Tag Archives: marissa louise

Recognized #1 is a good introduction to LGBTQ+ history

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Recognized #1

Recognized is an anthology series that celebrates LGBTQ+ heroes like Alain Locke, Sylvia Rivera, Bayard Rustin, and Larry Kramer. Originally a team-up between the New York City Department of Education and Good Trouble Productions, it delves into their impactful legacies, featuring stories by a fantastic lineup of comic creators. It’s a solid comic to begin to dive into the history of the movement while also providing answers as to where to go to next to learn more.

The use of comics as a way to teach is an ever growing movement with so much potential. The concept of comics being used to cover history or help individuals learn concepts goes back decades but it’s recently where its become more accepted. Good Trouble Productions is one of the comic publishers leading the movement and they have teamed up with the NYC Department of Education for a series of comics to teach history and civics.

Recognized #1 is a comics anthology that serves as a solid introduction to four individuals in the LGBTQ+ community who helped make history in numerous ways. Each story focuses on students being transported in some way to learn and discover more. Alain Locke, Sylvia Rivera, Bayard Rustin, and Larry Kramer are the focus of this first issue taking use through the 1900s and delivering the basics as to what their role in history was.

Where Recognized shines is it gives a truth to their experiences warts and all. Some are recognized today as leaders for the LGBTQ+ movement but during their time, they were shunned by the community. It’s an interesting call out in two of the four stories showing an unvarnished truth that even within noble movements, there was discrimination and bigotry.

Recognized is focused on being an introduction. The writers deftly focus on the key points and key information about each moment in history giving the basics and packing a lot in to each segment. The art is accessible and even with varied artists, the look of each works together. There’s no jarring switching of style and they overall work together to create a smooth reading experience. Each chapter as well is broken up by beautiful artwork that’d each be fantastic as posters.

Recognized #1 takes us through about 60 years of LGBTQ+ history, from the Harlem Renaissance to the AIDS movement. Each is focused on an individual that many might not know about, but know about what they created or who they themselves helped. It’s a fantastic introduction to individuals who are just getting the recognition they deserve and acts as a fantastic guide to learn even more about them all.

Story: Danny Lore, Valerie Complex, Clay Cane Art: Brandt & Stein, June Kim, Nicholas Orr, Ellea Bird
Color: Marissa Louise Letterer: Clayton Cowles, Joshua Reed
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation: Buy

Good Trouble Productions provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Register! #1 teaches the hard fought battles to expand voting rights

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Register! #1

Register! by Andrew Aydin and Valentine De Landro is a captivating journey through American constitutional amendments, focusing on the 26th and 15th. It blends history with contemporary narratives, offering an inspiring read for all ages.

The use of comics to educate individuals has been a growing movement that has really picked up momentum in recent years. Register! is a comic series from Good Trouble Productions working with the New York City Department of Education to teach American history, specifically the history of the right to vote.

Often when you see a comic on the topic, it’s focused more on why one should vote and how sacred of a right and responsibility it is. It’s goal is action, not education. Register! #1 is interesting in that its focus is the history of the right to vote but at the same time, it reminds readers why voting is so special and how powerful it can be.

Aydin is part of the team behind the graphic novel series March and Run, each telling the story of Cong. John Lewis and the Civil Rights Movement. He’s shown he can both entertain and educate and that shines with Register! #1. The issue gives the basics of lowering the voting age to 18 and also expanding the right to vote to Black men after the Civil War. It takes readers through the history, and more importantly the pushback and fight to deny those rights.

Where Aydin’s focus is really interesting is the fight against expanding voting rights. He highlights how lowering the voting age took years to get done and that while the country was willing to let 18 to 20 year olds die on the battlefield after being drafted, they couldn’t exercise their voice by voting. When it comes to 15th Amendment, its the language used that’s interesting as the expansion of those rights were also steeped deeply in racism. Aydin does an excellent job of making the history interesting, dramatic, and entertaining, easing the ability to get sucked into it and learn.

The art by Valentine De Landro is solid. With color by Marissa Louise and lettering by Clayton Cowles and Josh Reed, the comic takes you into the time period for each Amendment. I can’t say if the details are right, but it feels right and helps add to the immersion to the educational experience.

Register! #1 is a solid comic teaching about two Amendments and debates that feel like they reverberate today in other ways. There’s discussion of further lowering the voting age and there’s battles to make it more difficult for individuals to vote. It’s a comic that does a great job in both entertaining and educating readers.

Story: Andrew Aydin Art: Valentine De Landro
Color: Marissa Louise Letterer: Clayton Cowles, Josh Reed
Research by: Joshua Rogin, Andrew Aydin
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation: Buy

Good Trouble Productions provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: TFAW

Hello Darkness #1 says hello to a third printing

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BOOM! Studios has announced that Hello Darkness #1 First Printing and Hello Darkness #1 Second Printing have both sold out at the distributor level! This issue is a terrifying start to a brand new ongoing anthology series featuring what BOOM! Studios is known for–the best in modern Horror, Fantasy, and Mystery, not to mention the darkest stories yet from a murderer’s row of world class creators including R.L. Stine, Francesco Francavilla, Garth Ennis, Becky Cloonan, James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera, John Arcudi, Ryan Sook, Wes Craig, Cullen Bunn, Daniel Bayliss, Sas Milledge, Sarah Gailey, Liana Kangas, Marguerite Bennett, Luana Vecchio, Michael Conrad, Martín Morazzo, Andy Lanning, Trevor Hairsine, Steve Orlando, A.L. Kaplan, Genevieve Valentine, Ming Doyle, Jude Ellison S. Doyle, Letizia Cadonici, Sarah Andersen, Chuck Tingle, Robert Hack, and more! Everything from primal fears to modern political horrors will be explored, in the classic style of Creepy and Eerie and the contemporary chills of Black Mirror.

In addition, a deadly new Something is Killing the Children story unfolds across multiple issues of the series, along with a bone-rattling new serialized tale called The War by Garth Ennis and Becky Cloonan for the first 7 issues!

In response to the overwhelming support from retailers and fans, BOOM! Studios has announced Hello Darkness #1 Third Printing (JUN248460), featuring brand new cover art by Reiko Murakami, and a blank sketch cover (JUN248461) available in stores August 28, 2024.

HELLO DARKNESS #1 THIRD PRINTING

EC Comics’ Epitaphs From the Abyss #1 kicks off some classic horror

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Epitaphs From the Abyss #1

From the publisher that drove Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, Haunt of Fear, and many more into the depraved hearts of an unsuspecting world, the immortal EC Comics returns! Epitaphs From the Abyss #1 kicks off the first ALL-NEW series in nearly 70 years! But, in this age of gore-porn and brutal, scary, horror, does the classic still deliver chills and thrills? It’s a whole new era of terror!

Featuring four tales to keep you up at night, Epitaphs From the Abyss #1 is a fun return to classic horror. It’s twists and turns that’ll get you to think more than make you afraid of unknown noises, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun.

Kicking off with “Killer Spec” from J. Holtham, Jorge Fornes, and Dan Jackson, Epitaphs From the Abyss #1 is predictable at times, but still has more than enough to surprise readers. It’s pretty easy to see where the debut story goes but it’s the ending and twists and turns that entertain in an unexpected way. I have no fond memories of EC Comics and remember HBO’s Tales From the Crypt at times scaring the shit out of me as a kid, but I appreciated the “lessons” one would learn at the end. While The Twilight Zone delivered parables with a sci-fi twist, EC to me was the horror cousin of that. Here we get to see where jealousy takes a wannabe writer and makes readers wonder how meta this tale is…

“Senator, Senator” is perfect for this election year. Chris Condon, Peter Krause, and Michelle Madsen explore why an elected official flip-flops on a key issue. Again, like the opening story, it’s not hard to guess where the story is going but it’s the details that stand out. It delivers a nice jab at the current political climate.

“Family Values” by Stephanie Phillips, Phil Hester, Travis Hymel, and Marissa Louise feels like something we’d see in a modern day horror film. Hell, we might have. But, the ending is damn near perfect in multiple ways. A father must choose which family member to kill, or himself, while they’re taken hostage by unknown individuals. Why and for what purpose? You’ll need to read and find out!

Finally, “US vs. US” is another fantastic jab, pun intended, at the current state of the United States. Two individuals must take on a group of freaks and things aren’t what they appear. Brian Azzarello, Vlad Legostaev, and Brittany Peery deliver a story that is very unexpected in the direction it goes and what’s revealed.

Epitaphs From the Abyss #1 might feel tame compared to today’s horror, it’s much more comedic and less about scares, but it mines the classic concept of EC Comics perfectly delivering four tales that’ll entertain and get you to think. Each is varied in story, art, and tone, and each delivers unexpected moments that’ll keep readers guessing. It’s rare when there’s no weak stories in an anthology, and Epitaphs From the Abyss #1 has none. It’s a fantastic start to the classic brand that’ll hopefully breathe new life into this type of horror.

Story: J. Holtham, Chris Condon, Stephanie Phillips, Brian Azzarello
Art: Jorge Fornes, Peter Krause, Phil Hester, Vlad Legostaev
Ink: Travis Hymel Color: Dan Jackson, Michelle Madsen, Marissa Louise, Brittany Peer
Letterer: Richard Starkings, Tyler Smith
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Oni Press provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle

Hello Darkness delivers a terrifying and bloody anthology

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BOOM! Studios has revealed a chilling first look at Hello Darkness #1, the terrifying start to a brand new ongoing anthology series featuring what BOOM! Studios is known for–the best in modern Horror, Fantasy, and Mystery, not to mention the darkest stories yet from a murderer’s row of world class creators including R.L. Stine, Francesco Francavilla, Garth Ennis, Becky Cloonan, James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera, John Arcudi, Ryan Sook, Cullen Bunn, Sas Milledge, Sarah Gailey, Liana Kangas, Marguerite Bennett, Michael Conrad, Martín Morazzo, Andy Lanning, Trevor Hairsine, Steve Orlando, A.L. Kaplan, Genevieve Valentine, Jude Ellison S. Doyle, Letizia Cadonici, Sarah Andersen, and more! Everything from primal fears to modern political horrors will be explored, in the classic style of Creepy and Eerie and the contemporary chills of Black Mirror.

In addition, a deadly new Something is Killing the Children story unfolds in the first 6 issues, along with a bone-rattling new serialized tale called The War by Garth Ennis and Becky Cloonan for the first 7 issues!

Hello Darkness #1 features a main cover by Paolo Rivera, and variant covers by Jenny Frison, Peach Momoko, Jeff Dekal, and a Blank Sketch Cover.

Packed into Hello Darkness #1 is The War #1 written by Garth Ennis, illustrated by Becky Cloonan, colors by Tamra Bonvillain, letters by Pat Brosseau; Something is Killing the Children: A Monster Walks Into a Bar #1 written by James Tynion IV, illustrated by Werther Dell’Edera, colors by Miquel Muerto, letters by AndWorld Design; The Foster written by Steve Orlando, illustrated by A.L. Kaplan, colors by Marissa Louise, letters by Jodie Troutman; The Siren by Sarah Andersen; I Can’t Take You Anywhere #1 by Robert Hack; Contagious written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle, illustrated by Letizia Cadonici, colors by Alessandro Santoro, letters by Becca Carey; and Stay In Your Lane written by Dave Cook, illustrated by David Cousens, colors by Angel De Santiago, letters by Nathan Kempf.

Hello Darkness #1 will be available in comic shops July 24, 2024.

Hello Darkness #1

Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer #5 teases an origin and delivers some solid action

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Following the collateral damage from issue #3, slave owners of the Wallace Plantation team up with a demonic entity to hunt Tubman. And a tease of Tubman’s origin!

Story: David Crownson
Art: Courtland Ellis, Marissa Louise

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Atomic Empire

Preview: Monomyth

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Monomyth

(W) David Hazan (A) Cecilia Lo Valvo, Federico Bertoni
(C) Marissa Louise (L) Lucas Gattoni

What if the secret school of magic you were chosen for…was trying to kill you?

Magic is all but extinct. When the last ailing wizard casts a final desperate spell to summon the descendants of ancient bloodlines to a school for magic now in disrepair…those chosen ones find a horror of the likes they’ve never experienced. They will have to confront the deepest parts of themselves and defeat each other in order to survive the ordeal.

Monomyth

IDW unleashes horror with Golgotha Motor Mountain

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Buckle up for a chaotic ride through a cosmic nightmare in the countryside. IDW Publishing presents Golgotha Motor Mountain! It’s from writers Lonnie Nadler and Matthew Erman with art by Robbie Rodriguez and colorist Marissa Louise, and lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

Golgotha Motor Mountain is a mind-bending six issue limited series which follows two brothers, Elwood and Vernon, as their life is abruptly turned into trippy terror when an interstellar rock crashes through their meth lab. With one batch left to deliver before they can start a new life, the duo have the bright idea to mash the cosmic rock and pass it off as drugs, unknowingly turning all different kinds of terrible people – neo-nazis, corrupt cops, dangerous addicts – into terrifying mutants. Can the siblings survive the madness and escape Golgotha once and for all?

Every issue will feature a backup short manga that is in-universe to the story, illustrated by Nikola Čižmešija. 

Golgotha Motor Mountain #1 is on sale March 6, 2024 and features primary covers by Rodriguez and manga variant covers by Čižmešija. 

Golgotha Motor Mountain #1

Preview: Monomyth #6

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Monomyth #6

(W) David Hazan (A) Federico Bertoni, Cecilia Lo Valvo
(C) Marissa Louise (L) Lucas Gattoni

Our heroes’ journey nears its end in a secret chamber at the heart of the castle. Their magic, cunning, and fortitude is tested to the very limit.

Monomyth is an all-new mini-series from the mind of David Hazan (Nottingham).

Monomyth #6

Preview: Monomyth #5

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Monomyth #5

(W) David Hazan (A) Cecilia Lo Valvo, Federico Bertoni
(C) Marissa Louise (L) Lucas Gattoni (CA) Shane Connery Volk, Luca Romano

Some wizards go on the offensive in an attempt to undermine their adversary’s power. Unfortunately, others follow a different path and are seduced by dark magic.

Monomyth #5
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