My New Comics

This week’s best cover is The Twelve #0.

Sword of Red Sonja: Doom of the Gods #3, Dynamite Entertainment.

Northlanders #1, Vertigo (DC Comics). Another comic I’ve been waiting for is finally here. Info from Northlanders.net NORTHLANDERS tells the epic tale of SVEN, an exiled Viking prince who’s been living the decadent, high life in Constantinople – the 11th century’s answer to Las Vegas – but now must return to the desolate lands of his birth in the frigid islands of the North Sea to reclaim his vast inheritance. Intending only to take his money and run, he finds more than he bargained for as his former family and friends are enslaved at the hands of Gorm, his ruthless uncle. What follows is a bloody quest to not only free his people, but also a young man’s struggle to discover where he belongs in a rapidly changing world…and what awful sacrifices it will take to make a Prince into a King

Howard the Duck #3, Marvel Comics.

Black Summer #4, Avatar.

The Infinite Horizon #1, Image.

Jonah Hex #26, DC Comics.

Omega the Unknown #3, Marvel Comics.

Wrath of the Titans #3, Blue Water Productions.

Sinbad: Rogue of Mars #2, Blue Water Productions. One of the titles I really wanted. The 1st issue never showed up so I might wait until my store reorders it before I dive in.

The Twelve #0, Marvel Comics. From wikipedia: Writer J. Michael Straczynski said in July 2007 that the story concerns 12 superhumans randomly kidnapped by the Nazis during World War II in order to study their powers for the Nazis' "Master Race" efforts. The superhumans were put in cryonic suspended-animation until the present day, when a construction project in Berlin, Germany inadvertently uncovers them. The series explores the culture shock of people from the 1940s being revived in the present day. "I wanted to explore their reactions to us, and our reactions to them ... what was good about the World War II period that we lost, and what was not so good about it that we've eliminated in all but them". Issue Zero reprints a 3 golden age stories.

Dominion #3, Boom Studios. I never got the 1st TWO issues of this title either. Grrrr. More waiting.



-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Fall of Cthulhu #8.


Lone Ranger #10, Dynamite Entertainment.

Shadowpact #19, DC Comics.

Zero Killer #3, Dark Horse Comics.

Red Sonja #27, Dynamite Entertainment.

Fall of Cthulhu #8, Boom Studios. This cover makes me think of overdroid.

20 Million Miles More #3, Bluewater Productions.

Ray Harryhausen Presents #1, Bluewater Productions. This comic has previews for all the upcoming Harryhausen comics by Bluewater. Looks like we’re also gonna’ see comic continuations of It Came from the Sea and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers as well as the never produced (as far I know) WWI air combat story called Elementals.

The Walking Dead #44, Image Comics.

Star Trek: Alien Spotlight: The Andorians #1, IDW.

She-Hulk #23, Marvel Comics.

Trade Paperback:
52 Volume 4 DC Comics.

-Swinebread

Speaking of Ray Harryhausen...

-Swinebread

20 Million Miles to Earth

I had the distinct pleasure of watching Ray Harryhausen’s 20 Million Miles to Earth. This wonderful monster movie was recently re-released on DVD for it’s 50th anniversary in color. This was one of Harry’s films that I hadn’t seen yet and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a delectable 1950s, atomic horror treat.

A secret mission to Venus by the American Military spells trouble for Europe when a returning US Spaceship crashes off the coast Sicily. A reptilian alien, brought back by the crew, hatches from a gelatinous egg and grows unnaturally huge in earth’s atmosphere. Because of bungling and mistreatment the enraged creature rampages through Rome in a climatic battle causing death and destruction.

20 Million Miles to Earth has everything a classic science fiction fan could want; stiff acting, repressed sexual tension, “funny” foreigners, cold war allegories and amazing effects. Setting the film in Italy is pure genius; in fact it’s downright sexy! There’s just something so right about a cosmic beast battling troops in the remains of the forum and the coliseum. It’s a well-paced movie for a ‘50s film, and still exciting with tons of B-movie clichés twisted just enough to keep it interesting. It’s well done and a nice break from the overproduced sci-fi stuff we see today.

The DVD comes in a two-disk set with lots of goodies including, a retrospective documentary, a colorization process short and an interview with Harryhausen. The colorization of the film is quite good, although it's not as great as Ray Harryhausen raves it is. The monster and the coliseum are some of the best-colored parts of the film but there are some weak spots. For the purists, the DVD also includes the original black and white version.

20 Million Miles to Earth proves that without Ray Harryhausen, fantasy films would have been a whole lot less fun. This film was an international blockbuster in its day, and it’s easy to see why.

Note: Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, It Came from Beneath the Sea, and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms are all set to get the same colorization treatment.

Here is the theatrical trailer:


-Swinebread

My News Comics

This week’s best cover is Shadowpact #16.

20 million Miles More #2 Bluewater.

Shadowpact #16, DC Comics.

My shop’s weekly order got screwed up, so I think that there are a few books I’m missing. I’ll amend this post if I have to.

-Swinebread

My New Comics

Not much this week
This Week's cover by default is Wrath of the Titans #1.

Wrath of the Titans #1, Bluewater Productions. That’s right! This is the comic sequel to one of my childhood favorites: Clash of the Titans. See, old Ray Harryhausen never got to make the sequel he planned despite the fact that Clash of the Titans made money. But now, through comics, we get to see what the next story would have been. Check out Bluewater Productions site here.


52 Vol 1 trade paperback, DC Comics. I wanted to see what all the hype was about even though I know the big surprise at the end… Well, come to think of it, maybe that’s why I picked it up. Also, from now on, I’m gonna’ buy these big events and miniseries from the big two (Marvel and DC) in TPB form only.

-Swinebread