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Review: Brooklyn Gladiator #1

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BROOKLYN GLADIATOR #1

Brooklyn Gladiator #1 doesn’t really have its narrative hook until the last few pages of the first issue, but writers Dan Fogler and Andrew Harrison and artist/comics legend Simon Bisley go full cyberpunk and craft a world controlled by government surveillance, souped-up android cops, and drugs that keep you compliant. Or if you’re protagonist, John Miller, they show you freaky imagery, hold conversations entirely telepathically, and have visions of the future. Brooklyn Gladiator is an extended version of an establishing shot of the film as Fogler and Harrison’s pulpy, yet wry narration and Bisley’s crazy-ass, very Heavy Metal-meets-no-holds-barred-2000 AD visuals set up a future world and our entry point to it before letting shit hit the fan on the final page.

Simon Bisley’s art is the real draw of Brooklyn Gladiator #1 and honestly the sole reason I picked up the book. And it’s safe to say that he is still at his Slaine and Lobo levels in this title even if Fogler and Harrison navel gaze a bit at times. From the opening page, he crowds his pages with over-the-top bloody, sexy, or grotesque imagery that capture this fucked up dystopian world better than any dialogue or narrative captions. Bisley does his usual Suicide Girl-esque, inked attractive woman deal with Johnny’s neglected love interest (Actually, more of a fuck buddy) Cassandra. She definitely doesn’t pass the “sexy lamp” test and is there to emphasize that Johnny yearns for a long lost woman (cloyingly) named Hope from the past. It’s par for the course for Bisley’s biker club/tattoo convention aesthetic sense like Blade Runner, but set at the local titty bar that obnoxiously advertises itself on the album-oriented rock radio station.

However, Bisley’s more memorable work is with the Blob, a character who lives a life of ease and unlimited drug/food/fluid use in return for the government using him as a blood bag. Blob and Johnny have unrelenting contempt for each other. Blob sees Johnny as a throwback, a lost cause, and an analog man in a beyond digital era, which connects with the art’s little homages to old school action heroes like John McClane crawling through ventilation shafts. On the other hand, Johnny sees Blob as obviously corpulent and disgusting and even hallucinates him speaking in Huttese. Dan Fogler and Andrew Harrison craft an entirely pragmatic relationship between them with Johnny getting Blob access to better drugs while Blob is his fixer for gladiator matches. Their interactions contain some of the writer duo’s best and funniest dialogue coming across as a cyberpunk stoner comedy at times with Blob yearning for the day of rolling blunts among other pleasures.

Simon Bisley’s designs for the “nannies”, or authoritative police of futuristic Brooklyn, are void of all humanity and fit the snarky insults that Fogler and Harrison have Johnny hurl at them. There are definite anti-fascist and ACAB vibes to Brooklyn Gladiator, which is refreshing and even cathartic at times especially as Johnny’s unique, basically EMP abilities void their surveillance abilities. Because of the drug addled, shifting POV of this issue, I didn’t get a full handle on his powers, but Bisley drawing cops short out while Johnny figures out who ratted on him is pure fun to look at. Bisley’s chase scenes have real energy and super charged, organic colors with body parts and bits of machinery flying everywhere. I can’t wait to see his takes on actual gladiatorial combat in upcoming issues.

If you’re a Simon Bisley fan and want to see him strut his storytelling stuff on something more than a (solid) Lobo/Harley Quinn crossover comic, then Brooklyn Gladiator #1 is the book you’re waiting on. It’s has all his virtues and vices filtered through a dystopian/exploitation movie lens. Story-wise, the comic isn’t 100% up to snuff, but Johnny Miller has an almost charming underdog streak to go with drug habit and futuristic stoner philosophizing. I really just wanna see him kick some more cop and Nazi ass as this first issue is really only an appetizer.

Story: Dan Fogler and Andrew Harrison
Art: Simon Bisley Colors: Simon Bisley Letters: Crank!
Story: 7.0 Art: 8.5 Overall: 7.7 Recommendation: Read

Heavy Metal provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: comiXology – Kindle – Zeus Comics

Heavy Metal Launches an Epic Summer with New Releases and Highly-Anticipated Debuts

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Heavy Metal is excited to announce a host of ambitious Summer titles ready for pre-order by June 24th, effectively introducing what promises to be a new age of innovation and creativity for the publisher, beginning with the landmark 300th issue. With comic shops re-opening their doors in many markets after a long dry spell, now is the time for fans of science fiction, fantasy and horror to discover or rediscover the magazine that started it all.

HEAVY METAL #300

(W) Various, Moebius (A) Various (CA) CVR A Claudia Iannciello, CVR B Agustin Alessio, CVR C Glenn Fabry
Cover Price: $9.99

A new era begins with a celebration of 300 incredible issues of America’s Premiere Sci-Fi/Fantasy magazine. Classic and new comic book creators from all over the world join the magazine to celebrate its 300th issue.

Just to name some of our VIP guests: Moebius attends with a short story published in English for the first time as well as an interview, never released, done by acclaimed comics and music writer Geoff Boucher. Richard Corben, Liberatore, Vaughan Bode, Stephanie Phillips, Justin Jordan, Blake Northcott, Jeff Rebner, Matt Medney, David Erwin, Germán Ponce, and Duke Mighten who are joined by “New Hollywood 21st century” actor/writers Dylan Sprouse & Brendan Columbus.

And this party could not be complete without the fictional characters who attend it. Among the prominent fictional guests, we have confirmation of: Taarna, Nelson the B52 Bomber, Lucy the Australopithecus, and the Dark Wing crew, among many others.

In Shops: Aug 19, 2020

SUNEATER #1

(W) Dylan Sprouse, Joe Harris (A) Diego Yapur (CA) Brian Stelfreeze
Cover Price: $4.99

From actor and entrepreneur Dylan Sprouse, Suneater #1 kicks off a nine-issue saga that takes place in ninth century Norway, where a drug-addled warrior sacrifices his leg to the Gods.  In return he is fused with a parasitic beast, giving him the power to rescue his son from his sworn enemies—history’s first Norwegian king and his five personal guards. The result is a grim and bloody adventure—a dark metaphor for drug addiction, selfishness, and the children it affects.

“I love fantasy-action and I wanted to create something that would appeal to newer fans of the genre while tackling an elevated story,” said Sprouse. “The characters I wrote are from actual tales and bardic songs, and the story is about the adult, dark, grotesque, and somber world of Suneater and its desperate, faulty protagonist. While I have been actively writing Suneater for years, the culmination of the content rings especially true for me now, at this stage of my life.”

In Shops: Aug 26, 2020

SUNEATER #1

BROOKLYN GLADIATOR #1

(W) Dan Fogler, Andrew Harrison (A/CA) Simon Bisley
Cover Price: $3.99

The first of the Fogler’s Fictions titles, Brooklyn Gladiator is a vivid, violent, and frightening glimpse into a fictional future that feels all too familiar, a future we may find ourselves sleepwalking into if we’re not careful.

Welcome to Brooklyn, 2033! New Yorkers survive on scraps in a despoiled America. John Miller is an action hero for the ages, a rough and ready badass who could drink Han Solo, Jack Burton, and John McClane under the table. Brooklyn Gladiator is a tribute to the comics, films, and experiences that have inspired author Dan Fogler.

In shops: August 5, 2020

BROOKLYN GLADIATOR #1

FISHKILL #1

(W) Dan Fogler, Laurence Blum (A/CA) Ben Templesmith
Cover Price: $3.99

Also from Dan Fogler, Fishkill is a love story wrapped in a modern noir that takes our hero, Detective Bart Fishkill, so far down the conspiracy rabbit hole that he starts to question his own sanity even to the point of wondering whether if he isn’t the villain in the first place.  

In shops: August 12, 2020

FISHKILL #1

MOON LAKE: MIDNIGHT MUNCHIES

(W) Dan Fogler (A) Alex Eckman-Lawn, Tim Seeley, Kevin Colden, Darick Robertson, Alex Horley (A/CA) Dennis Carlsson
Cover Price: $24.99

The third Fogler’s Fiction entry, Moon Lake: Midnight Munchies tells the tale of a mysterious portal into the bizarre and demented.  Zombie dinosaurs, a mass-murdering high school cheerleader, and an inter-dimensional Sasquatch trying to save his species from extinction.  All created by the lunar radiation in the small town of Moon Lake.  

In Shops: Aug 19, 2020

MOON LAKE: MIDNIGHT MUNCHIES

Dan Fogler, Simon Bisley, Andrew Harrison, Ben McCool, and Tom Hodges’ Brooklyn Gladiator this April

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Chapterhouse Publishing are proud to announce the forthcoming release of Brooklyn Gladiator – Volume Zero on April 11th 2018 the sci-fi lovechild of Orwell, Huxley, and stoner conspiracy theories, knitted together by the mad and ingenious mind of Dan Fogler.

Joined by Andrew Harrison, Ben McCool, and artist Tom Hodges, with cover art by Glenn Fabry, Brooklyn Gladiator is a vivid, violent, and frightening glimpse into a fictional future that feels all too familiar, a future that feels all too familiar, a future we may find ourselves sleepwalking into if we’re not careful. Artist Simon Bisley joins the team for Volume One.

John Miller is public enemy number one, fighting nanite-enhanced maniacs in the underground gladiator circuit and selling bootleg drugs that undercut the government’s own brand. Now John is developing uncanny psychic powers that allow him to bypass the state’s tech and tap into ancient knowledge. As he sets out to dismantle the machines that run his world, he’ll come to a completely new understanding of the concept of civilization.

And more there will be, as Chapterhouse will release Brooklyn Gladiator – Volume One and an Omnibus with never-seen-before stories of Fogler’s Hitchcockian horror Moonlake later this year.

Preview: Moon Lake Vol. 2

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Moon Lake Vol. 2

Written by: Dan Fogler, Andrew Harrison, Kevin J. Anderson
Illustrated by: Darick Robertson, Jeff Stokely, Various
Diamond Code: MAY13 0941

This follow-up to Dan Fogler’s (“Take Me Home Tonight,” “Fanboys”) first volume of Moon Lake is a new collection of stories that mesh comedy, horror, and science fiction into one insane anthology that’s inspired by Tales From The Crypt and Heavy Metal. A seemingly harmless body of water is actually a mysterious portal into the weird and deranged, affecting all who come into contact with it. From zombie dinosaurs to an inter-dimensional Sasquatch trying to save its species from extinction to a mass-murdering high school cheerleader, enjoy more twisted tales from Moon Lake!

Moon Lake 2 Cover

Archaia Announces Moon Lake Volume 2 HC

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Archaia Entertainment, an imprint of BOOM! Studios, and actor Dan Fogler have officially announced Moon Lake Volume 2, a hardcover graphic novel sequel to the 2010 original that meshes genres and stories into one insane anthology inspired by Tales from the Crypt and Heavy Metal. Once again narrated by the hilariously deranged Man in the Moon, Moon Lake Volume 2 features the talents of a who’s who of some of the top writers and artists in the business. The second volume was mentioned at the Archaia panel at San Diego Comic-Con which Fogler presented on.

Fogler described the series as:

Moon Lake is a crossroads of so many different brands of evil that it’s hilarious—unlimited haunted tales as told by the twisted and gregarious Man in the Moon. I really wanted to craft an eclectic Lovecraftian tale that linked the separate short stories together like the pieces of an elaborate puzzle.

Volume 2 is a meal that can’t be devoured in one simple reading and stays with you long after you’re done, like a delicious steak rotting in Alfred Hitchcock’s lower intestine. It’s a freakin’ labor of love to put a book like this together and manage all those different personalities, but the combined artistry in Moon Lake Volume 2 proved to be the perfect ingredients for our sick smorgasbord. Packaged spectacularly by Archaia for your delightful digestion. Bon appetit!

Moon Lake Volume 2 is created, edited, and written by Dan Fogler and features art by Nadir Balan (who also illustrated the cover), Kevin Colden, Dan Dougherty, Fernando Pinto, Darick Robertson, Alex Sheikman, Jeff Stokely, and Anna Wieszczyk. In addition, the book features a story co-written by Andrew Harrison and a story written by New York Times bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson.

Moon Lake Volume 2 ($24.95, hardcover, 160 pages, full color, 7.25” x 11.25”) is available for pre-order now at your local comic book shop. To pre-order, provide your retailer with Diamond Order Code SEP13 0873.

moon lake vol 2 cover

Review: Golgotha TPB

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golgothaThis is review is by special guest Gabriel LLanas and cross-posted at Haunt of Horror Comics.

I remember the first time I saw Trainspotting. I was a bit to young and naive to really understand what was going on. No one I knew had ever done drugs, and certainly nothing as strong as heroin.  All I remember about that first time that I watched Trainspotting is that everything was jarring and disorienting.  The things that they would see, the feelings that the drug, or lack there of would illicit, though often played for laughs, seemed sinister and dark to me.  They weren’t in control of themselves, the drug was.  To me that is just as valid and frightening of a possession as The Exorcist.  That lack of control in real life horror to me.

Golgotha has that disconcerting feel to it, because this book is all about a bunch of junkies.  Aleister is an outsider artist, and a addict, and the stat of this book finds him on his way to state mandated rehab.  If he is able to complete the program he will be given a free pass on his prison sentence.  He is going on just fine (if a little bored) when he discovers that the grave of his literary (and hometown) hero, H. P. Lovecraft, has been desecrated.  He calls his friend Jude to see if there is any more to the story than what the newspaper is saying, only to find out that the vandals stole HPL’s skull.  Aleister will not stand for it, and breaks out of rehab that night.  So begins his adventure in finding a skull a midst a slew of junkies.

There is a whole crew of them too, his friend Jude, Brazilian guys that dress as Vampires, a gang of British punk rockers, a former love interest, his dealer/hang around buddies Shawgrim and Grimshaw, and Crazy Henry.  The people in this book are solid characters, each with depth and personality, but in a crazy way they just fade in and out of the story, almost like ghosts.  When the arrive the serve a purpose, and when that purpose is over they move on.  Some live through the ordeal, some don’t, because the hunt for Lovecrafts skull turns out to be a little more contentious than Aleister thought.

Things, dark things that dwell in the sewers of Providence seem out to get them.  People turn to creatures who want to consume and devour, huge creatures that can even flip over a car.  Alister even treks into the sewers and finds a coven of Deep Ones worshiping at the feet of Cthulhu’s idol, but even with such strange things happening, seemingly, to all of them no one will buy that Aleister is seeing what he says he sees.  Because all of them are colored by the drug.

Deep Ones, monsters, magic powers bestowed by the skull, all of it may be in a world of imagination.  All of these things might be hallucinations.  We the readers never know.  Writer Andrew Harrison leaves that up to you the reader.  Is this a world populated by the characters of HPL’s stories, or is it just the ravings of a junkie trying to get clean and failing once again.  So much of the interplay in this book is about the drugs, the relationships that it has ruined and created in ruins.  The art then punctuates it with splattery edges and crazy looking people, from Karl Slominski.  The best illustrated is Crazy Henry, a schizophrenic whose thoughts are literally spilling out of his head every time he speaks.

This is a really interesting, and in some ways haunting book (I actually had some pretty crazy dreams the night that I read this).  The horror is mixed with the horrors of real life in a very creative way.  This is Trainspotting done by Howard Phillips Lovecraft.  This is the tale of the junkie through the eyes of gods that dwell deep with in the ocean or claw at the night sky to once again subjugate us.  This is a deep dark rabbit hole of a book, HPL would be proud.

 
Professionally Gabriel LLanas is a chef.  He works way to many hours in front of a super hot grill.  The rest of the time he is either hanging out with his wife and four kids or reading a shit load of comic books so he can write about them here, because if he doesn’t do it, he will go mad.  The last time he checked he was in charge of the site, but there is a good chance the site is in charge of him.

215 Ink Presents Golgotha

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Golgotha follows the harrowing happenings of a few fun-loving junkies as they attempt to recover the stolen skull of Lovecraft – a totem that holds enough power and secrets to send Providence straight into the sea. Standing in their way are their enormous drug habits, belligerent punk rockers, Brazilian vampires, and the unspeakable horrors of Lovecraft’s fiction seeping into reality…

Written by Andrew Harrison and the manic illustration of Karl Slominski.