Posted 5/11/12 4:00 pm EST by Eddie Wright in Boom Studios, Comic Books, Interviews
Sam Humphries is everywhere these days. Not only did his just-released, multiple Earth-hopping science fiction epic "Higher Earth" sell out before it even hit shelves, but the versatile writer is working on Marvel's "The Ultimates," "Fanboys vs. Zombies" from "Earth" publisher BOOM! and the self-published Sacrifice series, which is still rolling out.
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Posted 2/8/12 3:30 pm EST by Alex Zalben in Boom Studios, Comic Books
If there’s one thing I can say about Adventure Time #1 from BOOM!, it’s that this is the most frickin’ adorable comic I’ve read all month, and maybe all year. Seriously, I do have several other things to say about it… But holy cow, I just had a goofy smile on my face the whole time because of how durn cute it was.
That bit of terrible criticism out of the way, how does the book hold up to the legacy of the TV series that’s proved to be a massive crossover hit for both adults and kids? Perfectly, is the answer to that question. I’ll cop to having only seen a handful of episodes of Adventure Time, but even if you’ve never seen it before, the issue is so packed with jokes, including one of the best character introduction pages I’ve ever read, that it won’t matter whether you’re a new fan, or an old one.
One of the biggest questions I had going into this issue was the pacing. Comedy is hard to do in comics on the best of days, but the slow, “Adult Swim… But for kids!” humor of the show is hard to replicate in comic book form. I’m happy to say that the team has nailed it. A panel showing a villain pausing and reacting to a barb from Human Being and Adventurer Finn is perfectly timed and paced, just how it would be on the cartoon. And the jokes in general – Finn and his stretchy dog pal Jake are constantly trying to figure out really good “Bad Guy Slam-Down Lines” – err on the side of weird or going on for far too long… Just like on the show. Read More...
Posted 2/6/12 11:30 am EST by Alex Zalben in Boom Studios, Comic Books
As reported over at Newsarama last week, Mark Waid’s critically and fan acclaimed series Irredeemable and Incorruptible are both getting cancelled in May… Though by Waid’s own choice:
“I’m just stretched thin right now both personally and professionally, and I live in mortal fear that I’m going to overstay my welcome on these books,” said Waid in an interview. “Moreover, I feel that Max Damage’s character arc is reaching its end in Incorruptible. And in Irredeemable, I’ve long known what the end of that series is, and lately, it’s as if all the characters are moving into position for it whether I want them to or not. So let’s go out big and grand, I say.”
For those of you not familiar with the series, Irredeemable is about The Plutonian, a Superman-esque hero who goes just a little bit nuts, and decides to slaughter pretty much everyone on planet Earth in the most horrible ways possible. As a response, his arch enemy – Max Damage – over in Incorruptible decides to try and walk on the side of good, though he faces a few problems of his own.
Along the way, Waid, as well as artist Peter Krause – who was the original series artist on Irredeemable, created an entire superhero universe independent from DC, Marvel, or even anything else published by BOOM! That’s not so much a rarity nowadays, but what is unique is that both series will end up running over thirty issues each (Irredeemable will end with #37, Incorruptible with #30), spawned a line of cologne, and a devoted legion of fans. In a market where even the Big Two have problems launching new characters, this was – and remains – a tremendous achievement.
There’s a number of questions that this announcement lays down, of course, the biggest of course being how final these final issues will actually be? We suspect that Waid will conclude his mediation on villainy and heroism he began in Irredeemable #1, from both perspectives. And as teased in the recently concluded crossover between the two books, Max Damage and The Plutonian have their origins inexorably linked… We can’t imagine one surviving without the other, and we sort of can’t imagine either of them surviving the ends of their respective series. Read More...
Posted 1/18/12 11:30 am EST by Charles Webb in Boom Studios, Comic Books, Interviews
With the release of Boom!'s Adventure Time comic just around the corner, we thought we'd speak to one of the folks bringing the book to presses: Braden Lamb, the illustrator and colorist whose work has adorned other Boom! titles like Duck Tales and Muppet Snow White. Lamb discusses some of the challenges of bringing Adventure Time to life on the page, his own appreciation for the animated series on which it's based, and what's next for his work.
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Posted 1/11/12 4:30 pm EST by MTV Geek in Boom Studios, Comics For Kids
The new ongoing comic book series Peanuts, from Boom! Studios’ kaboom! children’s line, has two rather Herculean tasks on its hands. First, of course, is following in the footsteps of a master cartoonist like Charles M. Schulz; it partially solves this issue by running the artist’s original Peanuts Sunday strips alongside the new material. The second feat: adapting the Peanuts characters into a format that breaks them out of the comic strip and fits them more into a standard comic book narrative for kids. The result is not exactly the Peanuts I grew up with, but a a spirited hybrid that has a little something for everybody.
First, on to the great: the art here by Vicki Scott, Paige Braddock, and Matt Whitlock has a charming, bouyant quality that keeps the spirit of Schulz’ work alive without being a stiff & studied copy. In particular, Whitlock’s art in “Cat Cash” has alot of bounce and charm, taking full advantage of the unique dimensions of the comic book page but avoiding becoming something unrecognizable to Peanuts fans. The coloring is bright and gorgeous across the board, really making the book “pop” -- though it might be weird seeing modern “modeling” techniques and shading (though subtly done) on these characters.
Posted 12/27/11 9:54 am EST by MTV Geek in Boom Studios, Comic Books
Starting in February, BOOM! Studios' kiddie offshoot, KaBOOM will begin releasing a new monthly series based on Cartoon Network's brilliantly bizarre animated series, Adventure Time! The series, which was created by Pendleton Ward will be written Dinosaur Comics' Ryan North, and drawn by Ice Age: Iced In artist Shelli Paroline. Read More...
Posted 11/23/11 4:00 pm EST by Charles Webb in Best Of, Boom Studios, Comic Books, Dark Horse, DC Comics, IDW, Image Comics, Marvel, Vertigo Comics
Looking through our picks for the best comics of 2011, I've been trying to divine some kind of theme among the Geek staff's choices. Without really going out of our way to do so, the list of books we all gravitated towards ran the gamut from creator-owned to long-running franchises, from big, superhero fiction in revamped universes, to quietly personal dramas about relationships.
What I'm saying is, I guess: keep making things different, diverse, and strange in 2011 comic books, and we'll keep reading you.
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Posted 11/4/11 4:01 pm EST by Alex Zalben in Boom Studios
If you’re anything like me, you probably remember Peanuts a bit more fondly for its television specials, than the comic strip that spawned a nostalgic empire. But it’s the comics that started it, and now, thanks to BOOM!’s kaboom! Imprint for kids, it’s the comics that will continue the legacy of Charles M. Schulz.
Kicking that off? A brand new series of short strips and comic books, as well as a full length graphic novel adaptation of “Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown!” But first, there’s PEANUTS #0, which previews the OGN, as well as providing a look at strips new and old. Read More...
Posted 11/1/11 11:38 am EST by Alex Zalben in Boom Studios, Comic Books
I’ve got to be honest, I’ve never been in love with the whole Planet of the Apes “thing.” The first movie is excellent, of course, but beyond seeing the disappointing Burton reboot in theaters, I never got the motivation to watch the other movies, TV show, read the comics, or even get jazzed about the – reportedly excellent – recent preboot.
I’m not going to tell you I’m a total convert based on BOOM!’s ‘Betrayal of The Planet of the Apes #1,’ but I will say it’s a pretty damn solid comic book.
A large part of that credit probably has to go to Gabriel Hardman, who not only provided the art for the issue, but also co-wrote it with Corinna Bechko. The story is solid enough, and even those who have less Apes knowledge than me will be able to follow along. Basically, there’s this world where apes are the rulers, and humans are slave beasts. The story centers around a scientist who has started to teach a human sign language, which is directly against ape law… And how it starts to cause a schism in ape society.
Posted 10/16/11 3:50 pm EST by Charles Webb in Boom Studios, Comic Books, Interviews, New York Comic Con
Coheed and Cambria frontman and Amory Wars creator Claudio Sanchez was joined by his wife/co-writer Chondra Echert in the MTV Geek skybox to get the third degree from Chris Hardwick and Jonah Ray about their upcoming project from Evil Ink Studios and Boom!, Key of Z which drops later this month.
According to Echert, after the zombie apocalypse hits, the main character, Ewing, loses his family to the ongoing gang war between three battling factions, each based out of one of the major sports stadiums in the boroughs -- City Field, Yankee Stadium, and Madison Square Garden. From the sound of it, Key of Z follows Ewing as he Yojimbo's his way back and forth between the gangs in order to exact some sort of revenge.
But beyond simply telling a payback story with zombies, New York native Sanchez views the Key of Z as a love letter to his beloved city, framing it around the unique, passionate, and sometimes rabid sort of loyalty that comes from identifying with one of the boroughs. According to Sanchez "That's essentially what Key of Z is essentially a postcard to. The story takes place in Manhattan, just showing my love for the city." Read More...
Posted 10/7/11 1:34 pm EST by Alex Zalben in Boom Studios
I can’t actually say it plainer than I did in the title, but I’ll spend the next four hundred words or so saying the same thing, but at greater length: Snarked – the new series from writer/artist Roger Langridge that riffs on concepts created by Lewis Carroll – is by turns funny, heartfelt, and beautifully whimsically drawn.
The story – if you missed the zero issue – is this: the Walrus and The Carpenter are two poor rogues living in a shack by the sea. The Walrus is the smarter half of the duo, the Carpenter nearly as dumb as the wood he works on, and both are as conniving and sly as you’d expect. Except, secretly, they also may have warm hearts, though they don’t know it yet. Meanwhile, Princess Scarlett – who will one day become The Red Queen – is mourning her missing father, who is presumed lost at sea. Her baby brother Rusty is scared of the invisible Snarks, and is a baby. That’s pretty much it. Read More...
Posted 10/3/11 5:37 pm EST by MTV Geek in Announcements, Boom Studios, Comic Books
Tanpopo creator and friend of Geek, Camilla d'Errico has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the hardcover collection of Tanpopo, which we are currently serializing here on Geek! Read More...
Posted 9/30/11 3:08 pm EST by Alex Zalben in Boom Studios, Comic Books, Reviews
Welcome to the new world of adult children’s books. For those of you who don’t have kids, you may not be aware of this trend, but for the past few years – and particularly in the past year – there’s been a large increase in books for kids that aren’t actually books for kids. From Lane Smith’s “It’s a Book,” to the hipster hit “Go The F*ck To Sleep,” to Lemony Snicket's upcoming Hanukah tale, "The Latke Who Wouldn't Stop Screaming," we’ve moved from having darkly comic books that kids and adults can enjoy together, like those from Dr. Seuss, or, er, Lane Smith; to books that are straight up dirty. Read More...
Posted 9/23/11 3:22 pm EST by MTV Geek in Boom Studios, Comic Books, Digital Comics
To honor the untimely passing of Minck Oosterveer on September 19, 2011, BOOM Studios is offering all issues of the gifted artist's collaboration with Mark Waid, The Unknown and The Unknown: Devil Made Flesh for free through digital distributors comiXology, iVerse, Graphicly, and mydigitalcomics. These are both great collections and a great way to remember the artist who was just gaining ground here in the States. Read More...
Posted 8/9/11 3:13 pm EST by Don Hatfield in Boom Studios, Comic Books, ComiXology, Digital Comics
The legendary Stan Lee has returned to the direct comic book market with three new series for BOOM! Studios and comiXology is letting digital copies go at half-off!
If you haven’t read Starborn, The Traveler or Soldier Zero now is a great time to jump in on the action. comiXology and BOOM! are having a 3-Day Stan Lee & BOOM! Studios sale where you will find Starborn #1-5, The Traveler #1-8 and Soldier Zero #1-9 available for just $.99 per issue. The sale began today, but you’ll need to hurry -- it ends on August 11th at 11pm.
