Tag Archives: sheldon allen

Marshawn Lynch Goes Beast Mode with AWA this October

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When Oakland calls, Beast Mode answers. Artists Writers & Artisans (AWA) has announced Beast Mode 510, a 120+ page graphic novel conceptualized by AWA Chief Creative Officer Axel Alonso, written by NAACP Image Award-nominated author Sheldon Allen, and inspired and guided by NFL legend and cultural icon Marshawn Lynch. Launching October 6 and set in Oakland, CA, Beast Mode 510 is a mythic, irreverent, and deeply personal love letter to the city that raised Lynch and continues to define the former running back and Super Bowl XLVIII champion. Inspired by Lynch’s larger-than-life persona and backed by the Oakland icon himself, the title transforms the “Beast Mode” mentality into a cinematic new comic book hero rooted in loyalty and community.

Blending stylized action, interconnected mystery, and sharp social satire, Beast Mode 510 channels the just-retribution of The Equalizer with the comedy and social satire of Atlanta, with a healthy dose of West Coast swagger. At its center is Beast Mode: the 510’s legendary fixer and freelance sleuth whose rough exterior hides a code of loyalty and willingness to deal with problems others won’t touch. If you’ve got a problem the authorities won’t handle, Beast Mode will. No invoices. No contracts. Just results.

Written by Sheldon Allen with art by legendary Eisner Hall of Fame artist Denys Cowan, Beast Mode 510 assembles a powerhouse creative team that translates Lynch’s unmistakable presence and Beast Mode mythology into a vivid, kinetic graphic novel epic. The title reimagines the Beast Mode mentality as a bold new storytelling universe rooted in Oakland, grounded in truth and elevated to myth. The book is colored by Chris Sotomayor and inked by Dexter Vines, with cover art from Rahzzah and chapter break art by Ron Ackins.

In Beast Mode 510, Lynch’s legendary “Beast Mode” mentality becomes mythic. Most of the time, Beast Mode is Level One cool: laid back, sharp-minded, enjoying a glass of Hen and a freshly rolled blunt. But faced with enough bother, the dial can turn all the way to Level Six, and an unrestrained force of nature is unleashed. What starts as a super-secret birthday surprise for his mother spirals into a globe-spanning conspiracy involving three missing young women, a Silicon Valley slavery ring, Yakuza assassins, reptilian billionaires, a million-dollar bounty on his head, a world economy-shattering takedown, and so much more. As enemies close in and chaos escalates, Beast Mode must protect his family, defend his city, and confront powerful forces threatening the community he loves.

Beast Mode 510 will be available online and in stores wherever graphic novels are sold on Tuesday, October 6. 

They Choose Violence exposes our broken justice system in a high-stakes crime thriller

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 “No matter how many times you’ve seen it before, a little corner of your soul tells you, Not this time. This time’s going to be different, you’ll see. F*ck that corner.”

Equity. Vengeance. Consequence. They say justice is blind, but what happens when it turns a blind eye? Artists Writers and Artisans (AWA) has announced They Choose Violence, a razor-sharp, unflinching new crime thriller from writer Sheldon Allen and artist Mauricio Campetella. Hitting shelves on June 18, this dark but gripping five-issue series dares to ask the hardest questions about justice, vengeance, and the dangerous allure of fighting fire with fire.

They Choose Violence follows Laneka, Deidre, and Karen, three Black HBCU friends turned accomplished professionals who band together to form a vigilante squad that targets White Supremacists deemed to have circumvented the justice system and gotten away with protected murder. Serving up grisly justice in increasingly creative ways, the vigilante posse becomes cult heroes and front-page news, while always staying one step ahead of the law. It’s effective, it’s cathartic, it’s kinda fun—until they are forced to confront the consequences of their actions—a copycat killer whose signature contains a special message to them—and the line between hero and villain begins to blur.

More than just a revenge story, They Choose Violence is a bold, thought-provoking exploration of power and consequence and a deep dive into the gray areas of morality and today’s justice system. With cutting social commentary wrapped in relentless action, the series asks what happens when the people society pushes to the margins decide to push back.  Our protagonists, three powerful and relatable women, reprogram their minds, sculpt their bodies, and learn everything it takes to deliver their justice, but are not fully prepared for the ripple effect of their actions. What happens when you go down the dark, unforgiving road of revenge? What happens when the only path forward is escalation? In a world that often mirrors our own reality, They Choose Violence forces readers to confront uncomfortable truths while delivering pulse-pounding storytelling and powerful artwork. 

Prepare for a story that’s as electrifying as it is necessary. They Choose Violence is colored by Daniele Caramanico and lettered by Matt Bowers, with cover art by Rahzzah and Kyle Baker. Available online and in stores wherever comic books are sold, the new series launches with They Choose Violence #1 on Wednesday, June 18.

They Choose Violence #1

Review: Snatched #1

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Snatched #1 takes the familiar drug trade story and replaces drugs with hair weaves.

Story: Sheldon Allen
Art: Mauricio Campetella
Color: Warnia Sahadewa
Letterer: Matt Bowers

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.

Scout Comics
Zeus Comics

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

Get Snatched by Scout Comics, Sheldon Allen, Mauricio Campetella, Warna K. Sahadewa, and Matt Bowers

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From the favelas of Central America, all the way to the scalp of your favorite A-List actress or IG Crush (you know the one I’m talking about), Snatched is a hardcore voyage into the bloody, treacherous, violent, unfiltered, uncompromising, and always unforgiving world of human hair trafficking. Following three parallel storylines, Snatched examines how racism, misogyny, and unchecked capitalism lead the pursuit of one of the world’s most visible and lucrative, yet unspoken commodities: hair weave. If you thought the drug game was deadly, wait until you see what goes down in the hair trade.

Written by Sheldon Allen, Snatched features pencils by Mauricio Campetella, color by Warna K. Sahadewa, and lettering by Matt Bowers. It’s out April 28 from Scout Comics.

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Review: Concrete Jungle #4

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Concrete Jungle #4 gets us back on track as the main story about psychics taking over bodies to commit crimes gets the focus.

Story: Sheldon Allen
Art: Karl Mostert
Color: Warnia Sahadewa
Letterer: Matt Bowers

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.

Zeus Comics
Scout Comics

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

Review: Concrete Jungle #3

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Concrete Jungle #3 throws a lot of the more interesting aspects of the series to the side focusing on its corrupt cop doing corrupt things plot.

Story: Sheldon Allen
Art: Karl Mostert
Color: Warnia Sahadewa
Letterer: Matt Bowers

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.

Zeus Comics
Scout Comics

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

Review: Concrete Jungle #2

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For as much as I disliked the first issue Concrete Jungle #2 is a welcomed change from the debut. Focusing more on the crime and attempt to solve it, the issue moves away from the problems that plagued the first issue.

Story: Sheldon Allen
Art: Karl Mostert
Color: Warnia Sahadewa
Letterer: Matt Bowers

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.

Scout Comics

Review: Concrete Jungle #1

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It’s the future and telepaths are hijacking people to commit crime. That concept put Concrete Jungle #1 in our “weekly pick,” but the main character being racist and worn out “tough guy” tropes distracted us from an interesting world and idea.

Story: Sheldon Allen
Art: Karl Mostert
Color: Warnia Sahadewa
Letterer: Matt Bowers

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.

Zeus Comics
Scout Comics

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

Scout Comics Takes You to the Concrete Jungle in October

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The year is 1986. The streets of Atom City-Miami crawl with extra-terrestrials, robots, and genetic mutations. Crime is a plague. There are no good guys. There are no bad guys. There are only survivors. Welcome to the Jungle.

Concrete Jungle is a new series from writer Sheldon Allen, artist Karl Mostert, letterer Matt Bowers, and colorist Warnia Sahadewa. It’s out this October from Scout Comics.

When a rogue telepath begins hijacking unsuspecting minds and bodies to commit vicious crimes, crooked Detective Annie Brunson is charged with cracking the case with her new straight laced telepathic partner, Faith Jones. Set among a backdrop of urban decay, exotic aliens, robots, and genetic mutations, Concrete Jungle is a science fiction police tale like no other.

Concrete Jungle #1

Sheldon Allen and Scout Comics to Donate June’s Crucified Profits to the NAACP

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Comic creator Sheldon Allen and Scout Comics have announced that for the month of June, all profits from the sale of individual issues and the trade paperback of Allen’s Crucified will be donated to the NAACP.

In the announcement, Allen said:

I wrote Crucified ten years ago as a response to racial injustice and inequality. And ten years later, nothing has changed. While the jaded realist residing in me doesn’t see much improving in another ten years, the scorned idealist buried even deeper in my soul screams otherwise. And so, I commend Scout Comics for stepping up and putting their money where their mouth is. It’s one thing to give lip service saying you’re committed to change; it’s another to actually partake in the change you claim you wish to see. History is watching.

In Crucified, the world’s deadliest contract killer just received his next target: A man some believe  to be the modern Jesus Christ. Lucas Blank, a gun for hire, finds himself contracted by a powerful NGO to execute a figure known only as the Messiah, who recently stopped a Los Angeles race riot with a single word. Lucas is a professional and it’s just another job until he has his finger on the trigger and is about to complete the job, that is, until the Messiah sees him and he suffers a crisis of conscience. The NGO becomes more desperate than ever to see the Messiah dead at any costs, including sacrificing those that Lucas holds most dear. One bullet. One kill. A billion consequences.

You can get your copy here.

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