Interviewed by Curt Pires. Read the advanced review of THE ACTIVITY #1 here.
Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today Nathan. First off lets talk about your brand new book that hits the shelves December 21st . THE ACTIVITY. What was the inception of the project ? How did this concept enter your idea space? Having read the first issue, this strikes me as sort of a niche of comic, and style of story telling that isn’t really touched on much: Espionage comics.
First off, for the most part, THE ACTIVITY is not an espionage book. There will be issues that are espionage-like, but on the whole it is an action thriller in the vein of MODERN WARFARE, with some MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE in there. The idea came from reading about the real group INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY, and realizing that there was nothing like this book–a grounded, realistic action/team/military thriller out there in comics (and has never really been).
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The Activity #1 (MR)
story NATHAN EDMONDSON, art / cover MITCH GERADS
Price:
$3.50
Diamond ID:
OCT110438
On Sale:
December 21, 2011
[Review by Curt Pires] The evolution of global warfare necessitates the evolution of special forces to rise and meet the call. The U.S Army has therefore looked to its last secret special operations tribe, the INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY, or Gray Fox. Within Gray Fox is a team of elite men and women whose mission is flexible, whose technology is bleeding edge, and whose execution is precise and lethal. They are Team Omaha, and they serve THE ACTIVITY. Read the rest of this entry »
Hola Lords and Ladies! Byron’s back from the underground with a new editorial for your eye-tubes. Let me preface by saying I love being a nerd, I love nerddom and nearly all facets of this wonderful culture we live in……..(smiley face falls away in 3..2………1)
THAT BEING SAID, there’s a growing problem I’ve been seeing not only on forums, but at a lot of the conventions I’ve been to over the past couple of years. This problem has been festering in the darker corners of fandom and its spreading like a cancer throughout fandom as a whole and that is this growing sense of nerd entitlement that is acting like a festering wound that needs to be treated and healed. Read the rest of this entry »
There’s something that appeals to me when it comes to reading an anti-hero. It might be the believability. I have an easier time coming to terms with a character that is not good all of the time. Great characters have faults. People can be evil even when they aren’t “super villains”. Josh Fialkov’s The Last of the Greats is a phenomenal anti-hero book. Certainly, it’s a very realistic take on the ‘what if’ scenario if superheroes were real.
Let me set you up here:
“Meet mankind’s last hope for survival. He’s called The Last, and he hates out guts.”
We’re living here on Earth like we do and there’s war, hunger, and desperation. One day, a group of super powered beings show up. They fix everything. They give us Utopia. And we hate them for it. We destroy them all…except one. Now we find our planet in danger and there’s only one guy that can help us. Turns out he’ll help us, but at a price. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m going to tell you a little something about my mother. Yep. I write about comics and I’m going to lead in by talking about Mommy Dearest. I think deep down my mother had a deep fear that her children were going to turn out to be idiots. From our very beginnings, she was determined to constantly hold us to higher standards. My brother had it worse; she put him in a bilingual kindergarten class just so he could be exposed to spanish constantly. (She didn’t try that with me. She’s still trying to keep me from eating crayons…) At any rate, she would try to slip in educational material into any source of entertainment. My point: she would have approved of Green Lantern: The Animated Series #0.
This comic is going hand-in-hand with the newest animated series on Cartoon Network. I watched the first hour long special. I read the first comic. Let’s do this. Read the rest of this entry »
I have found myself in a state of confusion. There’s a strange trend happening in the comics industry right now.
This week we received the news that Marvel has cancelled X-23 from its list of ongoings. Now, that was a pretty solid book but that’s not what I want to talk about today. Take a minute and think about all the ongoing titles that Marvel currently offers. Think. Think. Think. How many of those titles have a female title-role? With X-23 gone, my count is at one. ONE. Ghost Rider. And even that’s a bit of a gray area. Still, Alejandra does hold that title since Fear Itself. One book. Doesn’t that strike you as odd? Read the rest of this entry »
Who doesn’t like a good buddy-movie? Buddy-cop, buddy-losers, buddy-criminals…chances are, hijinks are going to ensue. Why should a buddy-comic be any different? It shouldn’t. There are still hijinks and assorted shenanigans.
Witch Doctor by Brandon Seifert with art by Lukas Ketner partners Dr. Marrow, a man specializing in the dark forces and the supernatural, with Eric Gast, a veteran serving as a paramedic assisting Dr. Marrow. They go around as part of the Mystics Without Borders program, finding dangerous monsters and demons and fighting them with magic and science. It sounds awesome, right? It is seriously one of the best books being put out by Image. Read the rest of this entry »
You know what it takes for me to be interested in a new comic book? A name. Maybe two. I have trust in creators. Characters? No. All it takes for a character to go south is one writer with “vision”. Screw them and their “vision”. Pretty soon your favorite character is a whiney addict that never worked out their issues with their father. And all you wanted was to see them kick some ass. But find a creator or creative team that appeals to you and pretty soon you’re introduced to new characters, new stories and all the while enjoying it because it’s coming from talent that speaks to you.
Brian Azzarello is on that list for me. If I need to see the darker side of comics, I can turn to this guy. Add Eduardo Risso into that mix and I’m in great shape. So I see their names attached to Vertigo’s Spaceman and see that it’s selling for $1.00 and…well, you know. I’ve gambled more money on less. Read the rest of this entry »
Okay, with all the excitement in the DC Universe, it’s possible our radars have been slightly skewed. So bear with me as I tell you that in the midst of your issue twos, now is a really great time to be reading X-Men titles.
Ah yes, The X-Men. Seems like just yesterday we were all infected with vampirism. I hate to disappoint you, but we’re done with that. And now…the band’s breaking up….kind of. In the aftermath of Schism, Logan and Scott have decided to go their separate ways and people are picking sides. Now, let’s say that you didn’t read Schism (even though I told you to and you totally should). And let’s say you didn’t read the Regenesis One Shot from last week (totally should). You’re going to be fine. Read the rest of this entry »
I love animation. Cartoons are such a large part of my entertainment selection. And, like so many of you, Disney Animation basically structured my childhood. I believed in my dreams, thought animals could be your best friends, believed in magic, and sang at the drop of a hat. Not going to lie to you, I still do that last one. Honestly, when I watch Disney animated movies to this day, all of those points still ring true. So imagine my delight when I found a comic book that generated the same feelings.
Mystic is a CrossGen title that has all the elements of a animated classic. And from what I understand, this new title is not like the original book at all. Giselle and Genevieve are teenage orphan girls that are best friends. Genevieve is a romantic dreamer, Giselle has a rougher, more impulsive demeanor. Living in poverty, they manage to sneak away daily to study the Noble Arts (which, from the name, you can gather is restricted to the more affluent crowd). Through a series of strange events, Giselle is taken on as one of several apprentices to master the magical Noble arts. Genevieve is left behind. Both want to change the world, they’re just going to go about it in very different ways. Read the rest of this entry »
Well folks, that’s a wrap on the first wave of DC re-launch titles. Read on for our thoughts; what to pick up, what to celebrate, or even what ain’t so good, Al. As always, these are only our opinions. But we’re also always right, don’t forget that. Kidding. No we’re not.
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We’re week three into the re-launch already. How are you all feeling? Tired yet? I don’t know about you, but my eyeballs have abs already. Here’s the run-down on the latest batch of re-launch titles:
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Batman #1
Scott Synder writes an amazing Batman book. He’s been doing it for a little while now between Detective and Gates of Gotham. This issue is simply a continuation of his high standards. For those of you that haven’t been keeping up with the Bat, here’s where we stand: Bruce is Batman again. His biological son, Damian, is his Robin. Dick is Nightwing. Tim is Red Robin. This issue sets the tone for Snyder’s Batman. You see the family dynamic between Bruce and the boys, get a look at how high-tech his operations are, truly grasp the romanticism that Bruce holds for Gotham, and towards the end you see where the story arc’s headed. It’s a beautiful book from its script to the art from Greg Capullo. I assure you that you’ll be glad you picked this one up. [Auburn] Read the rest of this entry »
So we’re half-way through the new 52. If you missed last weeks reviews of the first 13 titles, check that out here. enough of my yakkity-yak, let’s just get right into it. Auburn and I slaved and sweated many hours over these books to bring you only the most honest of reviews. Poor us.
* * * * * * * * Read the rest of this entry »
When the news broke that DC was relaunching with 52 new #1’s in the month of September, Auburn and I agreed that we must read and review every single one. A feat not to be scoffed at. So we split the pile and went to work, with Auburn as punctual as ever and myself a little less so. But we did it. Thirteen first issues reviewed in three days, that’s not so bad considering you’re getting peace of mind for free, right? So without further ado, here’s the word on the first batch of DC’s relaunch titles, in alphabetical order. Read the rest of this entry »
Nervous anticipation. That’s the only way I can explain how I feel about the relaunch at DC. Let’s get this out of the way. I think it’s wonderful. Everything has just felt so stagnant at DC recently. They needed to mix things up a bit. So, I find this extreme move completely remarkable and brave. Fortune favors the bold, people. Let’s kick off the new 52, shall we?
I wish I was new to comics. I’d really like to see if this book had the desired effect of generating interest for new readers. Personally, I can’t imagine why it would. Justice League #1 was genuinely uninspired. No real cliff hanger, no real spark. Could it be that I’ve just been trained to expect those things? Desensitized to the awesomeness that is superhero team ups? It’s possible. I remember having that awe as a kid; maybe the new reader would feel that same way.
But let’s be realistic here. It’s the first issue and I feel that it fell short. But let’s look at it from that new reader’s perspective: We learn that the general population is not a fan of super-powered individuals. We learn that Batman, Green Lantern and Superman have never met. We learn that Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) is a cocky jerk. And that’s it. So what?
It felt like a generic comic book movie. Something that tries to cast its net to catch everyone and inevitably ends up catching no one. Sure, it has funny line after funny line so you think you’re having a good time. Then there’s the tip of the hat to those in the audience that are seasoned in the character’s lore-maybe a joke about Darkseid that only a few people will chuckle at. And you feel fairly positive during the whole experience only to walk out of there feeling like you just wasted your time and wondering where was the substance?
Sadly, that’s my feelings toward Justice League #1. Geoff Johns and Jim Lee delivered a product that was nice to look at but just was in no way fulfilling. You can market this baby all you want, gentlemen. It was simply empty calories. But the good news is: the general population (especially kids) love empty calories. Maybe that’s just what you were looking for.
Stay tuned for our feelings on the rest of the 52. We’re in this for the long haul. Fingers crossed.
