for your sketch that you might need some reference for the artist to draw from, so keep those smart phones handy!

-Please to not take advantage of the artists good and generous nature when getting sketches. Obviously one or two sketches for anyone coming on the day is more than fine but please remember that the event hasn’t been created to grow your original art collection and there will most likely be others there on the day that have yet to get one sketch.

-To assist in moderating the volumes, any adult attendees of the All Star Free Comic Book Day Artist Alley will be invited to get 2 FREE sketches if they wish, any children attendees are invited to get 4 FREE sketches if they are keen. 

-Also again in the spirit of the day if you are waiting for a sketch and a younger fan is waiting behind you for one too, it would be amazing if you can let them in front of you.

It goes without saying that this again is one of the most impressive line ups of artists outside a major convention. Again a massive thank you to the lovely folks at 333 Collins Street and of course none of this would of been possible without the time and skills of all the artists involved. We can not thank this fine folk nearly enough and we hope you enjoy the day and the art they provide for you!

The ALL STAR CREW
Posted by All Star Comics Team at 3:01 PM 2 comments

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS for April 28th




Hi. How ‘bout those Avengers, eh?? Well, okay, it’s not officially released as I type this, but let’s all assume I have Kang-like time travel powers and can join in the discussion about how awesome it is...hopefully…


Quick plug: last week, The Four-Colour Trip popped up at Spook Magazine. It’s a thing I wrote about psychedelic ‘70s Marvel comics. This week’s Comic of the Week ties into that piece, as it’s an example of classic psychedelic underground comix, the flipside of mainstream American comic book publishing at that time. If that’s not enticing enough, I’m fairly certain I’m the only person to ever put quotes by Timothy Leary and Adam Warlock in the same article.



Also: The Eisner nominations have been announced! Awesome to see that Fantagraphics snagged as many as the Big Two. Huzzah for them.



Finally: The ace Book Grocer store in Brunswick is in trouble and may well close. In an attempt to hold off the death knell, they are selling everything for $5 a pop. Amongst my haul was a Will Eisner Biography and comics by Ben Katchor, Paul Hornschemeier and Wilfred Santiago. If you’re nearby, pop in. You’re bound to find something and you may well save the shop.




COMIC OF THE WEEK : INNER CITY ROMANCE BY GUY COLWELL
Published by Fantagraphics Books

In the early '70s, radicals and progressive thinkers inspired by the work of Kirby, Ditko and Lee began taking over Marvel, filling the company’s books with pop-depictions of existential angst and LSD-inspired colour bursts. At the same time, many artists of the comics underground were channeling their drug experiences as well as their social concerns into comix of humanist merit and real-world anti-authoritarianism. The work of Guy Colwell, in his Inner City Romance, is a prime example of this. 


Over five issues dating from 1972-1978, Colwell created a cast of ex-cons, hippies, tenement dwellers and acid rockers who battled racism, poverty, the greed of the rich, the reach of The Man, and the depravity of incarceration. Colwell’s heavily African-American cast, use of urban slang and sympathy towards the downtrodden led many readers to believe that Colwell was in fact himself black. “I suppose it was natural to think I was black,” Colwell is quoted as saying in Patrick Rosenkrantz’s introduction, “because so few white creators would touch subjects like I did. Black concerns, issues, stories would be left to black authors/artists to deal with.”



Colwell, jailed as a conscientious objector, was a fine artist whose intricately detailed paintings, murals and prints depicted his love of nature and man's place in it. His prison stint politicised him further, however, and led him to channel his activism and anger at the inequality and injustice of the day and depict it on the comics page. Inner City Romance #1 sold over 50,000 copies over multiple printings, a staggering amount by today's standards. It featured a trio of freshly released ex-cons facing a choice between the seductions of the “free” world and the discipline and belief required to make significant change within it.



Colwell’s black-and-white art shifts from issue to issue, reflecting his growth as an artist, his desire to speed up the artistic process, and to suit the particular needs of his individual tales. It never less than striking. At its peak, it’s lovely – beautifully depicting the contrasts between the inner life and the outer. The profoundness of the LSD experience, the expression of desires in the dream lives of the incarcerated (even if this particular segment turns nightmarish) and the psychedelic dimension-hop of death are all contrasted with the ugliness and the struggles of urban life. Colwell's cities are grim, trash-filled places, where the white and the wealthy rule and the downtrodden, kept under thumb, have only sex, drugs, music, radicalism and one another to keep them at bay.



Sure, some of the slang is dated and it’s clearly a product of its time, but Colwell’s concerns are,sadly, still our concerns. This book clearly demonstrates that anger, frustration and a desire for change can produce quite the creative fire. Packed with essays and beautiful colour reproductions of Colwell’s social realist paintings, Inner City Romance is highly, highly recommended.


WEBCOMIC OF THE WEEK : BLACK IS THE COLOR BY JULIA GFRORER

Warren and Xavier are the two newest faces aboard an ill-fated ship with dwindling supplies. Cruelly chosen by ship’s Captain to be cast adrift, the pair is given nought but the lifeboat they aimlessly float in and each other’s company. Days bleed into nights and back into days as the pair face nothing but endless ocean and their fraying sanity. When two are reduced to one, the sole survivor begins receiving visits from a most unexpected sea creature.

Gfrorer’s offbeat, sad story, told in an inky black and white, is a comic likely to stay with you far longer than the time it will take you to read it. Fantagraphics brought it to print in 2014, but it’s sadly long gone now. Fortunately, you can still read Black Is The Colorfor free at its original online home, Study Group Comics.



COMICS VIDEO OF THE WEEK : JONAH HEX-TWO GUN MOJO

Motion comics. I do not understand the point of them at all, but I just had to include this particular curiosity. Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Truman and Sam Glanzman’s classic 1993 Jonah Hex tale, Two Gun Mojo (one of the earliest Vertigo mini-series ever, for you trivia buffs), was given the motion comics treatment in 2010. I know. I’m as surprised as you are.

It’s a peculiar thing to see that gritty Truman/Glanzman artwork “moving,” if in only a slightly more sprightly fashion than those old Marvel cartoons of the ‘60s, and to be honest, the overall effect is pretty weird. Ironically, some of the timing of Lansdale’s jokes is lost, but as this is likely the only adaptation we’ll ever see of this great incarnation of Hex, it’s worth a look even if you only make it through the first few minutes.

All three of the Lansdale/Truman/Glanzman mini-series’ are collected in a single big-ass Vertigo trade titled Shadows West, and hopefully you’re intrigued enough by this to sample the storyin all its weird-western comic book glory. Lansdale,for the unsure, is a storytelling hero of mine and amongst his ridiculously impressive resume is Cold In July, made into a pretty awesome film starring that Dexter guy.


See you next week. Love your comics.


Cameron Ashley spends a lot of time writing comics and other things you’ll likely never read. He’s the chief editor and co-publisher of Crime Factory (www.thecrimefactory.com). You can reach him @cjamesashley on Twitter.
Posted by All Star Comics Team at 8:44 AM 2 comments

Monday, April 27, 2015

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY ALL STAR COSTUME CONTEST 2015





FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is almost upon us again and that can only mean one of a few GREAT things! Saturday May 2nd has us celebrate our fifth FCBD, along with another great tradition of our's, the FREE COMIC BOOK DAY ALL STAR COSTUME CONTEST! This year photos for the contest will be taken in store, on the ground floor by the red wall in the All Ages section!


It's a great thrill for us to see the effort people go to dressing up for the day, so our idea is to hold a little comp to reward the hard work! Now due to the overwhelming amount of costumed heroes on the day. Along with the All Ages Division, we will also have the Kids Division!


The rules are simple and the same as last year:
-Anyone in costume can enter. Anyone over 12 will be entered in our main contest, anyone under 12 will be included in our KIDS Contest.
-All you need to do is find our in-house photographer, who this year will be taking the costume contest photos instore, on the ground floor by the red wall in the All Ages section!

MUHAMMAD I, Resident Photographer
-Just strike your best costumed pose and then tag yourself in your photo once we get the pictures up on our facebook page.
-Once you are tagged the public can vote for you along with your friends and family.
-The people with the five highest counts of "likes" at the end of the week after we post the photos up will be our finalists, then a panel of All Star Staff will pick the 3 best costumes!
-This year we'll have a $100 All Star Gift Voucher for 1st place, $50 All Star Gift Voucher for 2nd and $25 All Star Gift Voucher for 3rd.
-The KIDS contest will have a $50 All Star Gift Voucher for 1st place, $30 All Star Gift Voucher for 2nd place and a $25 All Star Gift Voucher for 3rd place.


Of course we are totally buzzed to see what you guys have planned and can't wait to see you bring some costumed comic justice to the streets of Melbourne! MAY THE BEST COSTUME WIN!

The ALL STAR CREW

Posted by All Star Comics Team at 8:09 PM 1 comments

New Comics For Wednesday 29th of April


THIS IS IT! The shipment of goods before the madness and fun of FREE COMIC BOOK DAY this Saturday the 2nd of May. We'll be posting updates and details for the day during the week so keep an eye out if you plan on dropping in this weekend. BUT before then, we got comics!...the type you'll have to pay for...sorry.

Local creator from the ACT, Ryan Lindsay has a new collection out, taking us into the mindspace of a killer with HEADSPACE TP. Another week of DC CONVERGENCE mirth and mystery. The next Vertigo Quarterly starts with SFX #1. PISCES #1, A sci-fi psychological body horror series from the writer of RAT QUEENS and the artist of SHELTERED is definitely worth a look in. Double barrel batman collections with the latest releases of the Synder series with BATMAN HC VOL 06 THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT (N52) and BATMAN TP VOL 05 ZERO YEAR DARK CITY. Penultimate tales from Fabletown in FABLES TP VOL 21 HAPPILY EVER AFTER. Check out the series Spidey fans are calling the best Spider-man event in years with SPIDER-VERSE HC. A little bit on the saucy side of a relationship tale with SUNSTONE OGN VOL 02. Mind shattering conclusions and no doubt a few questions will still remain after MULTIVERSITY #2. Moving forward and rebuilding society seems like a good idea but how long will things remain peaceful in the latest WALKING DEAD TP VOL 23. Just in time for the party atmosphere of FCBD, Dean Rankine's little rascals are at it again, this time in ITTY BITTY BUNNIES TALES FROM CRIB #1. Jeffrey Brown good time and good vibes with DARTH VADER & FRIENDS HC

Anything else you are after or any questions about concerning FCBD, just ask!

MARVEL
ALL NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA #6
AVENGERS #44 TRO
DAREDEVIL #15
FANTASTIC FOUR #645
INHUMAN #14
MARVEL UNIVERSE ULT SPIDER-MAN WEB WARRIORS #6
MAX RIDE FIRST FLIGHT #2 (OF 5)
MOON KNIGHT #14
NEW AVENGERS #33 TRO
NEW AVENGERS ULTRON FOREVER #1
NOVA #30
PRINCESS LEIA #3 (OF 5)
SECRET AVENGERS #15
SHIELD #5
SILK #3
SILVER SURFER #11
SPIDER-MAN AND X-MEN #6
SUPERIOR IRON MAN #8
WOLVERINES #16
X-MEN #26

DC COMICS
BATMAN #40 MOVIE POSTER VAR ED (ENDGAME)
CONVERGENCE #4 (OF 8)
CONVERGENCE ACTION COMICS #1
CONVERGENCE BLUE BEETLE #1
CONVERGENCE BOOSTER GOLD #1
CONVERGENCE CRIME SYNDICATE #1
CONVERGENCE DETECTIVE COMICS #1
CONVERGENCE INFINITY INC #1
CONVERGENCE JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #1
CONVERGENCE PLASTIC MAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS #1
CONVERGENCE SHAZAM #1
CONVERGENCE WORLDS FINEST COMICS #1
HE MAN THE ETERNITY WAR #5
INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR THREE ANNUAL #1
JUSTICE LEAGUE #40 MOVIE POSTER VAR ED
MULTIVERSITY #2
SUPERMAN #40 MOVIE POSTER VAR ED

VERTIGO
VERTIGO QUARTERLY SFX #1

BOOM
BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA #10
BURNING FIELDS #4
MUNCHKIN #4
PLUNDER #3

DARK HORSE
CONAN RED SONJA #4
CONAN THE AVENGER #13
ORDER OF THE FORGE #1 (OF 3)
PASTAWAYS #2
RESIDENT ALIEN SAM HAIN MYSTERY #0

DYNAMITE
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SIX #4 (OF 5)
KING JUNGLE JIM #3 (OF 4)
THE DEVILERS #6 (OF 7)
TWILIGHT ZONE S&S #4 (OF 4)

IDW
GARBAGE PAIL KIDS FABLES FANTASY & FARTS (ONE SHOT)
JEM & THE HOLOGRAMS #2
JUDGE DREDD #29
MY LITTLE PONY FIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #5 QUEEN CHRYSALIS
TMNT ONGOING #45
TRANSFORMERS MORE THAN MEETS EYE #40

IMAGE
ALEX + ADA #14
BITCH PLANET #4
FUSE #12
INVINCIBLE #119
MORNING GLORIES #45
OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA #8
PISCES #1
RED ONE #2
RUMBLE #5
SKULLKICKERS #32
SPREAD #7
THEYRE NOT LIKE US #5
WAYWARD #7

MISC
BRIDES OF HELHEIM #5
HELLBREAK #2
HOAX HUNTERS 2015 #2 (OF 5)
ITTY BITTY BUNNIES TALES FROM CRIB #1
PRINCELESS PIRATE PRINCESS #4 (OF 4)
PUPPET MASTER #2
QUANTUM & WOODY MUST DIE #4 (OF 4)
SCARLETT COUTURE #1 (OF 4)
WAR STORIES #8

MAGAZINES
MARVEL PREVIEWS MAY 2015
PREVIEWS #320 MAY 2015

TRADES
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE TP
AVENGERS EPIC COLLECTION BEHOLD VISION TP
AVENGERS VISION AND SCARLET WITCH TP NEW PTG
AVENGERS WEST COAST VISION QUEST TP NEW PTG
BATMAN HC VOL 06 THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT (N52)
BATMAN TP VOL 05 ZERO YEAR DARK CITY (N52)
CHARMED SEASON 10 TP VOL 01
CHRONICLES OF CLAUDETTE GN VOL 01 GIANTS BEWARE
CYBER FORCE REBIRTH TP VOL 02
DARTH VADER & FRIENDS HC
DISAPPEARANCE OF CHARLEY BUTTERS GN
ELEKTRA TP VOL 02 REVERENCE
ENORMOUS TP VOL 01
FABLES TP VOL 21 HAPPILY EVER AFTER
GONERS TP VOL 01 WE ALL FALL DOWN
GOTHAM CITY SIRENS TP BOOK 02
GREEN ARROW TP VOL 06 BROKEN (N52)
HEADSPACE TP
HEAVENLY NOSTRILS CHRONICLE GN VOL 01 PHOEBE & HER
KURDLES HC
MARVELS AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON ART OF MOVIE SLIPCASE HC
NEW VAMPIRELLA TP VOL 01 OUR LADY OF SHADOWS
OPERATION NEMESIS GN
ORIGINAL SIN TP
ORIGINAL SINS TP
PALOOKAVILLE HC VOL 22
POWERPUFF GIRLS CLASSICS TP VOL 05 BLESS THIS MESS
REALIST ORIGINAL GN HC
SAMURAI JACK TP VOL 03 QUEST FOR THE BROKEN BLADE
SPIDER-VERSE HC
STAR WARS EPIC YARNS HC VOL 01 NEW HOPE
STAR WARS EPIC YARNS HC VOL 02 EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
STAR WARS EPIC YARNS HC VOL 03 RETURN OF THE JEDI
SUNSTONE OGN VOL 02
SUPERMUTANT MAGIC ACADEMY GN
THOMAS ALSOP TP VOL 01
THRONE OF ICE HC
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 23
X-FORCE TP VOL 03 ENDS MEANS
ZOMBIES THAT ATE THE WORLD HC VOL 03

MERCH
3A X DOCTOR DOOM FIG CLASSIC EDITION
DC COMICS ROBIN ARTFX+ STATUE NEW 52 DW VER
HAWKEYE SYMBOL PX KNIT BEANIE

BACK IN STOCK
DARTH VADER #3  2ND PTG VAR
SCULPTOR HC GN

TMNT ONGOING #44 3RD PTG
Posted by All Star Comics Team at 8:20 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS for APRIL 21ST


Hi there, bleary-eyed streamers of high-quality Marvel Television product and welcome to another Recommends.


Very sad news last week as legendary artist Herb Trimpe passed away aged 75. Trimpe was a prolific penciller whose Marvel-friendly style added some curves to the stylised blockiness of Jack Kirby without shedding any of the King’s energy. A creator with a three-decade long tenure at Marvel, his recounting of his eventual dismissal makes for heartbreaking but essential reading.Trimpe’s legacy is well and truly secure, however, as he was not only the first man to ever draw Wolverine, but also the creator of what is indisputably the definitive depiction of The Hulk. His image of Hulk mid-leap, scowling, one hand outstretched towards us, the other raised ready to hammer-smash us, has left an indelible image on the collective imagination of the comics fan and will likely never be replaced. I daresay many of you can picture it in your heads right now. THAT is the mark of a powerful artist. He’s going to outlive us all.



In cheerier news, Homecooked Comics Festival is coming up in Melbourne on April 25th and 26th. With many great creators in attendance, including Dylan Horrocks (*swoon*), Paul Peart-Smith and Madeleine Rosca, a fundraiser to cover costs is currently underway. You can find out all about that here. I’ll be there for sure the afternoon of the 26th following an Avengers screening.Phew. Comics. They sure aren’t going anywhere, huh?


COMIC OF THE WEEK: MR UNPRONOUNCEABLE AND THE SECT OF THE BLEEDING EYE BY TIM MOLLOY

Published by Milk Shadow Books

Just as hundreds of readers snapped up Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North after its Booker win, last week I leapt aboard the psychedelic bandwagon driven by the Ledger and Aurealis award-winning Tim Molloy. It’s a helluva bandwagon too; with a motor cobbled together from the weird tales of Clark Ashton Smith, H.P Lovecraft and, perhaps it’s just me, Jim Woodring and mid-‘70s Doctor Strange.

In this particular adventure, spanning three separate stories crafted by Molloy between 2013-2014, Mr Unpronounceable, “Homeless Necromancer,” blunders his way through The City of the Ever Open Eye where a cult of heretics “rotten with blasphemy” threaten to tear the place apart. Surprising twists and turns await, taking our hero across the dimensions right to the start of it all.

Molloy clearly loves his old weird fiction and has a great deal of fun with the purple prose and overwrought dialogue often found in such works. Mr Unpronounceable (who, not coincidentally I suspect, looks like an undead Jeffrey Combs from the Re-Animator movies) spouts such tremendous expository dialogue as, “The antechamber is decorated with the mummified corpses of vanquished gods, scoured from the world by the punitive powers of the silent monks!” Bless you for that line alone, Mr Molloy.

Molloy’s grey-toned art is open and clean and the numerous facial expressions of his protagonist areterrific. His landscapes are particularly detailed and fittingly psychedelic – a full splash of a mausoleum on the outskirts of the city being a personal highlight. Mr Unpronounceable and the Sect of the Bleeding Eye is a well-deserved award-winner and an extremely fun piece of comics.


WEBCOMIC OF THE WEEK: WE GO FORWARD BY SHENANIGANSEN

Short and bittersweet this week. Trapped in their immediate surrounding space, characters in an old video game try and overcome the obstacle right in front of them. The less said here the better. Great stuff.



COMICS VIDEO OF THE WEEK: HAUNTED MACHINES WARREN ELLIS

My advance capsule review of Injection #1 by Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire dropped last week. If you have any interest at all in smart genre mash-ups I’d suggest you run into the store screaming for a pre-order ASAP.

One thing I admire greatly about Ellis is his increasing trust in the intelligence of his audience. Either that or he just doesn’t care if you keep up anymore. His recent comics Trees and Injection have little interest in the ‘set up-exposition-fight-cliffhanger’ paradigm that Lee and Kirby so wonderfully perfected. Mainstream comics outside of the Big Two are more and more becoming like smart television in this structural regard and Ellis (and Sex by Joe Casey also comes to mind) is at the forefront of this change.

In any event, here’s a talk by Ellis titled Haunted Machines that he gave at the recent FutureEverything conference, wherein he discusses the intersection of technology and magic. It’s fascinating stuff, featuring Ellisian nuggets like, “The story of magical language is in fact the history of scientific method.” It feels, to this lucky advance reader, like a nice appendix to Injection. It may also just change the way you look at your smartphone.


See you next week. Love your comics.



Cameron Ashley spends a lot of time writing comics and other things you’ll likely never read. He’s the chief editor and co-publisher of Crime Factory (www.thecrimefactory.com). You can reach him @cjamesashley on Twitter.






Posted by All Star Comics Team at 11:39 AM 0 comments

Monday, April 20, 2015

New Comics For Wednesday 22nd of April



AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON IS NIGH!!! Only a few more days before we get to enjoy the next Marvel Cinematic Universe chapter on the big screen. Then there is the wonderful annual HOMECOOKED COMICS FESTIVAL, presented by Squishface Studio and the City of Darebin happening this weekend at Northcote Town Hall to also look forward too! Also add to that the countdown to FREE COMIC BOOK DAY has well and truly begun and we couldn't be more excited! Of course there is still this week's excellent reads to get through first.

Cosmic gods and abilities get wrapped up with the climax to Marvel most recent space saga in GOTG AND X-MEN BLACK VORTEX OMEGA #1. More Multiple Universes then you can poke a stick at with another week of DC's CONVERGENCE #3 and tie ins. Mark Waid returns to his villain study with his "what happens now the bad guy won" story, EMPIRE UPRISING #1. Disney comic classics head back to the shelves with the first in a new line of books from IDW in UNCLE SCROOGE #1. More mad capped tales from the Thrilling Adventure Hour team in their second comic adaptation, this time a ghostly jaunt with BEYOND BELIEF #1. That wonderful chap, Chip Zdarsky is back in the writer's seat to supply us all with a space adventure gone wrong with KAPTARA #1. The stunning new re-releases of the Brubaker/Phillips classic continues with CRIMINAL TP VOL 04 BAD NIGHT. Another local creator, Tom Taylor gives us his very best at Tony Stark being very bad in SUPERIOR IRON MAN PREM HC VOL 01 INFAMOUS. Mark Millar has fun with speedsters in the superpowered crime spree, MPH TP. UFOLOGY #1 from the Wood's James Tynion IV mentions being touched by and Alien...how could that go wrong?! SCOTT PILGRIM COLOUR HC VOL 06 wraps up the everything we loved about Scott in primary and secondary colours!

Something else there you forgot to tell us you wanted? Don't sweat it, just let us know to stash it and all will be good! :D

MARVEL
ALL NEW X-MEN #40
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #17.1
AMAZING X-MEN #19
AVENGERS MAGAZINE #1
AVENGERS MILLENNIUM #4 (OF 4)
AVENGERS OPERATION HYDRA #1
AVENGERS WORLD #20 TRO
BLACK WIDOW #17
GOTG AND X-MEN BLACK VORTEX OMEGA #1 BV
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #26
HULK #15
INHUMAN SPECIAL #1
MARVEL UNIVERSE GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #3 (OF 4)
STAR WARS #4
UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #4
WOLVERINES #15

DC COMICS
BATMAN 66 #22
BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT #3
CONVERGENCE #3 (OF 8)
CONVERGENCE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #1
CONVERGENCE BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS #1
CONVERGENCE FLASH #1
CONVERGENCE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1
CONVERGENCE HAWKMAN #1
CONVERGENCE JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #1
CONVERGENCE NEW TEEN TITANS #1
CONVERGENCE QUESTION #1
CONVERGENCE SUPERBOY & THE LEGION #1
CONVERGENCE SWAMP THING #1
CONVERGENCE WONDER WOMAN #1
MAD MAGAZINE #533

VERTIGO
EFFIGY #4
SUICIDERS #3

BOOM
ADVENTURE TIME MARCELINE GONE ADRIFT #4
CLIVE BARKERS NIGHTBREED #12
CURB STOMP #3
DAWN OF PLANET OF APES #6
SUICIDE RISK #24
UFOLOGY #1

DARK HORSE
BTVS SEASON 10 #14
FRANKENSTEIN UNDERGROUND #2 (OF 5)
GRINDHOUSE DRIVE IN BLEED OUT #4 (OF 8)
HALO ESCALATION #17
MIND MGMT #32
TOMB RAIDER #15

DYNAMITE
HOLMES VS HOUDINI #5 (OF 5)
KING FLASH GORDON #3 (OF 4)

IDW
BORDERLANDS FALL OF FYRESTONE #8
DRONES #1 (OF 5)
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS #7 WHOLE AGAIN
EMPIRE UPRISING #1
FLY OUTBREAK #2 (OF 5)
GALAXY QUEST JOURNEY CONTINUES #4 (OF 4)
INFINITE LOOP #1 (OF 6)
MAXX MAXXIMIZED #18
MIAMI VICE REMIX #2 (OF 5)
MY LITTLE PONY FIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #4 NIGHTMARE MOON
SKYLANDERS #8 RTN OF DRAGON KING
TRANSFORMERS WINDBLADE COMBINER WARS #2
UNCLE SCROOGE #1
ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS #4

IMAGE
BEYOND BELIEF #1
CHEW #48
DEADLY CLASS #12
EMPTY #3
INTERSECT #6
INVISIBLE REPUBLIC #2
KAPTARA #1
LAZARUS #16
MANIFEST DESTINY #14
POSTAL #3
SATELLITE SAM #13
VELVET #10

MISC
BLACK HOOD #3
DIVINITY #3 (OF 4)
HOAX HUNTERS 2015 #1 (OF 5)
IVAR TIMEWALKER #4
LADY MECHANIKA TABLET OF DESTINIES #1 (OF 6)
LIFE AFTER #9
NINJAK #2

TRADES
ARMY OF DARKNESS ASH GETS HITCHED TP
ART OF THE UNCHARTED TRILOGY HC
ATTACK ON TITAN GN VOL 15
BALLISTIC TP VOL 01
BART SIMPSON BLASTOFF TP
BATMAN 66 HC VOL 03
BATMAN 66 TP VOL 02
CARTOON NETWORK ALL-STAR OMNIBUS TP
CRIMINAL TP VOL 04 BAD NIGHT
CRIMNIAL MACABRE THIRD CHILD TP
DEATH DEFYING DR MIRAGE TP
EVIL EMPIRE TP VOL 01
FIGHT LIKE A GIRL LEARNING CURVE TP
GFT WONDERLAND THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS TP
HULK FUTURE IMPERFECT TP NEW PTG
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 TP VOL 02 THE CAMELOT WAR (N52)
LOKI AGENT OF ASGARD TP VOL 02 I CANNOT TELL A LIE
MPH TP
RED SONJA TRAVELS TP VOL 02
ROBYN HOOD ONGOING TP VOL 01 RIOT GIRLS
ROT & RUIN TP WARRIOR SMART
SCOTT PILGRIM COLOR HC VOL 06 (OF 6)
SPIDER-MAN COMPLETE ALIEN COSTUME SAGA TP BOOK 02
STARLING HC ASHLEY WOOD BOOK 01
STRAIN HC VOL 02 THE FALL
SUPERIOR IRON MAN PREM HC VOL 01 INFAMOUS
TERRIBLE LIZARD TP
TOWN CALLED DRAGON TP VOL 01
TRANSFORMERS CLASSICS TP VOL 08
TUROK DINOSAUR HUNTER TP VOL 02 WEST
VISION YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW TP NEW PTG
WILD BLUE YONDER HC
WINTERWORLD TP VOL 02 STRANDED
WITCHFINDER TP VOL 03 MYSTERIES OF UNLAND
WOLVERINES TP VOL 01 DANCING WITH DEVIL
WORMWOOD GENTLEMAN CORPSE HC THE FIRST FEW PINTS
X TP VOL 05 FLESH AND BLOOD
X-FILES SEASON 10 HC VOL 04
ZOMBIES THAT ATE THE WORLD HC VOL 01 (MR) (C: 0-0-

MERCH
BATMAN ANIMATED BAS MAN BAT AF
BATMAN ANIMATED NBA CREEPER AF

BACK IN STOCK
CHRONONAUTS #1 2ND PTG
DC COMICS BATMAN WOOD FIGURE
DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS STARGIRL STATUE
DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS ZATANNA STATUE
PRINCESS LEIA #1 (OF 5)  2ND PTG VAR

SILK #2  2ND PTG VAR
Posted by All Star Comics Team at 9:07 AM 0 comments
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