Tag Archives: chris giarrusso

Exclusive Preview: Snelson, the Amazing Back Up from Hashtag Danger

It’s Hashtag Danger time from AHOY Comics! Debuting May 1, Hashtag Danger is the latest series to launch from the upstart publisher as part of their second wave of comics.

As with all AHOY Comics, Hashtag Danger #1 is packed with extras including a comic from writer Paul Constant, artist Fred Harper, colorist Lee Loughridge, and letterer Rob Steen, Snelson! It’s one of three you’ll find in the first issue on top of the main story by Tom Peyer and Chris Giarrusso.

We have an exclusive look at Snelson which you can get next week as part of Hashtag Danger #1, on shelves May 1st.

Hashtag Danger #1

Check Out AHOY Comics’ Second Wave in May Plus an Early Preview of Hashtag: Danger #1

HASHTAG: DANGER #1

(W) Tom Peyer, Paul Constant
(A) Chris Giarrusso, Fred Harper
(C) Richard Williams

Exploding from the pages of High Heaven, three scientific adventurers face strange creatures, lost civilizations, and supernatural threats–when they’re not too busy being complete jerks to each other. PLUS! Follow the depressing misadventures of Snelson, an over-the-hill comedian who peaked in the 90s. EXTRA! Pics, prose, and possibly poems!

Painted cover by Richard Williams (MAD, Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Terror)

May 1, 2019
$3.99

HASHTAG: DANGER #1

DRAGONFLY AND DRAGONFLYMAN #1

(Free Comic Book Day title)
(W) Tom Peyer, Stuart Moore, Hunt Emerson
(A) Russ Braun, June Brigman, Roy Richardson, Hunt Emerson
(C) Jamal Igle

All new! From the hit series THE WRONG EARTH: On gritty Earth-Omega, Dragonfly prowls the darkness for his evil prey; on sun-splashed Earth-Alpha, Dragonflyman protects the status quo! PLUS! A tale of space hero CAPTAIN GINGER when he was a kitten! AND! Edgar Allan Poe battles the Black Cat!

May 4, 2019
FREE

DRAGONFLY AND DRAGONFLYMAN #1

BRONZE AGE BOOGIE #2

(W) Stuart Moore, Tyrone Finch
(A) Alberto Ponticelli, Mauricet
(C) Alberto Ponticelli

AHOY’s 1970s genre mashup slams into high gear! Teenage barbarian Brita finds herself transported to 1975 A.D., right in the middle of a second Martian invasion. Can her new friends—Lynda Darrk and martial arts master Jackson Li—save two Bronze Ages? Back feature: the frightening evolution of Major Ursa, the first bear in space! Plus the usual illustrated text features!

May 8, 2019
$3.99

BRONZE AGE BOOGIE #2

PLANET OF THE NERDS #2

(W) Paul Constant
(A) Alan Robinson, Randy Elliott
(C) David Nakayama

After the thawed-out 1980s jocks start a riot at a comic convention, they learn to their horror that everyone in 2019 uses computers like a bunch of poindexters. PLUS! An untold tale of teen jock Drew from the pastel world of the 1980s. EXTRA! A selection of AHOY text stories, beautifully illustrated.

May 15, 2019
$3.99

PLANET OF THE NERDS #2

AHOY Comics Announces a New Way of Comics Starting in April

In 2018, upstart comics publisher AHOY Comics told us to “expect more” from our comics. They delivered exactly that with four acclaimed comics that blended comics with magazines delivering full length comic stories, prose, poetry, and cartoons from more than seventy artists and writers.

The publisher has announced a second wave of releases starting in April 2019 that features more of what we’ve come to expect and even a crossword puzzle!

AHOY Comics Second Wave includes:

BRONZE AGE BOOGIE

by writer Stuart Moore, artist Alberto Ponticelli and colorist Giulia Brusco, with a cover by Ponticelli and Brusco
April 3, 2019; $3.99

“From its jawdroppingly odd first page to its hilariously insane last, BRONZE AGE BOOGIE sets itself apart from every other comic in the best possible ways. I loved every insane minute of it.” — Matthew Rosenberg (Uncanny X-Men, The Punisher, 4 Kids Walk Into A Bank)

“It’s like skateboarding uncontrollably through 1970s comics with kaleidoscopes strapped to your eyes — but in a good way! I mean, I guess they could have called it SAVAGE SWORD OF THE PLANET OF THE DEADLY HANDS OF THE WORLDS ON THE LOOSE…but BRONZE AGE BOOGIE is, at the very least, shorter. Don’t miss it!”— Kurt Busiek (Astro City, Marvels)

What do you get when you combine all the best-loved comics genres of the 1970s: apes, monsters, Kung Fu, sword-and-sorcery, and cosmic adventure? You get BRONZE AGE BOOGIE, an intense, character-based action-fest with plenty of style! In this collector’s item first issue, young barbarian princess Brita Constantina finds herself battling a Martian invasion—in 1975 AD and BC! Back-feature: Meet MAJOR URSA, the first bear in space. But will he be a hero or a villain? Plus the usual assortment of AHOY text stories!

BRONZE AGE BOOGIE

PLANET OF THE NERDS

by writer Paul Constant, artists Alan Robinson and Randy Elliott, and colorist Felipe Sobreiro  with covers by David Nakayama
April 17, 2019; $3.99

“PLANET OF THE NERDS #1 captures the goofy joy of 80s classics like Revenge of the Nerds, Back To The Future, and Real Genius. Then, with the most elegant of plot twists, it updates the story for a different age. Smart, fast paced and beautifully drawn.”— Gene Ha (Mae)

“We all know that nerds won the great nerd/jock battle of the 80s, but what if a bunch of jocks were frozen in time and emerged not knowing the war was over? That’s the question PLANET OF THE NERDS asks, and the answer is, ironically, delightfully nerdy nerdy fun.”—Arthur Wyatt, (Judge Dredd)

“This is a really good bit.” — Daniel Kibblesmith (Santa’s Husband)

“AHOY’s offerings so far have been a celebration of a comic world won by all us geeks. Planet of the Nerds continues that creatively invigorating streak while also serving as a cleverly written, beautifully illustrated cautionary tale for non-comics bullies everywhere.” — Chris Ryall, President & Publisher/CCO, IDW Publishing

Three high school jocks in the 1980s are accidentally frozen by an experimental cryogenics device, only to be revived in the computer-driven, superhero movie-loving world of 2019–an era ruled by nerds! PLUS! A backup series explores the characters’ origins. EXTRA! Prose and pictures by the finest talents in and out of comics.

PLANET OF THE NERDS

HASHTAG: DANGER

by writer Tom Peyer, artist Chris Giarrusso, and covers by Richard Williams
May 1, 2019; $3.99

“HASHTAG: DANGER! is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and, as we all know, sliced bread is pretty great—vastly superior to unsliced bread which has to be pulled apart with your fist like an animal.”— Erik Larsen (Savage Dragon)

“AW YEAH, HASHTAG!” – Art Baltazar (Tiny Titans)

“AW YEAH, DANGER!” – Franco (Patrick the Wolf Boy)

Exploding from the pages of High Heaven, three scientific adventurers face strange creatures, lost civilizations, and supernatural threats–when they’re not too busy being complete jerks to each other. PLUS! Follow the depressing misadventures of Snelson, an over-the-hill comedian who peaked in the 90s. EXTRA! Pics, prose, and possibly poems!

Painted cover by Richard Williams (MAD, EDGAR ALLAN POE’S SNIFTER OF TERROR)

HASHTAG: DANGER

STEEL CAGE

One-Shot, featuring stories by writer Mark Waid and artist Lanna Souvanny, writer Tom Peyer and artist Alan Robinson, writer Stuart Moore and artist Peter Gross; and a cover by Elsa Charretier
June 26, 2019; $3.99

Three dazzling short “pilot” stories from AHOY’s finest – and YOU get to vote on which series continues! In “Noah Zark” by Mark Waid and Lanna Souvanny, an alien boy is kidnapped into an interplanetary zoo—and becomes the protector of the animals. In “True Identity” by Tom Peyer and Alan Robinson, we learn what secret anguish drives the most beloved superhero on Earth! And Stuart Moore and Peter Gross’s “Bright Boy” tells the grim tale of the world’s smartest human—and the havoc he leaves in his wake.

STEEL CAGE

Exclusive Preview: High Heaven #5 – The Season Finale!

High Heaven #5

(W) Tom Peyer, Austin Wilson (A) Greg Scott, Chris Giarrusso (CA) Richard Williams
In Shops: Jan 23, 2019
SRP: $3.99

Season Finale! The Archangel Gabriel fights to rescue David from heaven, but he’ll have to get through the cruel and powerful St. Peter! Plus, Vice President Pence officiates at a heartbreaking Hashtag: Danger funeral. EXTRA! Bonus illustrated prose stories! Painted cover by Richard Williams (MAD).

High Heaven #5

Review: High Heaven #2

What’s worse than being sentenced to Hell? For self-pitying David Feathers, it’s an eternity in Paradise, where he runs afoul of a monstrous angel.

Well that’s unexpected. The first issue of High Heaven was a nice send-up of those person goes to Heaven types of stories giving us a miserable lead and a Heaven that reminds us more of Eastern Europe under Communism. Writer Tom Peyer peels back the clouds in High Heaven #2 to reveal those things that didn’t quite seem right in the first issue. Heaven? Yeah, there’s more to it.

David Feathers is still a miserable lead but the second issue shows there’s some truth to his kvetching. Heaven as presented to him does suck but it’s not like he deserves what’s revealed. The world as presented is an interesting one with clear class delineations and austerity has hit where David has been placed. Is there better? Is there worse? Well, we now know the answer to that and that there is indeed some place to escape to.

What’s interesting is the theme of being happy with what you’re given and how we should shut up about it. Even in Heaven this seems to exist and makes for an interesting debate about the meaning of it all and theological implications.

The art by Greg Scott with color by Andy Troy and lettering by Rob Steen is really solid. There’s some big jumps in locations in this issue and some very different designs and feels to some characters but the team makes it all work and flow easily as one world. There’s nothing that seems out of place. It all is rather quick but each panel of what’s revealed had me linger to see what details I could see that adds to the world and story.

That’d be enough to make this a buy….

The surly science-heroes of Hashtag: Danger adopt an alien pet! Yes, there’s a backup comic too also written by Peyer with art by Chris Giarrusso. It’s a twisted story that had me laughing and the weirdness of it all betrays Giarrusso’s style. Think, a real messed up Archie and you get a better idea of what’s presented.

And that’s not all!

There’s prose and Q&As from Carol Lay, Hart Seely, Kek-W, Austin Wilson, and featuring art by Lay, Rick Geary, and Elliott Mattice. All of it is bonus to what’s already a great issue of comics.

It’s another solid issue that feels like it’s even better than the first and has me super excited to see what’s next. AHOY Comics has something special here not just delivering solid main stories but packing so much into each issue that they really feel like you’re getting your money’s worth. Another must get from this upstart publisher.

Story: Tom Peyer, Carol Lay, Hart Seely, Kek-W, Austin Wilson
Art: Greg Scott, Chris Giarrusso, Carol Lay, Rick Geary, Elliott Mattice

Color: Andy Troy Lettering: Rob Steen
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy

AHOY Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Preview: High Heaven #1

High Heaven #1

Story: Tom Peyer, Grant Morrison, Shannon Wheeler
Art: Greg Scott, Chris Giarrusso, Rick Geary, Shannon Wheeler
Color: Andy Troy Cover: Richard Williams

Chronic malcontent David Weathers dies and goes to Heaven—where everything is terrible, and everybody hates a complainer. HIGH HEAVEN is a savage satire by writer Tom Peyer (Hourman, Batman ’66) with art by Greg Scott (Black Hood, X-Files), colored by Andy Troy.

Review: High Heaven #1

Chronic malcontent David Weathers dies and goes to Heaven—where everything is terrible, and everybody hates a complainer.

It’s hard to pull of entertainment where the main character is unlikeable. The consumer doesn’t want to cheer for the person. And at times it can drag storywise. Writer Tom Peyer has done an impressive thing with High Heaven #1 as the main character David Weathers is someone I myself want to beat up. Despite the fact I want to punch David myself, I still want to see where this miniseries goes. It’s satire and also over the top too.

No one likes David it seems and due to that, we the reader don’t feel too bad. We’re not supposed to cheer for him. We’re supposed to dislike him. But, through some subtle choices we feel sorry for him too. There’s moments we the reader can relate to.

By the time the story wraps up, I’ve forgotten about the dislike of David and bought into the direction the series takes us. It’s unexpected. It’s original. And, it should be an entertaining subject to drive the rest of the series.

Greg Scott provides the art with Andy Troy on colors and it’s a solid combination. The art is perfect in its focus and how much we’re shown. The comic could easily have gone over the top, for instance the death scene, but instead uses less is more. It allows our imagination to fill in some gaps making it that much more absurd and funny. Heaven too when we get there is rendered in such a way that the details is brings the humor of it all and begs the reader to pay attention.

But not only do we get the main story we get so much more for the price of an average comic. Peyer also delivers a second story with art by Chris Giarrusso called Hastag: Danger. The topic of the comic feels like it’s all over the place and it continues my only negative about AHOY Comics in that not all of the “more” matches the main story in tone or focus. That includes a cartoon by Shannon Wheeler and a prose story by Grant Morrison with art by Rick Geary. All are very good but they seem to be a bit scattershot in their tone and focus. Wheeler’s humorous comic is the exception as it too has a religious focus like the main story.

AHOY Comics continues to deliver with their second release in High Heaven. This is a comic company that burst on the scene with pretty big promises and has delivered with two issues. You feel like you’re getting a lot for your money and all of it is quality. Not only do I look forward to this series’ next issue but I’m also front and center to see what else AHOY has up their sleeve.

Story: Tom Peyer, Grant Morrison, Shannon Wheeler
Art: Greg Scott, Chris Giarrusso, Rick Geary, Shannon Wheeler
Color: Andy Troy Cover: Richard Williams
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

AHOY Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Check Out These Previews of What We Can Expect From AHOY Comics

Earlier today we brought the news of the launch of AHOY Comics, a new publisher who has already announced four series with an impressive group of creators. Now, we have a look at the actual series that we’ll be able to enjoy starting in September.

THE WRONG EARTH

6 Issue mini-series by Tom Peyer and Jamal Igle

AHOY Comics launches with a biting superhero satire written by Tom Peyer (Captain Kid, Hourman), penciled by Jamal Igle (Black, Supergirl), inked by Juan Castro (Transformers),and colored by Andy Troy. On one world, Dragonflyman and his sidekick Stinger enjoy a life of adventure. On another Earth, the Dragonfly hunts criminal parasites like a lethal exterminator. But what happens when these two heroes change places?

On sale on September 12, 2018, THE WRONG EARTH debut issue is a full color, 40 page comic book magazine retailing for $3.99, with extras including:

  • A  prose story by comics legend Grant Morrison: ‘HUD’ HORNET’S HOLIDAY IN HELL, illustrated by best-selling artist Rob Steen
  • A mock “Golden Age” Stinger solo story, by Paul Constant and Frank Cammuso
  • A cartoon by Shannon Wheeler

HIGH HEAVEN

5 Issue Mature Readers mini-series by Tom Peyer and Greg Scott

Chronic malcontent David Weathers dies and goes to Heaven—where everything is terrible, and everybody hates a complainer. HIGH HEAVEN is a savage satire by writer Tom Peyer (Hourman, Batman ’66) with art by Greg Scott (Black Hood, X-Files), colored by Andy Troy.

On sale, September 26, 2018, HIGH HEAVEN’s debut issue is a full color, 40 page comic book magazine retailing for $3.99, with a cover by Mad Magazine’s Richard Williams and extras including:

  • A HASHTAG: DANGER backup story by Peyer, with art by Chris Giarrusso (G-Man, Mini-Marvels)
  • A cartoon by Shannon Wheeler
  • An all-new prose story by comics legend Grant Morrison: FESTIVE FUNTIMES AT THE NEW WORLD’S FAIR, illustrated by acclaimed artist Rick Geary

In October, AHOY Comics will launch a creator owned title:

CAPTAIN GINGER

4 issue mini series by Stuart Moore and June Brigman

When the human race died out, the cats inherited the Earth! Or at least one starship. Now the intrepid Captain Ginger struggles to keep his fellow felines united against a hostile universe. Thirty-five pages of comic adventure—with a bite—by writer Stuart Moore (Deadpool the Duck, Batman: Noir Alley) artist June Brigman (Power Pack), inker Roy Richardson and colorist Veronica Gandini.

On sale, October 17, 2018, CAPTAIN GINGER’s debut issue is a full color, 48 page comic book magazine retailing for $3.99, with extras including:

  • An all-new text story by comics legend Grant Morrison: THE ELECTRIC SKY BEAR THAT INSPIRED BEN FRANKLIN, illustrated by Phil Hester
  • A cartoon by Shannon Wheeler

October will also see the debut of an all star anthology series:

EDGAR ALLAN POE’S SNIFTER OF TERROR

6 issue Mature Readers mini series

EDGAR ALLAN POE mangles classic tales and brand new stories in this cross between Drunk History and Tales from the Crypt! First, meet AHOY’s own alcohol-damaged version of Poe in The Facts in The Case of M. Valdemar, adapted by Tom Peyer (Batman ‘66) and drawn by Fred Harper. Then: Sugary cereal meets vampirism in Dark Chocolate, by writer Mark Russell (The Flintstones) and artist Peter Snejbjerg (Starman).

On sale, October 31, 2018, EDGAR ALLAN POE’S SNIFTER OF TERROR’s debut issue is a full color, 40 page comic book magazine retailing for $3.99, with extras including:

  • Hunt Emerson’s take on The Black Cat
  • Unsettling verse by Cienna Madrid illustrated by Carly Wright

Should We Expect More from Comics? New Publisher AHOY Promises Exactly That.

This falls sees the launch of a brand new comic publisher AHOY Comics who already boasts an impressive lineup of creators involved. Founded by journalist Hart Seely, the publisher already has landed Grant Morrison, Mark Russell, Jamal Igle, and more. Tom Peyer is the Editor-in-Chief and will also be contributing a series and Stuart Moore is described as AHOY’s “dark ops” manager. AHOY stands for Abundance (more pages per issue), Humor, Originality and Yes (Yes to comics, more pages, collected editions, meaningful design, dramatic art, shipping on schedule, enjoyment, etc).

Seely said the releases aren’t so much issues as “comic book magazines” which will feature a full-length lead story and back-up material including cartoons, prose, and poetry from mainstream and indie creators, as well as journalists, prose writers, and New Yorker cartoonists. Seely is an award-winning reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard. His humor and satire have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, National Lampoon, and on National Public Radio. He is the editor of Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald H. Rumsfeld and coeditor (with Tom Peyer) of O Holy Cow! The Selected Verse of Phil Rizzuto.

The publisher launches this September with two series. The Wrong Earth is a six-issue miniseries by Tom Peyer and Jamal Igle. In it, two heroes — one an adventure-loving crimefighter with a kid sidekick, the other a ruthless vigilante — trade places and find themselves trapped in worlds they never made. In High Heaven, a five-issue mini-series aimed at mature readers, Tom Peyer and Greg Scott debut a chronic malcontent who finds himself in an afterlife where everyone hates a complainer. The Wrong Earth debuts September 12.

Both of those series launch with 40 page first issues. The Wrong Earth features a prose story by Grant Morrison along with material from Shannon Wheeler, Paul Constant, and Frank Cammuso. High Heaven features another prose story from Morrison, with another cartoon from Wheeler and a back-up strip from Peyer and artist Chris Giarrusso.

In October AHOY launches two additional titles: Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Terror, a six-issue anthology described as a “cross between Drunk History and Tales from the Crypt . That 40 page first issue features material by Peyer, Mark Russell and cartoonist Hunt Emerson. Captain Ginger is a four-issue series about a spaceship piloted by cats after the human race has died out, by Stuart Moore and June Brigman. That first issue will include a prose story by Morrison, illustrated by Phil Hester, and a cartoon from Shannon Wheeler.

Future creators involved include Peter Milligan, Mariah McCourt, Rachel Pollack, Gary Erskine, and Roger Stern.

Preview: Skyward #8

SKYWARD# 8

Writer(s): Jeremy Dale
Artist Name(s): Jeremy Dale
Cover Artist(s): Jeremy Dale (reg.) Chris Giarrusso (var.)
32 pgs./ All Ages/ FC
$3.99/ $4.99 Variant

The Runaway hit series continues! At last, the decision is made…WAR! From rising star creator Jeremy Dale (GI Joe, Marvel Kapow!), this issue also features a stellar homage variant cover by Chris Giarrusso (G-Man, Mini Marvels).

skyward 8

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