Multi Eisner and Harvey Award nominee Ted McKeever is one of a select few comic artists whose talents, though perfectly suited for the sequential art form, are evocative enough of the “fine art” world to guarantee that he could find success and acclaim there as well. He, along with contemporaries like Kent Williams, George Pratt, Bill Sienkiewicz and John J. Muth have the creative flexibility and artistic chops to produce works for multiple outlets of the larger art world. As such, their comic work, particularly titles...

I reviewed the first issue of American Vampire with very high hopes and all of them have been surpassed by leaps and bounds.  Both parts of this two story book, one by Scott Snyder and the other by Stephen King,  get better and better along with the amazing art by Rafael Albuquerque.  I seriously don’t know what to rave about first. Albuquerque’s art is so rich with texture and atmosphere. There is actual movement in hair and clothing, nothing is too stiff or posed. People have facial expressions that actually...

One of the great things for a comic book fan is finding that weird, rare, unusual item from a favorite creator, a release so obscure one may not have even heard of it before. This happened to me recently when I was perusing the used magazine boxes at Amoeba Music in Hollywood recently. In between heavily worn early issues of Rolling Stone and dog-eared guitar tablature books I found this: This is a promotional comic from 1999 titled The Story of Buckethead. It contains a full 14 page story from the brilliant Dave McKean who...

Oh comics. I love you so, there are so many good stories you tell, but, there is something amiss between us. I’m sorry comics, but it has to be said: all the banners, all the epic fights, all the deaths, I’m all tuckered out. Please comics, it’s not you, it’s me, please can you stop the endless event books?  Please can you give me stand alone stories and relatable characters? Dear reader, Have you had this conversation lately? Maybe not directly at comics like me, but are you also burnt out from our diet...

It is a sad day here, as one of my favourite comics of all time is now getting cancelled. G Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker will end ‘Ai’r with Issue 24. Wilson had this to say about the news on Twitter. “For those who are asking: AIR will end exactly where I planned, only a little sooner than I planned it. I had lots of advance warning.” Sure the book is about the airline industry, countries that shouldn’t exist and international groups with their varied agendas and teleportation. For me it...

Although independent Irish comic company Berserker has been publishing for less than two years and has but a small handful of titles to their name, they are producing some of the highest quality horror releases of today. With a talent pool that includes some of the top names in comics such as Alan Grant, Simon Bisley, and Glenn Fabry, this is one small company that has more than hit the ground running. I suspect that one reason these heavy-hitters from across the pond are telling their stories at Berserker is that they are just...

At the retailer’s summit occurring in Chicago before C2E2 last weekend, Diamond Comics, distributor of weekly comic book issues, floated the idea of moving the release day for comic books to Tuesday, with the comic book retailers paying 5 dollars a week more. They put the idea to a show of hands vote to the retailers in the audience, and Tuesday releases narrowly won out. Now it sounds as if this is all speculation and discussion amongst Diamond. Why do they want to make comics come out on Tuesdays? Because of Hollywood....

When The Marat/Sade Journals, Barron Storey’s astounding first published foray into the sequential art medium,  was released in 1993 he had already earned much success and acclaim in the worlds of illustration and fine art. Recipient of the Society of Illustrators’ Gold Medal award in 1976 for his portrait of German songstress Lotte Lenya, Storey also has ten works (completed as Time magazine covers) in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Of these the most famous is perhaps...

If you listen to any of the Pick of the Week podcasts, you know I am a big fan of Sweet Tooth and Jeff Lemire. My friend a few years back got me into his Complete Essex County Trilogy. Now thanks to the magic of Lemire’s twitter account we now get a sneak peek at a future project . Lemire had this on his twitter account on Sunday night: “I’ve never shown anyone this except @chrisstaros, but this is a graphic novel projectI’ve been working on for about two years. Not sure when it will be done, but definitely not in 2009!...

I was excited when I flipped through Vertigo’s American Vampire. Rafael Albuquerque’s art was eye catching at first glance and I just couldn’t wait to get to the story. Let me just say this now, I was NOT disappointed. It turned out there were two short stories. One story was written by Scott Snyder , who also is the mastermind behind this book, and the other was by Stephen King. Each very different in location and tone but connected by a common character, the first “American Vampire” and...

It is always exhilarating to discover an artist whose output is such a visceral rush that viewing their work is like going from 0 to 60 in two seconds. This is just the rush I felt recently when, in my favorite comic shop, I opened Mesmo Delivery to a random page and this is (not kidding) the first image I see: Now, that single image above is a perfect indicator as to whether or not one will buy the book and love it, or just put it down and try to forget they ever saw it. As for me, my mind was already made up: this one’s...

Recently, Galaxy of Comics held a signing featuring Len Wein, creator of Wolverine and current writer for DC’s Human Target.  I started perousing the racks (while I was thinking about how bummed I was that I missed him) and came across a few Vertigo trades for Human Target.  The first thing I noticed was the difference between the VERTIGO, and DC Human Target.  This Human Target is very different from the current run, it’s darker, more of a mind bender, a great piece of fiction that will keep you wanting more. It’s...

Artist Dave McKean has found tremendous success and acclaim in a wide variety of mediums including painting, sculpture, book illustration, photography, filmmaking, music, and, of course, comics. Legendary amongst sequential art enthusiasts, his singular and recognizable style is found in many of the most highly acclaimed titles of the last 20 years including Violent Cases, Mr. Punch, Arkham Asylum, and The Sandman, as well as his own creation Cages. I had the pleasure of attending the opening reception for McKean’s newest...

This coming Saturday, February 13, Gallery Nucleus will be holding a special book signing with the legendary Barron Storey and Kent Williams. The event will be to celebrate the re-release of Storey’s long out of print (and extremely hard to find) The Marat/Sade Journals along with Williams’ most recent collection Kent Williams, Amalgam: Paintings and Drawings, 1992-2007. Barron Storey began his art career in the 1960’s and his work has included a dozen covers for Time magazine, and the first ever official large scale painting...

It’s the start of a new year, which means it’s the start of a new feature here at ComicImpact.com. Janurary 2010 welcomes the start of the new ‘Book Of The Month’ podcast for the site! On the 1st day of every given month, we will deliver a new Book Of The Month podcast. This is where each of us podcasters here on the site, take turns picking a TPB for us each to all read once a month, and we review it for you. To start the new year off, Janurary’s book is picked by Rob, and he’s chosen the Fables...

There is something enticing about tales of addiction, shame, and degradation that easily draws the reader into the skeleton-filled closets of the author. What exactly that attraction stems from is something I’ve been considering a lot since reading the sensational graphic novel The Alcoholic by Jonathan Ames and Dean Haspiel, now available in trade paperback from Vertigo. Is the attraction to this material due to having the chance to peek into the life of one who suffers from a problem that seems utterly foreign to those...

Welcome to the Comic Impact Pick of the Week podcast. Join Simon, Sheldon and Dana as they discuss the best comics that January 13th had to offer. This weeks pick managed the impossible as the Vertigo Guy and Aspenite, Simon and Dana, were in agreement about the best comic of the week! Dana had the pick this week and after hours of debating chose Daytripper 2 by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba. She also shares her concern that the contents of Batgirl 6 are pointing to the inevitable death of Dick Grayson. Simon has an emotional moment...

The hawk-eyed readers of our site amongst you, will probably realise that the Comic Impact podcasters have not done a usual ‘Trade Tuesday‘ podcast for about a month. Now, asone of the podcasters on the site, I am here to let you know that this fault was not an accident or without reason. We have come up with a new idea, for a new monthly podcast, that we hope will grab your attention in new and more variant ways. As of this month, we will be starting a new podcast entitled the ’Book Of The Month‘...

One of the features we do here at Comic Impact is the cosplay girl (NO anime, manga, role-playing games just comics) of the month, that’s  right hot girls dressing up like your favorite super- hero characters. This month we’re privileged to have Meagan aka VirtualGirl. Found out how her love of video games got her into Cosplay. What is your name? Meagan VanBurkleo, but I go by VirtualGirl on the interwebs. How old are you? 25 years old! Do you read comics and if so, what are your favorite titles? Yes, I love to read comics!...

On behalf of ComicImpact.com I’d like to extend the warmest holiday wishes for you and your families on this wonderful Christmas Eve. It’s been a long, exciting 2009, and the horizon is filled with even more fun for 2010  and much, much more comic fun that will impact your life … Again,Thank you to everyone who downloads the podcast and  subscribes,  and tells their comic book stores about this Podcast/blog . We really appreciate it, since we make this site  for you guys and girls the comics fans of the world. I...

A full house for the Pick of the Week podcast this week! No one gets left behind here, as Simon, Sheldon, Dana and Rob carry you through pastures green, on their Godly shoulders of grace, into a land where the rivers don’t flow with just simply honey, oh no, they flow with comic books from the week of November 4th! So thanks for coming back Comic Impact listeners! Rob had the pick last week with the outstanding, Guardians of the Galaxy, which means it’s Simon’s turn to choose his favourite book. This week...

Hey Comic Impact listeners! Welcome back to the usual Pick Of The Week podcast for our weekly round up of the most thought provoking, and awesome comics. You’ll be glad to hear the beautiful voices of all four of the usual suspects amoungst the Comic Impact staff, as Dana, Simon, Sheldon & Rob sing heavenly songs for harmony and joy to you, in the form of comic reviews! This episode is a special one, oh yes sir, as we find out about a big, big annoucment from Sheldon, that he is going to drop all his DC books! At this...

Putting aside the fact that the comics themselves featured many of the same classic characters we’ve known all our lives, the often-forgettable releases from Marvel in the 1990’s bares little resemblance to the company’s output today. When you factor in the abolishment of the Epic line, bad business practices leading to a glut of material (over 100 titles at one point), and their top name creators jumping ship to launch the instantly successful Image, you get a titan of the industry not exactly in the midst of a new...

Gather round one and all, and listen to the very first POW for the month of September, in this jolly year of two thousand and nine! Join the gang this week as Rob, Dana, Simon & Sheldon, discuss some of the comics that came out for what was an arguably slow week for new publishings. But fear not, as the guys manage to pick out the very best of the best, in what there was on offer!  Prepare to be scared out of your skin, as Rob reveals he may not be the true Matt Fraction fan that he lets on to be, that Simon got a little...

Like most kids (boys especially) I was drawn to anything that had dinosaurs in it. Movies like King Kong, The Valley of Gwangi, One Million Years B.C. and The Land That Time Forgot were mandatory viewing when they would pop up on Saturday afternoon television (this was back in the pre-historic days shortly before cable and home video). Comics like Jack Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur and The War That Time Forgot were read and reread endlessly. Even though I loved anything even remotely monster related there was a difference when it...

it is  time to look at the Comic Impact staff pull list what they are reading this week for the first week of September .this week Rob has the pick we he pick something like Deadpool 15 or will he go with Marvel Zombies Return: Spider-Man by Fred Van Lente. Sheldon had the pick last week but I know he can’t wait to talk to us about Incognito #6. Simon can’t wait to read Jeff Lemire’s  Sweet Tooth.. and Dana  know what’s going on in Invincible Iron Man. Rob’s pull list Sheldon’s Pull...

So I took a lot of photos this weekend at San Diego Comic Con.  I am going post more later, but right now I wanted to post photos of Sheldon and I with some of our friends… and you never know  maybe some of your favorite people working in comics! Sheldon and Scott Pilgrim. Wow it’s Trina Latrine aka G33K T4LK N3RD R0CK!11!1. Sheldon talking with his god, Ed Brubaker (Daredevil, Captain America). The ladies (Dana, Chris) love Sheldon. Tom Nguyen (Green Lantern, Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters) trying...

I thought I’d put out a review here of Greek Street #1 from Vertigo. It’s been a few weeks since this issue hit shelves, and #2 is bound to be released soon, so better now than never that I state what I thought about this first issue in full detail!  The issue was only $1, so to pass up on buying this would have been simply insane. It’s a full length premiere with just as many pages of story and ads as any comic being published by Vertigo at the moment, so there is seriously NO CATCH with this comic, which...

Hello all! Not a lot of news this week, which is fine by me. However, I will say I was realllly looking forward to some kind (hell, any kind) of announcement from either Marvel or DC on their upcoming movies’ main characters. As Comic Con looms closer and closer it seems as though that will be the date for the release of many answers. I will get back to that topic at the end of this post, but for now lets look at what was actual news this week! Marvel let us know awhile back that writer Zak Penn was attached to the Avengers...

David Lapham’s Young Liars vol. 1 entitled “Daydream Believer” from Vertigo was one of my favorite books of last year, and was also one of our first reviews here at Comic Impact .  I still have yet to read volume 2 called “Maestro,” and I have never read Stray Bullets but I can recall some of Lapham’s work on Batman. I had heard about Silverfish from DC’s Vertigo imprint, so I picked it up and decided to feature it in this week’s Trade Tuesday segment! Now having read the book I can tell you that...

Faust issue #3 “Not For Children” is the phrase that adorns the cover of several issues of the notorious adults-only comic book “Faust: Love of the Damned,” and I can safely state that a more appropriate warning has never been put on a cover before or since. The hyper-violent reality that the characters of “Faust” live in scales heights of bloodlust and depravity that I can only assume is completely unheard of and unseen by the majority of comic readers.  The extreme sex and violence in this book are not mutually...

Are you someone who does not like flying?  If so, you are just like the main character in this weeks Trade Tuesday feature, Air vol.1: Letters From Lost Countries by G. Willow Wilson, compliments of DC Comics’ literary imprint, Vertigo Comics! Her name is Blythe and she hates flying. Did I tell you she is also a flight attendant for Clearfleet Airlines? Don’t go looking them up for cheap flights to Hawaii- they’re a fiction airline. One day Blythe sees this guy who she thinks is a terrorist while working for...

OK so I am sure you saw  Watchmen or any ads for it you saw the part when Nite Owl and Silk Spectre  II are kissing in the background you see a nuclear blast.   Now Mark S from Tokyo Japan. Send us his  Comic base tattoo so let’s find out a bit about Mark and his tattoo. 1. What is your name? Mark S. 2. How old are you and where do you live? I’m 28 and live a half hour away from Tokyo Japan. 3. Do you read comics and if so what do you like to read? I stick to mostly Marvel and Vertigo whenever I can.  Anything...

The Complete Bite Club trade paperback was released over two years ago, but, as a late comix bloomer, I’m just starting to get my hands on the good stuff. An amusing cross between The Sopranos and True Blood, the Bite Club graphic novel series takes a gander into a world where vampires not only co-exist with humans, they even rule the underbelly of Miami. The DeSalvos, a vampire clan that has run Miami’s organized crime for almost a hundred years, are filthy bloody rich, sexy and to make matters worse, immortal. The advantage...

Are you a fan of Batman: The Animated Series ? Well they you are going to love are new Tattoo of the Month as Luca from Italy. Tells us a bit about his Joker base tattoo. 1. What is your name? My name’s Luca Maurizi 2. How old are you and where do you live? I’m 19 and I live in Terni, in southern Umbria (Italy) 3. Do you read comics and if so what do you like to read? Yes, I like both marvel and dc comics. Now I’m reading Vertigo’s Preacher. 4. Ok do you have any favorite artist or writers? No one...

Here’s some highlights  of  the DC Comics Panel. There were mixed reactions from fans when Dan Didio asked who liked Final Crisis. A new Animal Man series is on the way, not sure if it will be written by grant morrison or not. All Star Batman is not canceled. James Robinson is working on a new Shade origin project If you didn’t pick up Legion of 3 Worlds #3, you missed the return of Bart Allen. Aquaman returned in Final Crisis #7, he will also be in Blackest Night. There are plans for more New Gods stories. Grant Morrison...

Young Liars Vol.1 Daydream Believer Written by David Lapham; Artwork by David Lapham Do you enjoy music, sex, drugs and guns? Well then I have the right book for you if not you can go read Family Circus. Over the past few months I have been hearing a lot about David Lapham’s new comic Young Liars it is published by Vertigo the first issue was released in March 2008. I hate to jump on to a book when the story line has already started. A lot of the time I tell my self I will pick it up in trades. Lucky for me the Young Liars...