Review: Back Matter takes a look at VISITATIONS and NEGATIVE BURN

VISITATIONS cover NEGATIVE BURN cover

By Chris Beckett

Writer for Independent Propaganda

Welcome to the first installment of Back Matter on Independent Propaganda. I’ve been collecting comics for over twenty years and have watched my comic buying habits change drastically as my tastes have matured. Like many, I was inducted into this hobby through the superhero titles of Marvel and DC, snatching whatever comics landed on the newsstand at my small-town bookstore. And not unlike most of my sci-fi paperbacks from this same period, many of these uninspired stories are best left in the dustbins of memory. Luckily, my collecting didn’t end there.

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NEWS: IDW Publishing’s SUPERMARKET Sells Out And Heads Back To Press

SUPERMARKET cover

Courtesy of IDW Publishing

San Diego, CA (March 28, 2006)—Brian Wood’s latest comic venture, his first title with IDW Publishing, has been a smash hit, with issues one and two selling out despite an aggressive overprinting stance on the part of the publisher.

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NEWS: STICKY hardcover now available for pre-order

Courtesy of Dale Lazarov

Just a quick note to let you know the STICKY hardcover is now available for pre-order at Amazon and TLA Video as well as your friendly neighborhood store. STICKY is a book of erotic stories of man-on-man carnality and sweetness for gay men and the women who love them.

“Sexy, stylish, minimalist…an intense mixture of erotic realism and the freedom of comics storytelling makes STICKY a pleasure to have in one hand.” – Clive Barker, author of Hellraiser

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3861879719

http://www.tlavideo.com/details/product_details.cfm?id=222351

To order from your favorite book or comic store, use the following information:

Title: STICKY
Authors: Dale Lazarov & Steve MacIsaac
Publisher: Bruno Gmunder Verlag
Distributor: Bookazine
ISBN: 3861879719

Here’s some additional praise for STICKY:

“Carnality and sweetness is the exactly the right combination that makes STICKY a real standout in the genre. Readers will find the material is both erotically charged and unabashedly romantic.” - TimeOut Chicago

“This is why your mom didn’t want you reading so many comic books…. What’s cool about [STICKY’s] man-on-man comic action is that it’s not just hot, it’s also friendly, and, well, versatile.”
- Unzipped

“Folks who want gay male eroticism without chatty drama or bad music and cheesy dirty talk will thrill to STICKY. Written by Dale Lazarov and beautifully drawn by Steve MacIsaac, STICKY presents wordless, atmospheric vignettes of man-on-man action that are intimate and human while still indulging timeless tropes like leather daddies, hot cowboys, and improbably explosive money shots.”
- “The Bitch List”, Bitch Magazine

“Dale Lazarov’s script and Steve MacIsaac’s artwork tell a story in exquisite, vivid detail…the kind of details you might notice when you’re actually having sex with someone - a string of moments that can be hot, playful, tender, mischievous, and even a little funny. I think that’s why [STICKY] works as both porn and as a comic… it wouldn’t be quite so compelling if told (or shown) another way.”
- Trusty Sidekicks

STICKY proves worthy of attention even if you aren’t looking for sexual stimulation… STICKY is free from the drama and politics that seem to crop up whenever homosexuality comes up in the media or entertainment. But by abandoning political screeds or stories about shame, secrets, family acceptance, and all the other storylines that are used over and over again, Lazarov and MacIsaac make a powerful political statement: this is normal.”
- Pop Matters

NEWS: EXPERTS AGREE: RETRO ROCKET ROCKS IMAGE COMICS!

Courtesy of Image Comics

BERKELEY, CA — 16 March, 2006 — Flying in under the radar in a devastating sneak attack, Image Comics’ new series RETRO ROCKET, written by industry veteran Tony Bedard (Exiles) and illustrated by Jason Orfalas (Supergirl) has captured the hearts of readers and critics who wrote it off as just another American manga.

RETRO ROCKET follows the adventures of an outdated “Man-Mech” rendered obsolete by the new generation of robotic fighters. When an alien invasion knocks out the new model army, suddenly the one guy headed for the scrap heap becomes Earth’s only hope.

The book has found itself with universal praise from all quarters. “Jason and I couldn’t be more pleased with the reception RETRO ROCKET is getting,” said Bedard. “We also knew some people would make up their minds about our baby without even cracking the book open. Now they’re starting to realize this isn’t a manga re-hash. It’s something new and special and this is the time to hop onboard!”

Newsarama says “RETRO ROCKET works on great art, solid conceptualization, and a side of a familiar idea that we’ve never seen before. RETRO ROCKET is good comics,” while entertainment industry juggernaut AintItCool.com says it is like “Rudy meets Ultraman with a little bit of Starship Troopers thrown in for good measure… add a spunky and leggy new mechanic assigned to polish Retro’s knobs and this book may turn out to be something kind of special.”

The premiere issue of RETRO ROCKET also featured a whopping 32 pages of cover-to-cover story. It hit stores across the country on March 8 and is rapidly disappearing from the stands, with only a limited amount of reorders still available!

“Our next issue packs in twice as much action as the first,” said Bedard. “After that, the story takes a darker turn as our heroes and villains are both put to the test.”

RETRO ROCKET #1 (JAN061789) is a 32 page full color comic, on sale now, and RETRO ROCKET #2 (FEB061786) is available for advance reorder and will be in-stores in April. Subsequent issues are available for pre-order through Diamond Previews.

IP Think Tank: I need your blogs

Posted by Wesley Craig Green

Independent Propaganda’s Head Cheese

One of the main goals of the Independent Propaganda site is to promote indy creators, publishers, mini-comic creators, and web comic creators. With that said, I’m putting up a page on the IP web site in the near future which will list blogs (doesn’t matter which platform) owned/maintained by anyone who falls into any of the categories mentioned above.

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Article: KISS MY INDIE: An Introduction

by Christopher Moscardi

Writer for Independent Propaganda

I write comic books because that’s what comes naturally.

At six years old I was introduced to the vast mythos that is the great American comic book. Read more

NEWS: “Isn’t It Beautiful?” collects the first year of Manley Days Strips

Isn't It Beautiful cover

Courtesy of Jeff Manley

Michigan-based cartoonist Jeff Manley has been producing a daily journal comic since January of 2005. The first 360 strips that were drawn in 2005 have been collected and self-published into one fantastic volume. At over 120 pages, this is a massive mini-comic.

The book can be purchased through his blog: www.manleydays.blogspot.com

Jeff Manley can be contacted at: fruitycomics@yahoo.com

NEWS: NBM in June: Ted Rall’s Silk Road

Courtesy of NBM Publishing

First bit of news:

NBM is moving!

Starting March 31, we will be at:

40 Exchange Pl., Ste. 1308, NY, NY 10005

Phone numbers will not change.

And here’s what we’ve got coming up in June, being solicited at your comics stores now:

THE SILK ROAD TO RUIN by Ted RALL

Part graphic novel travelog, part tongue-in-cheek travel guide, here are the adventures of caustic cartoonist Rall in the wild and wooly central Asian countries, a powder keg sitting on tomorrow’s oil…

Combines articles with comics chapters relating his experiences retracing the old legendary Silk Road starting with the sublime history of China and ending in the absurdity of the petty dictatorships of the “The ‘Stans” where Rall had the temerity -or was it blustery stupidity?- to go back, including once with a group of listeners to his radio show, on a dare. It’s exotic adventure, satire and a fun way to find out more about a part of the world that looms in importance with its immense reserves of oil…

6×9, 272pp., B&W, jacketed hardcover, $22.95, ISBN 1-56163-454-9

Here’s what the press has had to say of him:

“Rall is a talented comics artist and a contrarian journalist…A longtime visitor to and commentator on Central Asia, Rall knows his way around war-torn nations.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Rall’s inflammatory work makes his colleagues’ work seem timid as a Jay Leno monologue.”

—Booklist

“Rall finds news in the world and a new kind of comix journalism.”

—Time

NEW from ComicsLit:

LUCIFER’S GARDEN OF VERSES

Volume 4: Between The Devil and Miles Davis by Lance TOOKS

Amo is a hardened journalist who smokes and drinks too much, though not nearly enough for her own taste. Assigned to profile the late jazz legend Miles Davis, she finds herself at a creative impasse. How does one approach such an ‘overly-written-about’ artist from a fresh angle, and what’s her opinion worth anyway in a world so fast unraveling? At her wit’s end, she stumbles into the mysterious ‘Smokeasy’, the only bar in Manhattan where adults are allowed to behave as such; and it is that misty room that Amo falls under the spell of a ghostly bartender.

6×9, 80pp., B&W, trade pb., $15.95, ISBN 1-56163-469-7

BONEYARD #22 by Richard MOORE

When Nessie and Ralph crash the Illuminary’s Ball, Paris isn’t even mad. He’s got a drugged, delirious, life-of-the-party Abbey on his hands, and he’ll take all the help he can get. Meanwhile, Glump’s Giant Killer Robot malfunctions just a tad.

Quarterly comic book, B&W, $2.95.

NEW FROM AMEROTICA:

SHORT STROKES, vol.2 by Richard MOORE

More of Moore’s fun and unmitigatedly steamy stories and pin-ups stunningly rendered. The man knows how to draw a well-rounded woman, especially their rear-ends!

7 ½ x 11, 64pp., B&W, trade pb.: $10.95, ISBN 1-56163-475-1

COME AND SEE MORE WITH PREVIEWS OF PAGES AT NBM Publishing!

IP Think Tank: For independent creators and publishers

Posted by Wesley Craig Green

Independent Propaganda’s Head Cheese

One of the main goals with the Independent Propaganda site is to help publishers and creators (that includes web comic and mini-comic creators) promote their work and expose them to a wider audience.

So if you have any press releases, just send them here. Also, if you would like to talk about any promotional ideas you would like to try out, just contact me.

Wesley Craig Green is the head honcho behind Independent Propaganda. You can reach him here, and he also finds it funny referring to himself in the third person.

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Review: THIEVES & KINGS Volume One

THIEVES AND KINGS Vol. 1 cover

THIEVES & KINGS VOL.1: THE RED BOOK TP by Mark Oakley

Cost: $13.50 US

Published by IBox Publishing

Reviewed by Jim Purcell / Writer for Independent Propaganda

Order THIEVES AND KINGS VOLUME 1 from Amazon

Genre - Swords and Sorcery Fantasy Epic

What’s It All About - Young thief Rubel returns home after several months at sea to discover his childhood friends and allies have all disappeared. While bemoaning his new lonely existence, a sinister figure from his past comes looking to collect his soul. Now on the run from the city guard and other creatures of darkness, Rubel is on a mission to find out what happened to his friends and why the Princess who was supposed to be next in line to rule, is suddenly missing.

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