Tag Archives: sam johnson

Review: Geek Girl #1

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As a fan of comics ever since I can remember, I can recall when certain heroes were never adequate. Every major hero in comics has undergone some personal crisis where they cannot do their job anymore. Instead, they recoil and become embedded in their problems. The most memorable one in my mind, is Tony Starks Iron Man. His crisis which was only alluded to in the comics but was far more illustrative in the comics was the arc, “Demon In the Bottle”.

Starks went on a binger as Obadiah’s actions lost this father’s company, money, and foreign contracts, which sent Tony to relapse into Alcoholism, after he was defeated by Magma. This made Rhodie having to step up, and don the Iron Man suit, and defeat the treacherous villain and this was before he became War Machine. Of Course, would not be the last, as this became a recurring arc over the years throughout different comic books, as sometimes it is the person who you last expect, can be the greatest hero. In the first issue of Geek Girl one such hero steps up where her friend could not anymore and becomes even greater than she was.

We catch up with Summer James, who took on the mantle of Geek Girl, after her roommate, Ruby Kaye, the previous Geek-Girl is utterly decimated after defeating the villain, Lightning Storm. We meet her as she stops a robbery in its midst but unfortunately creates collateral damage, which is the whole reason she is being mentored by another hero, Pitbull. We also find Ruby as she is recovering form her fight, as visitor after visitor talk to her in hopes she will come out of a coma. Unfortunate for Summer, her learning curve is at an accelerated pace, as new villains emerge, The League of Larcenists, who are looking to rob every bank in Maine. By Issue’s end, although Summer is feeling insecure about her abilities , her support system lets her know she is more than capable as she will have her hands full with these new villains.

Overall, a fun take on the superhero genre, that is both tongue in cheek and a serious addition to the superhero mythos. The story by Sam Johnson is action packed and well developed. The art by Carlos Granda is breathtaking. Altogether, an excellent introduction to a new superhero.

Story: Sam Johnson Art: Carlos Granda
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

Preview: Cabra Cini: Voodoo Junkie Hitwoman – Dark New Year

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Cabra Cini: Voodoo Junkie Hitwoman – Dark New Year

Story: Sam Johnson
Art: Bruno Letizia, Nathan Ramirez, and R.D. Ricci
Publisher: Actuality Press
Length: 17-pages
Price: Free

Following a number of anthology appearances, cult character Cabra Cini is graduating to her own mini-series, and this is previewed in Free Digital Comic Cabra Cini: Voodoo Junkie Hitwoman – Dark New Year; which also re-presents ‘The Voodoo Lady’s debut story.

No longer willing to let her boyfriend/pimp treat her like dirt, Cabra Cini got lethal payback with the help of voodoo magik – and liked it. Voodoo became her new addiction and Cabra has cleaned up her act and forged a deadly new vocation…

‘Voodoo Trespass’, Cabra’s debut story, throws us headlong into her twisted world, when she is hired by bereaved parents to take out the teenage boy who killed their daughter, ‘playing vampire’. Cabra utilizes her magik to access a dimension known as ‘The Infinity’ – Limbo’s ‘crazy cousin, locked away in the attic’ – which, for those who trespass upon it, can serve as a dimensional gateway between where they are and wherever they want to go. Though with what The Rook, the ruler of The Infinity, throws at its abusers, the journey can come at a monstrously high cost.

Beyond the horrors of The Infinity, we meet some of the characters who will also feature in Cabra’s forthcoming mini-series, including her friend-with-benefits Geoff; her pet werewolf El Hombre Lobo; and insane Neo-Nazi White Out and his lobotomized butler Chives…

Available FREE at www.actualitypress.com and www.drivethrucomics.com

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Preview: The Almighties #0

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The Almighties #0

Story: Sam Johnson and Mike Gagnon
Art: Eleonora Kortsarz, Graham Pearce, Pablo Zambrano & Ron Gravelle

Ms. F – a former downtrodden housewife with anger issues, Mason – a mercenary with psychotic tendencies, Nite Fang – a cocky British punk/werewolf, Maxi-Tron – an armored egomaniac, and Stefanos… a guy who runs a takeout.

This bunch of misfits may not sound like the ideal ingredients for a team, but The White House’s Joe Cyborg wants them!… However, he IS dubious about one of their number… though his back-up candidate seems even more questionable – the Deadpool-parodying Wayne Winston. Plus, Stefanos has to travel back in time to save the team’s resident Man in Black – Agent Coleslaw – after Coleslaw gets his face blasted off in battle.

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The White House is getting its own super-team… VERY off the record.

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A former downtrodden housewife with anger issues, a mercenary with psychotic tendencies, a cocky British punk, an egomaniac, and a guy who runs a takeout.

This bunch of misfits may not sound like the ideal ingredients for a team, but The White House’s Joe Cyborg wants them!

Co-creator Sam Johnson said in a release:

The Almighties were an eclectic super-team brought together by a dubious character called White Out to take on ‘threats to America’. However, thanks to an intervention from President Obama, it was revealed that White Out was in fact a Neo Nazi, playing the team for his own agenda. The Almighties promptly turned the tables on Whitey – bringing him down, along with his werewolf butler Chives and robot Hitler the Adolf 3000.

This has brought them to the attention of one of The White House’s more mysterious operatives – Joe Cyborg. Joe’s looking to put together his own secret strike force and has called in former Almighties member/Barack Obama aide/kabob shop owner Stefanos to review its would-be members with him.

Despite their…‘quirks’…what The Almighties have shown is that they can work well as a team… and also be manipulated. We don’t know much about Joe Cyborg, but where he and Stefanos meet up isn’t The White House – it’s a swamp. Does this mean Joe can’t be trusted? Well, whatever Joe’s agenda is, at least the team are going to be in better hands than a Neo Nazi, right?

Right…?

Following their critically acclaimed, comedic debut The Almighties #1, you can get to know The Almighties – Ms. F, Mason, Nite Fang, Maxi-Tron and Stefanos – in the 7-page FREE Digital comic Almighties Origins. Written by Johnson and co-creator Mike Gagnon,  illustrated by Eleonora Kortsarz, Pablo Zambrano and Ron Gravelle, and published by Actuality Press – the comic previews The Almighties #0 and sets up their adventures to come – and you can get it at www.thealmighties.com now!

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Preview – Geek-Girl #0

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Geek-Girl #0

Writer: Sam Johnson
Art: Sally Stone-Thompson
Publisher: Actuality Press
$2.50

Cult favorite Geek-Girl gets a New Edition of her Zero issue this week from Actuality Press!

When ‘Little Miss Popular’ Ruby Kaye lands a pair of super-tech glasses – invented by brainiac college geek Trevor Goldstein – in a game of Strip Poker, she’s granted flight, super-strength, and – due to a flaw in the glasses’ programming – super-klutziness!

And this is just the beginning of the changes the glasses will wreak on Ruby says creator/writer Sam Johnson (The Almighties, Cabra Cini: Voodoo Junkie Hitwoman); “The tech in the glasses that college chick ‘It Girl’ Ruby selfishly gets a hold of will have a profound effect on her – altering the very ways she thinks and acts. And ‘wreak’ is an appropriate choice of word, as the majority of her ‘cooler-than-thou’ clique ain’t gonna be too impressed with the changes the specs bring about in Ms. Kaye…

“As Ruby, she hangs with the Maine in-crowd, is top of the party-invite list, and has guys queuing up. As Geek-Girl… not so much.” Although on the surface of it this might not seem like exactly the best thing to ever happen to Ruby, ‘surface’ is another appropriate word choice, Johnson continues: “How Ruby adapts to her new-found powers and their clique-alienating effects just might be the making of her – as she learns that with great glasses comes great responsibility and that, ‘geek-chic’ aside, being truly geeky can be truly sexy!”

That’s the social side of things, though – if there’s a super-heroine, there must be super-villains! “There certainly are,” continues Sam, “Geek-Girl is going to find herself smack bang in the middle of Maine’s tights ‘n’ capes scene in a way that she’s really not ready for. Both Super-villains and super-heroes will have significant roles to play in the mini-series that Geek-Girl #0 sets up, and the bizarre villain Mr. Mash-Up [who’s introduced in the issue] has a way to hit Geek-Girl very close to home – right where it hurts!

Geek-Girl #0, written by Sam Johnson, illustrated by Sally Stone-Thompson and published by Actuality Press is available now, priced $2.50 at www.samjohnson-comics.blogspot.com

Just in time for that movie – Almighties Amass!

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The enigmatic White Out has put together a dysfunctional bunch of heroes to take down ‘threats to America’ – sending them on missions that have comedic nods to all the big Marvel events of recent years – from Civil War to Fear Itself. But these aren’t your momma’s super-heroes and things aren’t quite as they seem…

“The Almighties brings together creations from myself and co-scripter Mike Gagnon,” says the comic’s other co-scripter Sam Johnson (creator of Geek-Girl and Cabra Cini: Voodoo Junkie Hitwoman). “But while that other super-team were the best that could be assembled, brought together to take on threats that no single hero could withstand – things are a little more…offbeat here.” Johnson continues, “The guy that hires them – White Out – is a little wacky, aided as he is by a lobotomized butler with a tray of Pimm’s – and he has a personal agenda. So there are factors at play in whom he’s amassed that don’t necessarily make for the most heroic of super-teams. For example, one of them – Nite Fang – whom Johnson & Gagnon bill as ‘our Hulk’ – is a cocky British punk/werewolf who’s here purely for the pay check; another – Mason – is a borderline-psycho merc, and another – Stefanos – billed as ‘our Wolverine’ – is seemingly just a guy that runs a kebab shop – armed with his donor kebab on a skewer!

Not all members of the team are total misfits, though, Johnson and Gagnon bill their field leader – Maxi-Tron – and female member Ms. F – as ‘our Iron Man and Ms. Marvel.’ But like those heroes, these two are also flawed. Only more so.

Johnson fills us in: “Maxi has Tony Stark’s ego dialed up to 11 and is more self-centered than it’s healthy to be when your life and the lives of your team-mates are on the line, and Ms. F has just broken free of her oppressive marriage and has anger issues coming out of that. Anger issues she’s gonna take out on crime!”

“This comic has been created by a talented group of creators who are also big comic book fans,” adds co-scripter Mike Gagnon. “It’s all done in good natured humor, and with all the dark and serious stories being told in comic books, I think this book is important because it reminds people that comics can be fun.”

With the motley crew amassed, you can expect offbeat action, adventure, comedy, testicular cancer, Nazi Robots, and plenty more – all illustrated by hot team of up-and-coming artists Eleonora Kortsarz, Pablo Zambrano and D.C. White –  in The Almighties #1; out now in regular edition and limited Avengers-movie-poster-parody variant editions; 32 pages, full color, rated Teen+, $3.99 – published by Actuality Press and available to purchase at www.thealmighties.com