Courtesy of Counteractive Comics
Counteractive Comics proudly announces the premiere of a barbaric new comic book series, VARUK.
VARUK chronicles the adventures of a restless young barbarian who leaves his nomadic clan to seek his destiny among the civilized lands. In the debut issue, as Varuk struggles to cross the mountains that separate the clan lands from civilization, he encounters resistance in the form of demonic spirits and imperial soldiers.
Reviewed by Richard Carbonneau / Writer for Independent Propaganda
Back in 1999or so, I was in a comic shop in Cambridge, MA looking for something interesting to hang on my apartment walls. I spied a poster for James Kochalka’s Tiny Bubbles on display and inquired with the clerk how much it cost. I’d read Tiny Bubbles as well as Quit your Job and I really liked the cartoony, yet somehow vulgar, style of this fellow native New Englander.
The nice young lady behind the counter considered me for a moment, then said the words I’ll never forget: “Kochalka? Come on. You can do better than that.”
She wouldn’t sell me the poster, as a matter of taste I assumed. As odd as I found this at the time, since then the very mention of James Kochalka in some circles has met with sneers, scoffs, and once - anger. People, it seemed, just didn’t like James Kochalka.
But if I could get them to sit down and read Super F*ckers, I think they would change their minds, or at least stop being such jerks about it. Super F*ckers, published by Top Shelf Comix, isn’t a porno, it’s not a parody of the superhero genre, and it really isn’t what you are expecting.
Reviewed by Dr.Chris / Writer for Independent Propaganda
In 2001-02, comic books started to resurrect the past with the 80s revival. It started with G. I. Joe and continued with Transformers, Voltron, and so on. One book that escaped under the radar was the Mirage studios property Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This was the sleeper hit of the revival era in 2001-2003.
TMNT restarted in December of 2001. The book comes out bi-monthly so that you, the subscriber only get 6 books per year. However, another turtle-title, Tales of TMNT, comes out monthly so you get 18 issues of Turtle action per year and thats not too bad. I do wish the book was out every month and not every other month. Having spoken with Peter Laird, he said it is just easier to get a book out 6 times a year compared to 12. The main book is where the storyline really shines thru.
KAFKA
by Steven T. Seagle and Stefano Gaudiano
$14.99
Active Images
Originally published as 6 issues by Renegade Press in 1987
Reviewed by David Lamontagne / writer for Independent Propaganda
[This is review is based on the 1990 Caliber Press trade paperback edition. The relettered collection, which will also feature a slightly reworked script, will be available from Active Images in late July.]
When Daniel Hutton awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a scratchy caricature of a man.
Ha ha! Metamorphosis!
The plot of KAFKA is simple but engaging. Hutton is a man on the run from shadowy forces in the CIA. He’s like Jason Bourne, but instead of being a magnetic, ruthless killing machine, Hutton is an unprepossessing guy who happens to be able to control what people see for those Dungeons & Dragons aficionados who are too Cheeto-covered to follow this, Hutton’s effectively a third-level illusionist. Very rapidly and with some flashbacks interjected for reasons more literary than narrative, Hutton returns to face his former handlers and find his wife. The story is reminiscent of Bendis’s FIRE, which, of course, postdates this work by more than ten years.
Courtesy of Image Comics
A comatose girl. Supernatural criminals. Two cops on the edge. What do they all have in common?
Welcome to the world of THE CROSS BRONX, a brand-new four-issue miniseries by Michael Avon Oeming (co-creator of POWERS) and Ivan Brandon (NYC MECH) that seemlessly mixes police procedure and the supernatural.
From June 26th till July 9th, Independent Propaganda along with Jam Packed Productions are giving away fifteen copies of THE SUPER NATURALS #1!
Five grand prize winners will receive one copy of THE SUPER NATURALS #1 signed by the creative team (Toney Tappia, Jamie Biggs, and Lawrence Basso), and 10 runner-ups will receive one copy of THE SUPER NATURALS.
Interviewed by Wesley Craig Green / Head Cheese at Independent Propaganda
One of the bigger independent comic news stories within the last couple of years was Carla Speed McNeil moving her critical darling and indy fan favorite, FINDER, to the web for serialization. Carla began self-publishing FINDER in 1996 under her Lightspeed Press imprint. It wasn’t long before the self-described “aboriginal sci-fi” series began receiving critical acclaim and awards, establishing both series and creator in the comics industry. Despite all of this, sales of the comics were not profitable even though sales of the TPBs were, proving there was an audience for the series. FINDER #38 marked the end of the comics series in pamphlet form and began the continuation of the series on the web at the Lightspeed Press site where it is updated with new pages twice a week along with the continued collection of the series in TPB form.
In this third of the continuing series of interviews with creators who have moved from print to the web (you can read the first interview with Jackie Estrada and Batton Lash of SUPERNATURAL LAW here and the second interview with Phil Foglio of GIRL GENIUS here), Carla talks about why the move to the web, the independent market, and advice for those contemplating self-publishing.
Reviewed by Chris Ellis / Writer for Independent Propaganda
This is the first O Men book of the series and an odd conundrum of a book.
One look at the cover will tell you this is an independent book of the highest calibre but one read of it will give you the impression creator Martin Eden has written for someone like Marvel or DC for years.
Reviewed by Matt Butcher / Writer for Independent Propaganda
It’s a world completely different from anything comics have provided us. It is a world of reverse discrimination. It is a world where mutants and aliens are the ordinary society and what was once human are now hunted as norms.This fantastic new comic book promises to show the genre from a different angle.
Courtesy of Image Comics
This August, Frank Cho and Image Comics are bringing a whole lot of Brandy for their fans. It all kicks off with LIBERTY MEADOWS: COVER GIRL, a 128-page full-color hardcover that will retail for $24.99.
For the first time, every single one of Frank Cho’s covers for LIBERTY MEADOWS – from the single issues to the trade paperbacks - and then some – is collected in one deluxe hardcover! “I’m pretty excited about this book,” says Cho. “It’s great to have all my Liberty Meadows covers and pin-ups in one fat volume since even I’m missing some of the early issues.”
