scott kolins Archives - Page 12 of 12

Tag Archives: scott kolins

Darkseid War Begins April 29

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Brett

The first chapter in the epic “Darkseid War” saga begins with Justice League #40, on sale April 29!

The dreaded Darkseid squares off against the Anti-Monitor in a battle for the cosmos, with the Justice League smack dab in the middle! Written by Geoff Johns, issue 40 also introduces a new villain that has a strange connection to Darkseid and a certain Justice League member… In addition to killer art from Justice League regular artist Jason Fabok, this issue also includes contributions from an all-star lineup of guest artists, including: Phil Jimenez, Dan Jurgens, Scott Kolins, Jim Lee, Kevin Maguire and Jerry Ordway!

Dark Horse Delivers Ten New Series This Summer

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Brett

At Emerald City Comicon, Dark Horse Comics announced ten new comic series that’ll debut this summer.

Barb Wire #1

Chris Warner (W)
Patrick Olliffe (A)
On Sale in July

Nail-hard tough and drop-dead gorgeous, Barb Wire is the baddest bounty hunter on the mean streets of Steel Harbor, where gangsters can lift bulldozers and leap rusting factories in a single bound. The hunting is stupid good and the bounties are hella big—if Barb lives long enough to collect!

King Tiger #1

Randy Stradley (W)
Doug Wheatley (A)
On Sale in August

Blood, death, and fire—the darkest kind of magic. A monstrous secret from King Tiger’s past has found the mystic warrior, but can Tiger’s skills and sorcery triumph against an unthinkable supernatural obscenity linked to his own destiny? If the Tiger falls, the Dragon will rise!

Negative Space #1

Ryan K Lindsay (W)
Owen Gieni (A)
On Sale in July

When one man’s writer’s block gets in the way of his suicide note, he goes for a walk to clear his head and soon uncovers a century-old conspiracy dedicated to creating and mining the worst lows of human desperation. A corporation has manipulated his life purely so they can farm his suicide note as a sadness artifact that will be packed and shipped to ancient underwater creatures who feed off our strongest and most base emotions. Our hero partners with a cult intent on exposing the corporation, and only a suicide mission can solve the whole mess.

The Tomorrows #1

Curt Pires (W)
Jason Copland (A)
On Sale in July

A bold new speculative-fiction comic from the mind of writer Curt Pires, each issue illustrated by a different brilliant artist!

The future: art is illegal. Everything everyone ever posted online has been weaponized against them. The reign of the Corporation is quickly becoming as absolute as it is brutal—unless the Tomorrows can stop it.

They told you the counterculture was dead. They were wrong. Welcome to the new reality.

Death Head #1

Zack Keller, Nick Keller (W)
Joanna Estep (A)
On Sale in July

When Niles and Justine Burton go camping to get a break from their stressful lives, they expect to find peace . . . not an abandoned village hiding an ancient evil. In a turn of events ripped straight from a horror movie, a brutal killer wearing a plague doctor’s mask begins hunting Niles, Justine, and their two kids. Who is the Plague Doctor? What does he want? And how will the family survive?

Zodiac Starforce #1

Kevin Panetta (W)
Paulina Ganucheau (A)
On Sale in August

They’re an elite group of teenage girls with magical powers who have sworn to protect our planet against dark creatures . . . as long as they can get out of class! Known as the Zodiac Starforce, these high-school girls aren’t just combating math tests. They’re also battling monsters—not your typical afterschool activity! But when an evil force from another dimension infects team leader Emma, she must work with her team of magically powered friends to save herself—and the world—from the evil Diana and her mean-girl minions!

From Kevin Panetta (Bravest Warriors) and Paulina Ganucheau (TMNT: New Animated Adventures, Bravest Warriors), this super-fun and heartfelt story of growing up and friendship—with plenty of magical-girl fighting action—delivers the most exciting new ensemble cast in comics!

Adam.3 #1

Scott Kolins (W/A)
On Sale in August

Award-winning writer and artist Scott Kolins (Past Aways, The Flash, The Avengers, Solomon Grundy) premieres Adam.3.

On a futuristic island paradise populated by talking animals and monitored by orbiting control satellites, the peaceful lives of Adam and his wife Skye are troubled by growing tension between Adam and his previous son, Beo. The situation goes from bad to worse when an alien invader infects the animals—turning them into aliens themselves. When Beo is captured, Adam must battle his transformed animal friends to save his son—and their island home!

Power Cubed #1

Aaron Lopresti (W/A)
On Sale in September

On his eighteenth birthday, Kenny’s inventor father gives him a phenomenal piece of matter-reinterpreting technology, attracting the attention of a bumbling Nazi scientist and an elite government agent. Aaron Lopresti delivers a comical coming-of-age tale in a fantastic sci-fi universe!

The Steam Man #1

Mark Miller (W)
Joe R. Lansdale (W)
Piotr Kowalski (A)
On Sale in October

The Old West (but not as we know it): Giant robots that run on steam power are created to take down invading Martians and armies of killer albino apes in an all-out brawl. The Steam Man, a giant metal man operated by a team of monster hunters, seems to have the town protected and the West under control, until a crazed and powerful vampire comes to town to bring forth the apocalypse.

Chimichanga: Sorrow of the World’s Worst Face #1

Eric Powell (W)
Stephanie Buscema (A)
On Sale in late 2015

Wrinkle’s Traveling Circus’s most adorable bearded girl and her savory-named beast are back, and there is a new act in store! Come one, come all to the Sorrow of the World’s Worst Face! But beware: those who look behind the curtain are in for an awful treat, and it’s not just his face we’re talkin’ about!

SDCC 2014: Dark Horse Kicks Off the Show Announcing 12 Creator-Owned Series

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Brett

Dark Horse Comics is kicking this year’s San Diego Comic-Con off right, announcing twelve new creator-owned series from twelve creative teams that will take the world’s most popular art form to new levels through 2015!

Colder: The Bad Seed

Writer: Paul Tobin
Artist: Juan Ferreyra
On sale October 22, 2014

Life goes on for Declan Thomas after his deadly encounter with the psychotic Nimble Jack, but Declan’s strange powers continue to develop, offering him a profound connection with the nature of insanity. Little does he know that the malevolent Swivel wishes to pick up where Nimble Jack left off!

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.

Writer: Mike Mignola with John Arcudi
Artist: Alexander Maleev
On sale December 3, 2014

A bizarre series of murders and rumors of something worse lead Professor Bruttenholm to send a young Hellboy to a Brazilian village on his first mission. Hellboy and a small group of agents uncover something terrible in the shadows of a sixteenth-century Portuguese fortress . . .

Lady Killer

Writers: Joëlle Jones, Jamie S. Rich
Artist: Joëlle Jones
On sale January 7, 2015

The Schullers are every bit the American family: father, mother, and twin girls. Daddy has a good job, and though he works in the city, he can afford a nice house for his family in the suburbs. It’s a good place for the kids to grow up, away from the crime and questionable morals of city life. But what if the crime and the violence aren’t that far away? What if Mom isn’t just a housekeeper and a cook, but she’s also a highly paid professional assassin?

Dead Vengeance

Writer: Bill Morrison
Artist: Stéphane Roux
On sale January 21, 2015

It’s 1940, and a phony body on exhibit in a carnival sideshow suddenly springs to life and shambles away. Not so phony after all, he is John Doe, radio commentator and archenemy of Detroit’s notorious Purple Gang. But why did he disappear in 1930, and why did the mayor, the mob, and the cops all want him dead?

EI8HT

Creators: Rafael Albuquerque and Mike Johnson
Coming February 2015

Welcome to the Meld, an inhospitable dimension in time where Joshua, a chrononaut, finds himself trapped. With no memory or feedback from the team of scientists that sent him there, he can’t count on anything but his heart and a stranger’s voice to guide him to his destiny.

Neverboy

Writer: Shaun Simon
Artist: Tyler Jenkins
Colorist: Kelly Fitzpatrick
On sale March 4, 2015!

In what world do you belong?

Neverboy, an abandoned imaginary friend, wants the real world. Julian Drag, a struggling artist, wants the imaginary.
When Neverboy’s drugs wear off, the surreal hangover he’s been running from sets in. And a trip down the rabbit hole is just what Julian has been dying for. When these two meet, the real and the imaginary worlds collide in absolute chaos. Julian and Neverboy, the dreamer and the dream, will have to face who they are in order to put things right again.

The Black Hammer

Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Dean Ormston
On sale March 11, 2015

They were the greatest heroes of a lost era. But the age of heroes is over, and Abraham Slam, Col. Weird, Golden Gail, Barbalien, and Madame Dragonfly have been wiped out of continuity! Following a cosmic battle known only as the Event, the heroes awoke on a farm in a small town they are unable to leave, with the massive iron hammer of a fallen teammate the only reminder of the world they came from. As their tenth anniversary on Black Hammer Farm nears, they’ve largely given up on any chance of return, until the arrival of the Black Hammer’s daughter throws their new existence into chaos! The Black Hammer is part human drama, part multiverse-spanning adventure, and part journey into the DNA of the superhero genre!

PastAways

Writer: Matt Kindt
Artist: Scott Kolins
On sale March 18, 2015

When a deep-time research mission goes awry, four future explorers find themselves stranded in our present, where a side effect of their mission grants them unexpected immortality! As further time breaches cause dinosaurs to appear in Greece and buildings from the future to crash into Toronto, the unlikely heroes find themselves humanity’s best line of defense from the onslaught of time itself! The team achieves worldwide fame, and their adventures become more and more bizarre, even as their failure to get back to their own time leads to infighting and catastrophe!

Rebels

Writer: Brian Wood
Artist: Andrea Mutti
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Cover Artist: Tula Lotay
Coming April 2015

From Brian Wood, the creator of DMZ, Northlanders, and The Massive, comes Rebels, a gritty, ground-level look at the men and women who fought to win independence from tyranny and those who would stand in their way.
Cocreator Andrea Mutti (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) illustrates the opening story, introducing us to the Green Mountain Boys, America’s first militia, and one young couple’s journey across the battlefields of New England. Colorist Jordie Bellaire and cover artist Tula Lotay complete the team with gorgeous palettes and striking illustrations.

Harrow County

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Tyler Crook
On sale April 8, 2015

“Her earliest memories were of the taste of freshly turned earth and the bleating of goats.”
There’s them that say you ought not get lost in Harrow County. Because once you lose your way among the pines and briar thistles and those sweet-smelling scuppernong, you won’t never find your way back. Born on the very day a hateful witch was put to violent death, seventeen-year-old Emmy has always felt a bit lost . . . but never alone. The deep, dark woods surrounding her home crawl with ghosts, goblins, and the restless dead. These haints whisper to Emmy, promising her that she has great power, warning her that the people of Harrow County want her dead.

Alabaster: The Good, the Bad, and the Bird

Writer: Caitlín R. Kiernan
Artist: Joëlle Jones
On sale May 20, 2015

A year after Dancy Flammarion’s death in a burning barn, her seraph comes to collect her from a hell of her own creation. A new evil haunts the sun-scorched back roads and ghost towns of the American South: murderous twins who command a legion of ghouls. Once again, Dancy must face down demons, both those who walk the world unchallenged and those in her own shattered mind.

Fight Club 2

Writer: Chuck Palahniuk
Artist: Cameron Stewart
Cover Artist: David Mack
Coming May 2015

The first rule is you don’t talk about it.

Review: Mars Attacks: Classics Obliterated (One-Shot), Larfleeze #1

Posted on July 1, 2013 by

Mars Attacks: Classics Obliterated (One-Shot)

When I was a kid, I was scared pantless by the 1996 Tim Burton film Mars Attacks!, which featured creepy, bumbling, murdering Martians, a human-headed dog, and, though a comedy-horror film, was nothing but terrifying to me. It’s not scary anymore…just a little unnerving, but the franchise as carried on by IDW into our favorite medium here at Graphic Policy captures the ridiculously violent, funny nature of that movie and its inspiration, the 1960s trading card series of the same name (sans “!”).

But I haven’t really been a fan of the on-going comic; I find it amusing, sometimes laughable, but really nothing more than a distraction from my usual pile of beloved series, and so I haven’t really followed the Mars Attacks comics since issue #9. But I’m a sucker for adaptations of classics, and I just had to give the one-shot Mars Attacks: Classics Obliterated a try.

This special issue tackles three classics: Melville’s Moby-Dick (1851), Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), and Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719), giving a special twist to each, and presented by three separate artistic teams.

While this sounds promising, unfortunately, I only found the Moby-Dick adaptation at all appealing, and that mostly a result of the sketched-look of John McCrea‘s pencils and the unique feel of Phil Hester‘s writing. Hester places Melville directly into the story, a facet of adaptations I rather enjoy, because it’s sort of entertaining to think of the writer as having actually experienced the thing being written about. In addition, Hester is an incredibly talented writer, as his script shows, and this pairs unbelievably well with McCrea’s vivid portrayal of the fervor of Captain Abraham for catching the Whale.

On the other hand, Beau Smith and Kelley Jones‘ Jekyll and Hyde (or Jackal and Snide, as they adapt it) is an uncomfortably modern take on the tale, which I found awkward and not as well written, despite a pretty funny twist when the Martians get ahold of Jekyll’s monster-making serum. This story is easily overlooked, in my (not so expert) opinion.

Neil Kleid and Carlos Valenzuela expertly adapt Robinson Crusoe, creating a stranded, lone-maddened Martian that meets up with the eponymous character. This adaptation is also well written, and the art equally likeable, but it seemed to be lacking the pizazz that drew me into the first story. I’ll admit, however, that while Hester and McCrea’s Melville story was unevenly paced, ending rather abruptly, Kleid paces the story so that by its conclusion, the reader is satisfied and not wanting. May this is why it adds up to very little: there’s nothing left to be desired.

If you’re a fan of Mars Attacks or any of the classics adapted herein, you might want to check this out, but otherwise this review will probably satisfy any curiosity you have and leave you with $7.99 in your pocket. On the whole, it seems a half-hearted knock-off of the recent Deadpool: Classics Killustrated, both in tone and design, but lacking in the same quality and inspiration.

Story: Phil Hester, Beau Smith, Neil Kleid Art: John McCrea, Kelley Jones, Carlos Valenzuela
Story: 6 Art: 7 Overall: 6 Recommendation: Pass

Larfleeze #1

This review is partly in response to Brett’s review, which you can find here, but also because I really wanted to put my two cents in on this start-off issue to what I hope will be a series longer than the short-lived Sword of Sorcery which just finished up, and which also deserved a longer run. And, because I believe Larfleeze as it is here, and as it was begun in the back-up of Threshold #1, is a breath of fresh air among superhero comics and DC especially.

Larfleeze #1 is outrageous, over-the-top, sometimes silly sometimes serious humor that lurks on the edge of absurdity but is still entirely relatable. I enjoyed reading the Threshold back-up featuring Larfleeze much more than I enjoyed the main story itself, and I attribute this to the voice Keith Giffen gives to this character’s story. It’s a book that reads like Douglas Adams writing an obnoxious, selfish, rude teenager who’s millions of year old and has more power than most superheroes in the DC Universe. He is the Orange Lantern, a corps to his own, and he’s funny as hell, backed up by a sardonic butler who’s the smartass version of Alfred Pennyworth. And Giffen’s work is supported by Scott Kolins’ non-realist art, which looks the visual embodiment of what I imagined the Hitchhiker’s Guide books would be if in comic form.

I said above that Larfleeze #1 is a breath of fresh air for comics; let me explain. A lot of the major plots these days are dark, edge-of-your-seat apocalypse. It seems as though everything is going to Hell, lately, like something bad is always around the corner and there is no good whatsoever. It’s one end-of-the-world battle after another. With Larfleeze in the pilot seat of his own book, it’s guaranteed that any such darkness will be overlaid with hilarity, and that’s exactly what I like about this book. Larfleeze himself is a funny furball, and you’re really never sure when he’s telling the truth, but you’re always assured he’ll come out on top.

Giffen and Kolins make a great team, and perhaps in other hands (literally) this book wouldn’t be worth buying, or would be easily recognized as an attempt to live up to the character Geoff Johns created. But this is the guy who wrote us Ambush Bug, another funny but not-so-much loved character, sort of like Marvel’s Howard the Duck (no, not Lucas’ movie).

This may not be a book for everyone, but if you like Douglas Adams, if you like the Lantern mythology, or if you’re greedy, then at least read Larfleeze #1 and see what you think. Brett may be right, this book might fall into the obscurity of the thousands of dead DC titles (does anyone remember Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew!?), but for now, it’s a hilarious and lovable break from all the darkness on DC’s roster.

Story: Keith Giffen Art: Scott Kolins
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Read/Buy

IDW provided Graphic Policy with FREE copy of Mars Attacks for review

Review: Larfleeze #1 and Batman/Superman #1

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Brett

Larfleeze #1

Larfleeze, the breakout character from Blackest Night, last seen in the pages of Threshold, is back in his own solo, ongoing series—and he’s not sharing it with anyone! In his debut solo adventure, Larfleeze meets Laord of the Hunt, a pan-dimensional cosmic entity that believes all living things are prey—and he’s out to turn the universe into his own private hunting reserve! And the only thing worse than Laord is the deadly beings he can summon!

While the Green Lantern universe is filled with various colors, the characters themselves have some times fallen into one note tricks, Larfleeze and Red Lanterns being the top two. Larfleeze suffers from not having much depth given so far, and while some of his origin story has been presented, it’s never really struck me as anything interesting enough to justify such a spotlight, let alone his own series.

Writer Keith Giffen has the difficult task ahead in an attempt to give the character more to him than “mine.” This is the same issue Red Lanterns has taken almost 20 issues to move past as well.

While there’s nothing horrible about this first issue, there’s also nothing that makes it jump out to be anything more than a limited series. This just doesn’t scream top notch ongoing to me. The story was interesting, but again it felt like a back-up story, something Larfleeze should be regulated to, because he works best in small doses.

While I’m not totally writing off the series yet, This first issue is dangerously close to me not checking out the second. As a Lantern fan though, I do want to see if Giffen can perform a miracle and make this character more than a one-note punchline.

Story: Keith Giffen and J.M DeMatteis Art: Scott Kolins
Story: 6.5 Art: 7 Overall: 6.5 Recommendation: Pass

Batman/Superman #1

A new epic begins with the debut of this new, ongoing series! Don’t miss the first fateful meeting of Batman and Superman in The New 52! That’s the promise of this new series which takes place years in the past, though we’re not quite sure when.

Murders are being committed in Metropolis of Wayne Enterprise employees bringing together these two titans. The story by Greg Pak is ok, but the plot is a bit disjointed. Clark Kent heads to Gotham to investigate these murders, I think. That’s never really made clear and he just sort of bumps into Bruce Wayne. A meeting that’s just a bit contrived, because it doesn’t seem natural at all. It’s too coincidental and not explained enough.

Then we head back to Metropolis where we find out the baddie causing all of the issues, then the story takes a turn for a weird with a bunch of final pages that don’t make a lot of sense. Hopefully the second issue makes this all a bit more clear, but on it’s own I felt like “wtf!”.

The real draw is the art of Jae Lee who brings his distinct style, and awesome fit for Batman and Gotham. His style also works well for Superman, though I’m not sure it’s a match for the gleaming city that is Metropolis.

All told, the first issue is pretty decent. I can’t say it blew me away, but it’s a solid start that has me wanting to check out the next issue.

Story: Greg Pak Art: Jae Lee
Story: 7 Art: 8.5 Overall: 7.25 Recommendation: Read

New Green Lantern Creative Teams and New Series Announced

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Brett

This June, following Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke’s epic run on Green Lantern concluding in May, DC Comics brings you all new creative teams and introduces a new series in the Green Lantern family of comic books.

Green Lantern written by Robert Venditti with art by Billy Tan

Green Lantern Corps written by Josh Fialkov with art by Bernard Chang

Green Lantern: New Guardians written by Justin Jordan with art by Brad Walker

Red Lanterns written by Josh Fialkov with art by Alessandro Vitti

Larfleeze written by Keith Giffen with art by Scott Kolins