Sunday Comics...aug 4

1

Catalyst Comix... By Joe Casey and a cast artists....

Once upon a time Dark Horse Comics started a series of superhero comics refered to as Comics Greatest World; the world was populated by such characters as X,Ghost, Motörhead to name just the few that occur to me the fastest but there were many more. This was a setting hat survived a while and was cool in many ways but in the morass of the superhero glut it got lost and buried in the mass of the mediocre. Writers are returning to these concepts and characters today and I for one hope that with the new reality of comics they can gain an audience.

There are some great current writers and some writing stars of years past that are writing in this setting that traders should be looking farther afield from Marvel these days for good superhero stories. There are reasons I exclude DC and it has to do with my taste and my dissatisfaction with the new 52stable. I will say I loved Frankenstein and the agents of Shadow, Demon Knights, Dial H, Justice League Dark and the Simon Baz Green Lantern but on the whole the new DCU falls totally flat for me especially the big three they are worth nought these days and the new standard is the greatness is the old house of ideas.... Marvel.

Marvel currently has the writing of people who have ideas and artists nat are given the free reign to draw to their strength. Captain Marvel is about the best of the stable these days followed closely by Hawkeye and Daredevil. To me an OLD comics fan its like the early eighties when DC has a couple good books considered c level titles and Marvel and the Indys had the lead in storytelling. This is where I will talk about the cool that is Catalyst Comics #1

This issue introduces us to the heroes and stories of a world which has survived a cosmic apocalypse of Lovecraftian proportions. Among the three tales we get a superman like tale of the single superhero against the cosmic horror but with consequences and emotional baggage, we get the story of the possible cause and solution to the crisis in the first back up story and in the last we set a bringing the band back together story in a superhero vein. This book makes me wish I had picked up the Deconnick Ghost series because I love her writing on Captain Marvel and Hopeless's title for Dark Horse too. These are titles that may hall beneath the usual superhero collectors radar but these tales are just as good as the big two.... I was a long time fan of the Elementals and this stable have the feel of the old First comics.... Take a look they are not the big guys but they are no less for it.

Along the same line I have to point out the Zenith comics project from kickstarter that needs support. Its a comics fan that wants to bring the light back to the grim dark that has swallowed the comics world. Here is the link to the project. I read the script for the first issue and it looks to be as good as the feat of things on the shelf and worthy of sharing the space with them. It has a great pedigree and I hope to see it as a reality.. Take a look let me know what you think....

Take a look to at Catalyst, Ghost, X Captain Midnight from Dark Horse... If there are more super hero comics the ones put there will get better .... I dug the first issue of Catalyst and will be adding the second to my pull list....

 

Doctor Who Posts

Aug 14, 2015

SF Review: Doctor Who: The Drosten’s Curse by A.L. Kennedy

By Escape Reality, Read Fiction!

My Review: Tomorrow, Saturday August 15, has been declared Doctor Who Comics Day by Titan Comics, who, of course, publish Doctor Who Comics. While I didn’t have a Doctor Who...

Aug 13, 2015

SF Review: The End of All Things by John Scalzi

By Escape Reality, Read Fiction!

My Review: If Doctor Who is the story of a “madman with a box” then The End of All Things is at least partially the story of a brain in...

Jul 15, 2015

Review: Space Cowboys & Indians by Lisa Medley

By Escape Reality, Read Fiction!

My Review: While Space Cowboys & Indians isn’t really like the 2011 movie Cowboys & Aliens, it also isn’t not like it. Along with a bit of Farscape or the...

Jun 08, 2015

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #11

By Comics Worth Reading

I know big, galaxy-risking, four-part stories are seen as more important, but it’s the one-off, quieter, more personal scenes that I really like in this series. I shouldn’t be too...

May 24, 2015

Doctor Who Summer Comic Event Crosses Over Four Doctors

By Comics Worth Reading

In keeping with the tradition of the big summer event, Titan Comics has announced that they will publish a five-part weekly crossover in August among their ongoing Doctor Who comic...

May 03, 2015

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #11

By Comics Worth Reading

I haven’t been talking much about the Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor series. I liked companion Alice, but she quickly got lost in adding a couple more creatures traveling with...

Apr 05, 2015

Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor #1

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Completing the modern run of Doctors with their fourth title, Titan Comics has launched Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor #1. This one’s a miniseries, five issues, written by Cavan Scott...

Mar 12, 2015

Review: Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman

By Escape Reality, Read Fiction!

My Review: Fair warning, if you have an eARC of this book, it probably does not include the last story, Black Dog. I’m lucky I had a published print copy...

Feb 21, 2015

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor #1

By Comics Worth Reading

I was curious to try the launch of the Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor comic series, because I lost interest in the show in the second half of the Eleventh...

Feb 21, 2015

Doctor Who Photo Covers Create New Companions

By Comics Worth Reading

The Doctor Who comics, like so many these days, are available with multiple covers. There’s usually a main art cover, possibly a painted variant, but there’s also been a lot...