It’s new comic book day tomorrow! What are you looking forward to? What do you plan on getting? Sound off in the comments below.
The Beat – A Year of Free Comics: Soul On Hold offers fantasy alongside a charming love story – Free comics!
Reviews
The Beat – Simon and Louise
Comic Book Bin – Splatoon Vol. 7
VIZ Media is participating in Halloween ComicFest 2018 with a special FREE sampler featuring excerpts from Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection and the Nintendo video game-inspired Splatoon.
Held annually, Halloween ComicFest will be celebrated this year on Saturday, October 27th at scores of comic shops and retailers nationwide. On this day, participating shops offer comic book fans and visitors FREE Halloween ComicFest samplers filled with excerpts of exciting and varied arrays of titles.
Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection is available now as a hardcover print release. For Halloween ComicFest, this sampler features Frankenstein, the titular story. Junji Ito, the master of horror manga bends all his skill into bringing the anguished and solitary monster—and the fouler beast who created him—to life with the brilliantly detailed chiaroscuro he is known for.
VIZ Media adds all-ages fun with an excerpt from the Splatoon manga, based on the hit Nintendo game with story and art by Sankichi Hinodeya (four volumes are now available). The Turf Wars have started in Inkopolis, and the team that inks the most ground will be crowned the winner! Savor all the action as the Inklings hide and swim through colored ink sprayed on surfaces using a fun arsenal of shooters, blasters, chargers, sloshers and brush-based weaponry.
The Turf Wars have started in Inkopolis, and the team that inks the most ground will be crowned the winner! Goggles and Team Blue are ranked lower than their competitors. But with some teamwork and a touch of creativity, they might just leave their mark on this tournament!
I’ve never played the game Splatoon and really my only knowledge of it was seeing some gameplay footage when Nintendo’s Switch was announced. I picked up that it’s a video game and one that’s big on competition, where teams face off against each other to do… something. And knowing so very little I was intrigued to dive into Splatoon Vol. 1 from Sankichi Hinodeya and published by VIZ Media.
The first volume focuses on Team Blue who have entered The Turf Wars and battle out against other teams to paint areas. It’s a straightforward story we’ve seen so many times before (I’m a fan of the dance competition version) but Hinodeya focuses on a mix of humor and teamwork to make what could easily be a bland tale into something interesting.
The manga feels like it has a clear audience in mind, a younger reader who might enjoy the lessons contained within. Teamwork is the name of the game and emphasized over and over after each battle. That seems to be what puts them over the top their higher ranked opponents. There’s also the lesson to try and not pay too much attention to rankings, just go out and do your best because you never know. It’s lessons one might expect in a kids cartoon or Sesame Street and it works.
The first volume works best for that younger set but also for those that are familiar with the game. The game, I would assume based on the story, relies heavily on colors and in a black and white manga, that’s a little odd to follow. Something feels like it’s missing. The action too is a little crazy to follow at times. There’s also the characters and their changing abilities that are left open to figure out… until you get to the end. Weirdly, a chapter that explains this world and game is at the end and after reading that section everything else makes a bit more sense. If that was earlier, I might have enjoyed the volume more.
Splatoon isn’t a bad manga at all and feels like it’s aimed at a certain audience, Splatoon fans. That’s not a bad thing, but for those who aren’t familiar with the game, it leaves you a little lost in the action. By the end though, I was a bit intrigued to find out more about the video game it’s based off of and see what I’ve been missing. While the manga wasn’t totally for me, it did present a fun world where teamwork is key and that sounds like a game I might want to play.
Story: Sankichi Hinodeya Art: Sankichi Hinodeya
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read
VIZ Media provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
It’s a new week and we’re recovering from DC in D.C. which we’ll have lots of news out of coming in the next few days. While you wait, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web in our morning roundup.
The Comichron – Weak December puts 2017 comic shop orders down 10%; big drop, but from a lofty perch – The chances of another up year were slim.
iO9 – Bruce Timm Wants To Make a Superman: Red Son Animated Adaptation – Yes please!
IGN – The Walking Dead Gets Season 9 Renewal and New Showrunner – Not too surprising.
Reviews
Talking Comics – Atlas and Axis #1
The Guardian – Blankets
Geek Dad – Deadman #3
Comic Attack – Shiver: Junji Ito Selected Stories
Nothing But Comics – Sleepless #2
Comic Attack – Splatoon Vol. 1
Comics Bulletin – Taarna #1
Wednesdays are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in!
Each week our contributors are choosing up to five books and why they’re choosing the books. In other words, this is what we’re looking forward to and think you should be taking a look!
Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this Wednesday.
Batman: Creature of the Night #1 (DC Comics) – Kurt Busiek and John Paul Leon unite for a spiritual companion to Superman: Secret Identity. Busiek writing Batman, yes please!
Catalyst Prime: Kino #1 (Lion Forge Comics) – A new entry in Lion Forge’s impressive new world. Anything the release is worth checking out and has us excited!
Chasing Hitler #1 (Red 5 Comics) – From the mind of a high school senior, the niece of Jai Nitz. The creator and concept of Hitler surviving and being chased down has us intrigued.
Dark Ark #3 (AfterShock) – Have you read the first two issues? This mash-up of horror and Biblical concepts is a fascinating and fun read.
Darkhawk #51 (Marvel) – We’re always interested in seeing what Marvel is doing with these one-shots and revisiting some classic characters and stories.
Eternity #2 (Valiant) – Is another classic in the making too hogh a bar?
Giantkillers #0 (IDW Publishing/Ominous Press) – Bart Sears and Ron Marz are continuing to kick off their new world and we want to see what it’s all about.
Interceptor Vol. 2 Reactor #1 (Vault Comics) – Donny Cates is writing it and that’s all we need to know about this return into the world of vampire warfare.
John Wick #1 (Dynamite Entertainment) – If you’ve seen the two movies you know why we’re excited for this.
Mystik U #1 (DC Comics) – It’s Harry Potter meets Gotham Academy with DC’s mystical characters. We’re onboard to see where this goes.
Splatoon Vol. 1 (VIZ Media) – The popular video game in manga form!
Star Trek Discovery #1 (IDW Publishing) – The show has been fantastic so we’re expect the same with these comics.
Star Wars Comics (Marvel and IDW Publishing) – There’s four different Star Wars comics from two publishers and we’re excited for them all.
Sword of Ages #1 (IDW Publishing) – Gabriel Rodriguez, the writer/artist/Locke & Key co-creator does fantasy. Yes please!
Zegas GN (Fantagraphics) – Michel Fiffe of Copra awesomeness. That alone should get you interested in this.
VIZ Media expands its catalog of manga titles based on popular Nintendo video game properties with the launch of Splatoon on December 12th.
The new series will be released exclusively in print and was created by Sankichi Hinodeya. Splatoon is rated ‘A’ for All Ages and Volume 1 carries an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN. Future volumes will be published by VIZ Media on a quarterly basis.
In Splatoon, the Turf Wars have started in Inkopolis, and the team that inks the most ground will be crowned the winner! Goggles and Team Blue are ranked lower than their competitors. But with some teamwork and a touch of creativity, they might just leave their mark!
Splatoon is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii UTM and was released worldwide in 2015. The game centers around characters known as Inklings who can transform between humanoid and squid-like forms. Inklings can hide or swim through colored ink sprayed on surfaces using shooters, blasters, chargers and sloshers, or brush-based weaponry. Splatoon has won multiple awards including a 2015 British Academy Children’s Award, IGN’s Best of 2015, and a SXSW Gaming Award in 2016. A sequel game titled, Splatoon 2, was recently released on the Nintendo Switch platform.
VIZ Media has thrilled manga and gaming fans with the announcement of the acquisition of the publishing rights for a new manga series based on Nintendo’s hit game title Splatoon.
The Splatoon manga series, created by Hinodeya Sankichi, is scheduled to launch exclusively in print in late 2017 and will be rated ‘A’ for All Ages.
Splatoon is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii UTM and was released worldwide in 2015. The game was co-created by Shintaro Sato, a member of the Animal Crossing team, and centers around characters known as Inklings, which can transform between humanoid and squid-like forms, and hide or swim through colored ink sprayed on surfaces using shooters, blasters, or chargers and slosher, or brush-based weaponry. Splatoon has won multiple awards including a 2015 British Academy Children’s Award, IGN’s Best of 2015, and a SXSW Gaming Award in 2016. A sequel game title, Splatoon 2, will be released this year for the Nintendo Switch.
In the Splatoon manga series, four Inklings that can switch between human and squid forms get caught up in a Splatoon Turf War that launches them into all-new adventures inspired by the hit Nintendo video game!
C2E2 and Silicon Valley Comic Con are a wrap! Lots of news coming out of conventions this week. What stood out to you? What are you excited for? Sound off in the comments below! While you think about that, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web in our morning roundup.
Around the Tubes
Scroll.in – A graphic novel series sees Marine Le Pen lead France after winning the May polls – Sounds rather interesting.
Builder Magazine – This Graphic Novel Aims to Teach Teens To Care About Urban Design – Sounds like a really interesting use of graphic novels.
Kotaku – Later this year, Splatoon will debut as a manga, publisher Viz Media announced today. – Very nice. Hopefully, it brings some video game fans into comics.
KWTX – Ex-Texas DA’s investigator sentenced in theft of rare comic books – Sigh….
Twitch – And now, something for our non-partnered streamers! – Interesting….
Around the Tubes Reviews
Talking Comics – Helena Crash #2
Talking Comics – Secret Empire #0
The Outhousers – Venom #6
After the overwhelming success of 2013’s The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia and 2016’s The Art of Fire Emblem Awakening, Dark Horse is excited to expand their publishing partnership with Nintendo to include an English-language edition of The Art of Splatoon.
The Art of Splatoon is based on Nintendo’s 2015 award-winning game for the Wii U console where players control squid-like characters called Inklings. Inklings have the ability to shift between humanoid and squid form and back again. Inklings shoot their team’s color to claim territory or “splat” opposing players. Ink supply is replenished by swimming through their respective team colors.
Containing an “inkredible” 320 pages of artwork, including 2D and 3D illustrations of characters, maps, concept art, weapon and gear design, storyboards, sketches, hand-drawn comics, and more, The Art of Splatoon is sure to please Inklings and humanoids alike.
Dark Horse will also publish The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts on February 21, 2017. The Art of Splatoon is slated to hit shelves June 13, 2017.
Loot Anime is a geek box by Loot Crate and Crunchyroll focused on the anime fans. This month’s box has a theme of “Victory” featuring items from Yowamushi Pedal, Splatoon, and Free!
We open up the box to show off what’s inside and what we think of the box.
You can order next month’s box now.
Loot Crate provided Graphic Policy with a FREE box for review.
The above link is an Affiliate Link, so any purchases Graphic Policy receives a percentage of the sale.
