Tag Archives: shawn lee

The Principles of Necromancy #1 is a solid debut for a series and for Magma Comix

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While brave knights and dangerous monsters wage endless war, business is booming for Dr. Jakob Eyes, a traveling physician whose arcane remedies are the closest thing to magic the world knows. These gruesome miracles are only stepping stones for Dr. Eyes’ ultimate ungodly goal: to overcome death itself. And now, a band of decimated barbarians, desperate to bargain for their lives, may just make the ideal next test subjects… The Principles of Necromancy #1 not only kicks off a new series, but a new publisher in Magma Comix.

Story: Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly
Art: Eamon Winkle
Color: Jay Fotos
Letterer: Shawn Lee

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.

Kindle

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Silicon Bandits #1 captures the current moment of AI

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Silicon Bandits #1

In a near future where automation has caused mass unemployment, programmers Kenji and Aurora’s careers seemed safe. But when they are suddenly fired, the couple hatches a desperate plan: assemble the perfect bank-heist crew out of androids they programmed. The ensuing crime spree goes perfectly… until betrayal and sentience emerge in equally devastating turns! Silicon Bandits #1 captures the current zeitgeist when it comes to technology and AI.

Written by Jason Starr, Silicon Bandits #1 serves as a warning to all who read while also setting up a traditional heist story. Starr takes us to the future where numerous World Wars have shaped the world and corporations have carved up what’s left. Kenji and Aurora live in New Phoenix where they work designing new androids, the latest will possibly reshape the world and make their boss all the more richer. It also makes them unemployed as their boss sees them as redundant and the further work they can do can be done by the artificial intelligence they’ve just unleashed.

Starr dives into the current fears and paranoia over artificial intelligence, that its adoption and use will lead to mass unemployment. The trickles of that has already begun, making Silicon Bandits #1 not so much a warning but the current path taken to extreme. There’s teases of basic income and more time to pursue things due to the androids but overall, readers will get a sense that it has mostly just lined the pockets of their boss further and hasn’t made the lives of all any more fulfilling. While real solid uses, such as waging war and entering situations a normal person can’t, are raised, overall, the technology comes off as cold and advances that really only benefit those already in power.

From there, Starr cooks up the start of a tale of revenge as well as another plot point that should be interesting to see how it’s folded into the main event.

The art by Dalibor Talajic is solid. With color by Stjepan Bartolic and lettering by Shawn Lee, the comic’s look delivers a future that looks lived in. There’s fancy technology and the dress and style of individuals looks “futuristic,” but overall the world isn’t a massive departure from today. But, it still looks like it could be the future with a style that’s different and worn. Small choices work as well such as the translucent skin of the androids making things just a bit unnerving overall.

Silicon Bandits #1 is a solid debut taking a traditional heist story and adding in some twists in futuristic tech. Underneath that, the story is a cautionary tale of the future tech bros want to bring, an android infused society where they profit, not caring for those impacted. Thankfully, the team cooks up a debut that entertains while also serving as a warning.

Story: Jason Starr Art: Dalibor Talajic
Color: Stjepan Bartolic Letterer: Shawn Lee
Story: 8.4 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.4 Recommendation: Buy

Magma Comix provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics

Mini Reviews: The Principles of Necromancy #1

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Principles of Necromancy #1

Sometimes, the staff at Graphic Policy read more comics than we’re able to get reviewed. When that happens you’ll see a weekly feature compiling reviews of the comics, or graphic novels, we just didn’t get a chance to write a full one for.

These are Graphic Policy’s Mini Reviews and Recommendations.

Logan

Principles of Necromancy #1 (Magma Comix) – My first Magma Comix title, and it’s what it says on the tin as well as being completely unexpected. Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Eamon Winkle, and Jay Fotos spin the saga of Dr. Eyes, a necromancer, who brings back a tribe of nondescript barbarians from the dead/grave injuries in new and more messed up ways. This title is truly Conan meets Cronenberg, and some of Eyes’ inventions are so haunting that the colors drop out, and we’re just left with Winkle’s lovely, twisted line art. Principles of Necromancy #1 is a proof of concept, and I’m intrigued to see what direction future installments go in. Overall: 8.2 Verdict: Buy

Explore the Dark Side in Star Wars: Vader’s Castle – The Deluxe Library Collection

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Horror comes to a galaxy far, far away in Star Wars: Vader’s Castle–The Deluxe Library Collection coming soon from Dark Horse Books and Lucasfilm Publishing. This large format hardcover volume collects all the stories from the Sith Lord’s sinister lair, including the only reprinting of the one-shot, Shadow of Vader’s Castle. Featuring creepy new cover art by Francesco Francavilla, the deluxe book collects the following comics stories: Star Wars Adventures: Tales from Vader’s Castle, Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle, Star Wars Adventures: Shadow of Vader’s Castle, Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts of Vader’s Castle, and the Star Wars Adventures: Free Comic Book Day 2019 short story “Droid Hunters.”

These tales are written by Cavan Scott and rendered in ghastly detail by acclaimed artists Francesco Francavilla, Derek Charm, Megan Levens, Kelley Jones, Corin Howell, Robert Hack, Nicoletta Baldari, Nick Brockenshire, and Charles Paul Wilson III, colored by Charlie Kirchoff, Michelle Madsen, Valentina Pinto, and Michael Devito, lettered by Robbie Robins, Tom B. Long, Andworld Design, Shawn Lee, and Valeria Lopez.

Exhumed from the lava mines of Mustafar comes the complete legends of Darth Vader’s castle: a shadowy tower haunted by the dark side. Join Rebel Commander Lina Graff, Lieutenant Hudd, and their friends as they sneak through the citadel’s dank corridors in search of escape. Along the way they trade terrifying tales of Obi-Wan, Han, Chewbacca, the Ewoks, and other galactic heroes facing off against interstellar creeps such as menacing Sith, soulless stormtroopers, possessed droids, alien witches, mutant monsters, and more! When Hudd falls into the clutches of Vaneé, the castle’s creepy caretaker, he is treated to further spine-chilling stories of the galaxy’s most vile villains, including Darth Maul, Asajj Ventress, Jabba the Hutt, and Vader himself! Even after the band of rebels flee the fortress, they are pursued by nightmares of rampaging were-Wookiees, Dagobah swamp monsters, and other ghouls!

And for the first time, the Shadow of Vader’s Castle one-shot is collected here, in which the Mustafarian locals share their own hair-raising legends about the villainous stronghold.

Are you brave enough to set foot in the Sith Lord’s fortress of fear?

The Star Wars: Vader’s Castle the Deluxe Library Collection hardcover volume contains 424 pages and measures 8 x 12.1875”. The collection will be available September 24, 2024 in bookstores and September 25, 2024 in comic shops. It is available for pre-order now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, TFAW, and at your local comic shop and bookstore and will retail for $49.99.

Star Wars: Vader’s Castle the Deluxe Library Collection

The Principles of Necromancy #1 kicks off Magma Comix with some interesting fantasy horror

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The Principles of Necromancy #1

While brave knights and dangerous monsters wage endless war, business is booming for Dr. Jakob Eyes, a traveling physician whose arcane remedies are the closest thing to magic the world knows. These gruesome miracles are only stepping stones for Dr. Eyes’ ultimate ungodly goal: to overcome death itself. And now, a band of decimated barbarians, desperate to bargain for their lives, may just make the ideal next test subjects… The Principles of Necromancy #1 not only kicks off a new series, but a new publisher in Magma Comix.

Being the first comic out of the gate for a new(ish) publisher puts extra pressure on it. Not only do you have to get people interested in the series but it also gives hints and clues as to what we can expect from the publisher too. Luckily, The Principles of Necromancy #1 is a solid debut mixing fantasy and horror in a comic that can be enjoyed as a series and a one-shot.

Written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, The Principles of Necromancy #1 is an interesting comic. It’s main character is mysterious, delivering a Faustian bargain for a group of warriors locked in battle. The barbarians are hurting and weakened and that makes them ideal to make a deal. The wheel spun is one that’s unexpected and of horror, going in directions that is unexpected and intriguing.

Dr. Eyes is a strange character who feels like a spin on the classic Cryptkeeper, telling us creepy stories delivering twisted visions. But, this Cryptkeeper is an active participant in the horror.

Eamon Winkle delivers the nightmares with almost glee at times. Dr. Eyes’ excitement at his abominations oozes off the page. With color by Jay Fotos and lettering by Shawn Lee, the visuals of the comic easily blend fantasy and horror for a result that feels new and unexpected in ways. But, most importantly, the sheer terror of what’s happening is front and center. We can see the fear in eyes as what is happening is revealed.

The Principles of Necromancy #1 is a solid start that horror fans should enjoy. The fact that it can be enjoyed on its own is a bonus making it a comic that can be picked up and read or continue on for further twisted visions. It’s also a solid start to the publisher making us even more excited to see what’s next.

Story: Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly Art: Eamon Winkle
Color: Jay Fotos Letterer: Shawn Lee
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy

Magma Comix provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Golden Apple Comics – Amazon

Get a look at what’s coming from Magma Comix in this preview!

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Magma Comix is a new publisher launching this April with three announced series. Get a look at what’s coming and make sure to pre-order them!

The Principles of Necromancy
Story: Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly
Art: Eamon Winkle
Color: Jay Fotos
Letterer: Shawn Lee
Editor: Bobby Curnow

Silicon Bandits
Story: Jason Starr
Art: Dalibor Talajic
Color: Stjepan Bartolic
Letterer: Shawn Lee
Editor: Bobby Curnow

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.

TFAW:
The Principles of Necromancy
Silicon Bandits

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Night People #1 is a fever dream of a crime story

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Night People #1

Night People #1 is a fever dream of a crime story. Honestly, you’re better off just sitting back and enjoying the ride instead of trying to piece together every plot detail and character relationship. It’s definitely fitting that this comic is an adaptation of a 1992 collection of short stories by Barry Gifford, who wrote the novel that the David Lynch film Wild at Heart is based on as well as penning the screenplay for Lost Highway. Writer/adapter Chris Condon, artist Brian Level, and colorist Ronda Pattison bring the blood, guts, and surreality of two religiously motivated man-killing women named Betty and Cutie painting New Orleans red as well as the hapless men, who get in their way and even try to stop them. Some of the side stories like dogs mauling each other in the woods don’t connect to the main narrative except to dose up the violence, but there are some really beautiful moments of poetic justice and violence.

Level’s art and Pattison’s colors capture the small moments that end up exploding into bigger moments of violence in Night People #1. It starts on page one when we see Betty and Cutie’s first victims with Brian Level using the banality of a janitor scratching his hands on a broom before he and the police see some beheaded corpses that end up haunting Douglas’ dreams as he’s hunting down the murderers for some reason or another. This continues later to the more prominent character Rollo Lamar, a lawyer, who crosses paths with Betty and Cutie and rubs what looks like a surgery scar on his chest. This shows vulnerability, but maybe also that he’s a good person as he gets a favorable life insurance settlement for a young woman and her child. However, in this kind of story, this woman has “murderer” written all over her.

From a bird’s eye view, Night People #1 explores the noir fiction trope of femme fatale with more of an emphasis on the fatale and not the femme so much. There’s not a lot of seduction just a lot of guns being pulled and woman on man violence like when Douglas gets smothered in a sexual encounter after a frankly weird day of having hallucinations about headless corpses and weird conversations about now and urination. Honestly, he’s a good riddance as a character because he came across like a Wish.com version of Matthew McConaughey’s character in True Detective and adds to the male victim/female killer through-line of the issue as Betty and Cutie get off scot-free in a literally explosive finale.

Night People is nothing like its former hardboiled Oni Press comrade-in-arms Stumptown with Chris Condon, Brian Level, and Ronda Pattison serving up a more askew crime story with fucked up gender politics, colorful nonsequitur dialogue (Comparing Betty and Cutie to anthropomorphic beings from Greek mythology, a radio news bulletin about frozen kangaroo tails), and big-time carnage. I’m not 100% sold on the series, but wouldn’t mind picking up issue 2 and seeing Lamar’s character development after his near-death experience, or seeing what religious motivation those two freaks Betty and Cutie have for their next misandric killing spree.

Story: Chris Condon Art: Brian Level 
Colors: Ronda Pattison Letters: Shawn Lee
Story: 7.0 Art: 8.3 Overall: 7.6 Recommendation: Read

Oni Press provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II #1 sells over 140,000 copies and sells out. Second printing announced!

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin was the top-selling western graphic novel of 2023, and now, IDW Publishing is incredibly proud to announce the eagerly anticipated sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – Re-Evolution, has made a triumphant debut out of the sewers and into comic shops.

Featuring the return of the original creative team – co-writers Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz, artists Esau and Isaac Escorza and Ben Bishop, colorist Luis Antonio Delgado, and letterer Shawn Lee – the first issue’s orders rushed past 140K copies. Thanks to the overwhelming popularity of this fan-favorite sequel, a second printing is now on the way as well. The second printing, featuring a new cover by the Escorza brothers, will go on sale on May 15 and fans have until March 25 to pre-order at their local comic shop.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – Re-Evolution #1 is on sale now and the next action-packed issue arrives on May 15.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin - Re-Evolution #1 second printing

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #150 is the Double-Sized Epic, Emotional Finale of the Run

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The colossal and cosmic time-consuming megalodon called Armaggon is trying to erase the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from existence. Now, only the brilliant and determined Donatello can potentially stop the fearsome foe by racing back to the past in a double-sized landmark 150th issue that celebrates more than a decade’s worth of compelling Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) storytelling.

Written by acclaimed author Sophie Campbell, the massive, epic and emotional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #150 is the must-read conclusion of the ongoing series – fear not, shellheads, because more will be revealed about what’s next for TMNT soon! This momentous milestone issue will feature art by “Armageddon Game’s” Vincenzo Federici and longtime TMNT creatives colorist Ronda Pattison and letterer Shawn Lee. Returning for this giant issue are former series artists Dan Duncan, Fero Pe, and Campbell.

This climactic comic will pave the way for the next mutation of TMNT storytelling from IDW Publishing, but before looking forward, it’s important to visit the past, just like Donnie. IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ongoing series has presented fans with more than 10 years worth of brilliant and critically-acclaimed tales that captivated both longtime and new TMNT fans with its exciting and heartfelt stories.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #150 goes on sale April 10, 2024, and will include 68 pages of story for $9.99 USD. The milestone issue will have a Cover A by Vincenzo Federici, Cover B by Kevin Eastman and Sophie Campbell, Cover C by Dan Duncan, and cover D by Jesse Lonergan.

SDCC 2023: The Last Ronin II: Re-Evolution Presents the next generation of TMNT

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In 2020, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – an epic story more than 30 years in the making, originally from the minds of TMNT co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird – made comic book history as it revealed the story about the last Ninja Turtle standing in the future. The New York Times bestseller was a massive success, with the debut issue selling more than 160,000 copies to retailers and receiving overwhelming praise from both critics and fans. Now, the brilliant creative team behind the exciting and emotional limited series is back for a gripping must-read sequel. IDW Publishing presents Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution.

Guided by Casey Marie Jones, the formidable and strategic daughter of April O’Neil and the late Casey Jones, the next generation of Ninja Turtles – Yi, Uno, Odyn, and Moja – will face the ultimate enemy! Will the young heroes be able to adapt to the pressure of a city at war? Featuring new foes and foils, this exhilarating and compelling next chapter in the Ronin-verse is overflowing with turtle power as The Last Ronin team returns to continue the stunning story. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution is co-written by Eastman and Tom Waltz, illustrated by Ben Bishop, Esau Escorza and Isaac Escorza, colored by Luis Antonio Delgado, and lettered by Shawn Lee.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution #1 goes on sale December with more variant covers by astonishing artists to be revealed soon. Reach out to a comic shop near you for more information on pre-ordering the debut issue.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution #1
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