Tag Archives: humanoid comics

Review: The Metabarons Vol. 1

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Legacy is a word that carries weight like no other when it comes to talking about family. As legacy usually has something to do with your family name and how you represent it, either carries weight or not. One of the most famous and popular representations of this dichotomy is of course, Game of Thrones. This book and television series, has constantly reached back to its history to talk about how past events affect the present storyline.

Constantly throughout the show, each character either alludes to or ultimately pays the price for, the sins of their forefathers. The Starks has seen the price of nobility, cost their father’s head and the lives of their mother and their oldest brother. Then you take the characters of Jamie and Tyrion Lannister, who bear the past sins of their house, but are among the most noble of the men in that family. As hungry as the public is to devour a series much like George RR Martin’s masterpiece, I heard of one another which at certain points, is even, better but in outer space and that is, The MetaBarons.

Within the first volume, we are introduced to Von Salza clan, a powerful family which rules a part of the galaxy. We are introduced to Othon Von Salza, shortly after he marries the daughter of a powerful baron, as the reader follows him throughout his rule, where he loses a son, some body parts but end up becoming the first human arsenal by creating weaponized body parts, the first Metabaron. His need for an heir to the throne consumes him, as he is unable to until a sorceress enters the palace, and gives him an alternative he never expected. By story’s end, his son is born, and becomes the second in the long line of MetaBarons, and just like Othon, is powered by metabaronic technology.

Overall, an engaging and sweeping epic, that is only part of larger story, which propels this family. The story by Alejandro Jodorowsky proves that he is a storyteller for the ages, one whose mind is even more epic than great filmmakers like Ridley Scott and Guillermo Del Toro, who has used his work as influences. The art by Juan Gimenez is luscious and realistic. Altogether, an epic that gives the reader, the true meaning of the “sins of the father”.

Story: Alejandro Jodorowsky Art: Juan Gimenez
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy

Euro Thursday Review: Snow Day

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snowday_8362_zoomedAn outsider sheriff struggles to find his place in an isolated, snow-covered town populated by a hard people who are set in their ways and don’t take too kindly to strangers. It’s a place where folks mind their own business — however odd it may be — and do as they please. That is, until the calm, quiet sheriff decides to do his job…

Written by Swedish writer Pierre Wazem, Snow Day is an interesting graphic novel that’s part character study and part crime story. With a similar idea to Walking Tall or every other cop who roots our corruption in a town tale, the story takes place over a day as a sheriff decides how he wants to handle some arrests and the individuals impeeding his decision.

But, what’s solid about Wazem’s story is the use and lack there-of of dialogue. There’s pages without dialogue as we get an idea of the small town and surrounding area. Set upon piles of snow, you can almost hear just the wind and the  hum of a tractor on these pages and there’s strangely something peaceful about it all.

That tranquil, almost relaxing art is by Antoine Aubin whose style is a cross between TinTin and The New Yorker. It’s actually very cool and the detail is just enough to say what’s going on and it enhances the story. There’s a minimalist feel about it all with not too much detail, and just enough to convey what’s going on. The black and white art is a fantastic style you don’t see too often and there’s absolutely a euro influence about it all.

There is some interesting things in that this graphic novel that’s supposed to be occuring in the “heartland” of America, but there’s a slight disconnect that feels like it’s being written by someone who has never been in the heartland. Still, the story by itself is fantastic and is a bit more artsy and philosophical take of a classic story of a sheriff rooting out corruption.

Snow Day is out in February from Humanoids.

Story: Pierre Wazem Art: Antoine Aubin
Story: 8.45 Art: 8.45 Overall: 8.45 Recommendation: Buy

Humanoids provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Marketing Monday: Top Comic Apps

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It’s Marketing Monday here at Graphic Policy and we’re still tracking various comic apps, how they rank up against each other, and the general app population.

For this report, I felt it best to focus on Wednesday of the previous week, since that should be the busiest day of the week for apps since its new comic day. This report also focuses on the ranks in the United States. I’ll eventually look at the entire week down the road and expand the location. I also wanted to look at the gross income for the apps, so apps included are those where you’d purchase books. So apps like comiXology’s offerings would be included, but Marvel’s AR app isn’t.

This is the fourth week since comiXology removed the ability to make purchases directly through the iOS device as well as use Google’s function.

While comiXology has dropped in in its downloads, and Marvel and DC increased in their rankings in the iOS book category, their overall rank in applications haven’t increased to anywhere near where comiXology was. ComiXology’s possible loss hasn’t translated to massive gains by others.

Over time, it’ll be interesting to see if comiXology moves up in rank for Amazon as the company comes in more under their fold.

iOS

ios 5.28.14

Google

google 5.28.14

Amazon

amazon 5.28.14

For these next two stats, I looked at their download ranks for the iPhone and iPad based on their book rank.

iOS iPhone

iphone 5.28.14

iOS iPad

ipad 5.28.14

And that wraps up this week’s breakdown. I’m still thinking through a good name for this feature, so if you have suggestions, let me know!

Marketing Monday: Top Comic Apps

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It’s Marketing Monday here at Graphic Policy and we’re still tracking various comic apps, how they rank up against each other, and the general app population.

For this report, I felt it best to focus on Wednesday of the previous week, since that should be the busiest day of the week for apps since its new comic day. This report also focuses on the ranks in the United States. I’ll eventually look at the entire week down the road and expand the location. I also wanted to look at the gross income for the apps, so apps included are those where you’d purchase books. So apps like comiXology’s offerings would be included, but Marvel’s AR app isn’t.

This is the third week since comiXology removed the ability to make purchases directly through the iOS device as well as use Google’s function. We see the app slipping in the iPhone “books category,” but still remains the top app in comics for Google, though Marvel moves up to first as well in gross.

While comiXology has dropped in in its downloads, and Marvel and DC increased in their rankings in the iOS book category, their overall rank in applications haven’t increased to anywhere near where comiXology was. ComiXology’s possible loss hasn’t translated to massive gains by others.

Also of note, DC Comics moved past Marvel to first place in iPad gross for the week. This is the second time this has happened, and both have coincided with big releases for DC. This past week, it was Forever Evil #7.

Over time, it’ll be interesting to see if comiXology moves up in rank for Amazon as the company comes in more under their fold.

iOS

ios 5.21.14

Google

google 5.21.14

Amazon

amazon 5.21.14

For these next two stats, I looked at their download ranks for the iPhone and iPad based on their book rank.

iOS iPhone

iphone 5.21.14

iOS iPad

ipad 5.21.14

And that wraps up this week’s breakdown. I’m still thinking through a good name for this feature, so if you have suggestions, let me know!

Marketing Monday: Top Comic Apps

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It’s Marketing Monday here at Graphic Policy and we’re still tracking various comic apps, how they rank up against each other, and the general app population.

For this report, I felt it best to focus on Wednesday of the previous week, since that should be the busiest day of the week for apps since its new comic day. This report also focuses on the ranks in the United States. I’ll eventually look at the entire week down the road and expand the location. I also wanted to look at the gross income for the apps, so apps included are those where you’d purchase books. So apps like comiXology’s offerings would be included, but Marvel’s AR app isn’t.

This is the second week since comiXology removed the ability to make purchases directly through the iOS device as well as use Google’s function. We see the app slipping in the iPhone “books category,” but still remains the top app in comics for Google, though Marvel moves up to first as well in gross.

Since last week, comiXology has slipped a bit in its books ranking, but has generally leveled off, same with Marvel and their ranking as well.

Over time, it’ll be interesting to see if comiXology moves up in rank for Amazon as the company comes in more under their fold.

iOS

iOS 5.14.14

Google

google 5.14.14

Amazon

amazon 5.14.14

For these next two stats, I looked at their download ranks for the iPhone and iPad based on their book rank.

iOS iPhone

iphone 5.14.14

iOS iPad

ipad 5.14.14

And that wraps up this week’s breakdown. I’m still thinking through a good name for this feature, so if you have suggestions, let me know!

Marketing Monday: Top Comic Apps

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It’s Marketing Monday here at Graphic Policy and we’re still tracking various comic apps, how they rank up against each other, and the general app population.

For this report, I felt it best to focus on Wednesday of the previous week, since that should be the busiest day of the week for apps since its new comic day. This report also focuses on the ranks in the United States. I’ll eventually look at the entire week down the road and expand the location. I also wanted to look at the gross income for the apps, so apps included are those where you’d purchase books. So apps like comiXology’s offerings would be included, but Marvel’s AR app isn’t.

This is the second week since comiXology removed the ability to make purchases directly through the iOS device as well as use Google’s function. We see the app slipping in the iPhone “books category,” but still remains the top app in comics for Google, though Marvel moves up to first as well in gross.

This is also the second week we look at the app’s activity and comiXology has slipped a little since the previous week, now ranking between 10th and 20th for that ranking. Marvel has moved up in the same rank, moving in the opposite direction from 20th to the lower teens.

Over time, it’ll be interesting to see if comiXology moves up in rank for Amazon as the company comes in more under their fold.

iOS

ios 5.11.14

Google

google 5.11.14

Amazon

amazon 5.11.14

For these next two stats, I looked at their download ranks for the iPhone and iPad based on their book rank.

iOS iPhone

ios iphone 5.11.14

iOS iPad

ios ipad 5.11.14

And that wraps up this week’s breakdown. I’m still thinking through a good name for this feature, so if you have suggestions, let me know!

Marketing Monday: Top Comic Apps

Posted on by

It’s Marketing Monday here at Graphic Policy and we’re still tracking various comic apps, how they rank up against each other, and the general app population.

For this report, I felt it best to focus on Wednesday of the previous week, since that should be the busiest day of the week for apps since its new comic day. This report also focuses on the ranks in the United States. I’ll eventually look at the entire week down the road and expand the location. I also wanted to look at the gross income for the apps, so apps included are those where you’d purchase books. So apps like comiXology’s offerings would be included, but Marvel’s AR app isn’t.

This is the first report since comiXology pulled the ability to purchase comics directly on the iOS app, and removed the ability to pay through Google Play. That app is still included in our iOS report, but like Marvel Unlimited, it’s not ranked by gross like the rest of the apps.

I’ve also included a second ranking by day of downloads on iOS. If there’s massive issues with comiXology’s plan, we’ll see it’s download rank drop over time, we don’t see that this past week, but individuals were forced to update the app, so those numbers could be skewed a bit. We’ll see how it plays out.

What we do know is the Google rank has not been impacted much in ranking, if at all. The app is still number 1 for comics, and it only slipped a little for all apps and the overall ranking.

iOS

ios 5.5.14

Google

google 5.5.14

Amazon

amazon 5.5.14

For these next two stats, I looked at their download ranks for the iPhone and iPad based on their book rank. We see, even after comiXology’s change, they’re still dominating in this category, indicating most likely solid health post changes.

iOS iPhone

ios iphone 5.5.14

iOS iPad

ios ipad 5.5.14

And that wraps up this week’s breakdown. I’m still thinking through a good name for this feature, so if you have suggestions, let me know!

Marketing Monday: Top Comic Apps

Posted on by

It’s Marketing Monday here at Graphic Policy and we’re still tracking various comic apps, how they rank up against each other, and the general app population.

For this report, I felt it best to focus on Wednesday of the previous week, since that should be the busiest day of the week for apps since its new comic day. This report also focuses on the ranks in the United States. I’ll eventually look at the entire week down the road and expand the location. I also wanted to look at the gross income for the apps, so apps included are those where you’d purchase books. So apps like comiXology’s offerings would be included, but Marvel’s AR app isn’t. Marvel Unlimited is included on the list too, though isn’t measured by revenue like the rest of the apps. I’ve also separated the apps based on their platform as best I could.

Most apps are on the iOS platform, which isn’t surprising at all. The Comics app by comiXology is the juggernaut in every category. This week saw the various rankings increase and decrease with no rhyme or reason. With the major changes announced by comiXology this past weekend, I expect the ranking for it to tumble starting in the next report.

iOS

ios 4.23.14

Google

google 4.23.14

Amazon

amazon 4.23.14

And that wraps up this week’s breakdown. I’m still thinking through a good name for this feature, so if you have suggestions, let me know!

Marketing Monday: Top Comic Apps

Posted on by

It’s Marketing Monday here at Graphic Policy and we’re still tracking various comic apps, how they rank up against each other, and the general app population.

For this report, I felt it best to focus on Wednesday of the previous week, since that should be the busiest day of the week for apps since its new comic day. This report also focuses on the ranks in the United States. I’ll eventually look at the entire week down the road and expand the location. I also wanted to look at the gross income for the apps, so apps included are those where you’d purchase books. So apps like comiXology’s offerings would be included, but Marvel’s AR app isn’t. Marvel Unlimited is included on the list too, though isn’t measured by revenue like the rest of the apps. I’ve also separated the apps based on their platform as best I could.

Most apps are on the iOS platform, which isn’t surprising at all. The Comics app by comiXology is the juggernaut in every category. This week saw the various rankings increase and decrease with no rhyme or reason. It’ll be interesting to see how comiXology’s rank might change on Amazon over time with the announced purchase by the tech company. There’s also been some comings and goings for apps since last week as well.

iOS

ios 4.16.14

Google

google 4.16.14

Amazon

amazon 4.16.14

And that wraps up this week’s breakdown. I’m still thinking through a good name for this feature, so if you have suggestions, let me know!

Marketing Monday: Top Comic Apps

Posted on by

It’s Marketing Monday here at Graphic Policy and we’re still tracking various comic apps, how they rank up against each other, and the general app population.

For this report, I felt it best to focus on Wednesday of the previous week, since that should be the busiest day of the week for apps since its new comic day. This report also focuses on the ranks in the United States. I’ll eventually look at the entire week down the road and expand the location. I also wanted to look at the gross income for the apps, so apps included are those where you’d purchase books. So apps like comiXology’s offerings would be included, but Marvel’s AR app isn’t. Marvel Unlimited is included on the list too, though isn’t measured by revenue like the rest of the apps. I’ve also separated the apps based on their platform as best I could.

Most apps are on the iOS platform, which isn’t surprising at all. The Comics app by comiXology is the juggernaut in every category. This week saw the various rankings increase and decrease with no rhyme or reason. It’ll be interesting to see how comiXology’s rank might change on Amazon over time with the announced purchase by the tech company.

iOS

ios 4.9.14

Google

google 4.9.14

Amazon

amazon 4.9.14

And that wraps up this week’s breakdown. I’m still thinking through a good name for this feature, so if you have suggestions, let me know!

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