the Kiss of Death

for the record: there ARE actually comics i read that DON'T get cancelled... NO FOR REAL!!! but as it turns out, NEXTWAVE is not one of them. yep... after just 12 issues, Nextwave went the way of the dodo, robert townsend, and redhead kingpin. i never saw it coming, and another comic i adored got the axe this month.

too bad too... this was the funniest book in all of comics! and it was being produced by Marvel (can you believe it?)?!! Nextwave was written by superscribe Warren Ellis (Authority, Global Frequency, Planetary, Thunderbolts) with art by Stuart Immomen (Hulk, Ultimate X-men, Secret Identity), and was easily and honestly the funniest superhero book since Giffen and Macguire's Justice League (Slott and Bobillo's She-Hulk was pretty funny too...). Ellis took a bunch of also-ran characters from marvel's d-list dungeon and put them together on a superhero team, apparently for the sole purpose of mocking all the crappy storylines and ill-concieved characters in the companies 60-odd years of making comics... and it's FREAKIN' HILARIOUS!!!

whether it's surmising about what's in Fin Fang Foom's giant shorts, the revalation that (former New Mutant, current Nextwave team member) Tabitha (aka Boom Boom) really doesn't think, Machine Man's obvious disdain for "fleshy ones" (humans), or Team Leader (and ex-Captain Marvel) Monica Rambeau's constant reminder that she usedta be a team leader in the Avengers, this book takes full advantage of all the weird twists and turns in major superhero comics continuity. On the Authorty and Planetary, Ellis has shown he knows how to strip-mine major comics history for post-modern story ideas, but he takes it to a NEW level when doing it for comedic effect in Nextwave!

and series artist Stuart Immomen has gone on from being just another Adam Hughes wannabe to develope a distinct, striking art style of his own that is worthy of ripping off! it's clear that this book would be hard to swollow in the hands of a lesser artist, but Stu makes it go down smooth as swedish brandy...

alas, the ride is over, but on the PLUS side, you can go back and collect all 12 issues without TOO much trouble, i'm sure. soon, Immomen will be the regular artist on the RED-HOT Ultimate Spiderman, so you better get them Nextwave issues while you can!

holla!

samax.

www.ghettoManga.com

i got my PhD in p.h.a.t...

i didn't get any sleep last night... but i took time to read some comics! priorities... among them was the 3rd issue of StormWatch PHD. no, i doesn't stand for Pimpin' Hoes Daily, it stands for Post Human Division... this book is all about the (mostly) human cops who bust up supervillainy that sneaks by those grandstanding pretty boys in tights. at least that's what i gathered... i didn't get 1 or 2, but once i flipped through and saw the gorgeous art of Doug Mahnke (JLA, Frankenstien, Major Bummer), and read a few panels written by comics newcomer, screenwriter Christos Gage (Law And Order, SVU), i was hooked!

In this issue, the team heads to Vegas (no, not for the NBA All-star game...) to train PHD Las Vegas to combat beings " so far above you, they view you as a child. A pet. Or a piece of meat."

of course, while there, they encounter dark, dangerous secrets of the murdering alien bodysnatcher variety... and this is Wildstorm Comics, so there's sex and disturbing violence too... NICE!

if this sounds like your type of hype, peep the CBR interview of series writer, Christos Gage here.

peace.

samax.

the Pretty Tony series

marvel puts out so many books, they can do limited series on characters who already HAVE a series... this time it's your boy Tony Stark aka Iron Man (not ghostface... the OTHER Tony Stark aka Iron Man), starring in IRON MAN: HYPERVELOCITY , a six-issue mini by well-known american mangaphiles Adam Warren (Dirty Pair, Livewires, Empowered) and Brian Denham (Killbox). Hypervelocity takes a decidedly cyberpunk spin on the iron avenger: addressing his addiction to alcohol, high speed, high technology, and high end honeys...

a Win/Lose Situation...

the Losers, by Andy Diggle and Jock
"it's got spy crap in it. but in a good way!" that was all the recommendation i needed... see, my friend mike is a pretty good judge of what won't work for me in a comic. when he was gushing to me about his new favorite comic, The Losers (published by DC/vertigo), he said "i've never seen any comic do spy crap as well as they do it in film... until now. and (the artist) Jock is a fucking badASS!"

so there you go! i just finished reading AnteUp, the trade paperback collecting the first story arc about the newly rogue black-ops special forces team, the Losers. after seeing something they shouldn't have, the team is whacked by the CIA, or so it seems. now the Losers are back, with new team member, Iraqi killing machine/CIA mole (and seriously fly chick... don't tell her i said that!) Aisha (foreground in the cover art at left), and they are giving the crooked government bigwigs the muthafreakin' bizness.

anyways, the point is, this mess is the BOMB!!! and yeah. Jock is a Bad Ass... collectors should scoop these issues, as they will surely be valuable when he goes on to draw Batman, Daredevil or some other top-selling comic. the book has the kind of severity and elegance in the action sequences you rarely see, and Jock's sense of style, framing and pacing is breathtaking!

i've got two more trades to read, so i won't go on too much. I advise buying the TPB, but you can download a PDF of the whole first issue for free here...

samax.

the haps...

yeah... i'm, like, busy and stuff... i got an art show comin' up with those fine folks from ArtLoveMagic on the 24th in Dallas. tryin'a get more art ready for that... i'll definitely be sellin' prints and original art (paintings, comic pages, maybe sketches) there as well as doing art live. ALM is also producing a fancy-shmancy art book called The Book of Angels and Nightmares that will have art form James O'Barr (The Crow), myself (see the fresh wip [work in progress] on the left) and other artsy bastards, so stay tuned for more on that as the drop date approaches... i'm doing a takeover of Jungle Jem, the Jungle45 newsletter next month, so expect news on that here as well as my usual ramblings. read the previous newsletters including my article, "Brotha Got Bills" at the jungle45 myspace blog... you can buy Valentine's Day swag over at Ziontific. all orders placed on or before the 14th will earn you a free gift from yours truly!

i've been reading a ton'a comics, watchin' movies, traveling (!) and pretty much just wasting time lately, so the upside is, you can reap the benefits as i'll vomit out a ton'a blogs in the coming weeks!

that's it for now, tho'... busy, busy, busy...

samax.

www.ghettomanga.com

ghost Ride or die!

to promote the new GhostRider flick comin' out next month, sony pictures waded through the nerds, geeks and weirdos (you may decide which category you wanna put me in) at the San Diego Comicon, and sat a bunch of us down to talk about the screen adaptation of everybody's favorite Spirit of Vengeance. so anyways, peep the video below, go to www.ghostRiderMovieBlog.com to vote for me as numero uno gR fan, and/or peep my original blog about the distiguished mr. Blaze by clicking the pic above...


holla!

samax.

the Immortal Iron Fist

the Seventies spawned many great people (like me!), piles of ugly clothes, and lots of funky music. in addition, Marvel cranked out a gang of great comic characters, such as danny rand, better known as Iron Fist. created in 1974, Iron Fist is a product of white people's apparent need to inject a blonde, blue eyed saviour type into the otherwise foreign and exotic adventures of the colored masses... in this case, the "oriental" world of high flying kung fu!

the short version: young Danny Rand finds himself in the mystical city of K'un L'un after his parents are slaughtered by the bad guys. seeking vengeance, he studies martial arts at the feet of Lei Kung "the Thunderer" and ascends the ranks to become Kung's most gifted disciple. He is thus granted the right to battle Shou-Lao (a giant mystical dragon, for the record), eventually slaying him and plunging his fists into the dragon's molten heart. Rand emerges from the slain dragon's chamber with the dragon's tattoo burned on his chest, and the power of the Iron Fist in his hands... (get more detail on the character here!) then, he becomes an ass-kickin' kung-fu superhero! NICE!

so anyways, there's a new Iron Fist series out by Ed Brubaker (Daredevil, Gotham City PD) and David Aja (Daredevil, Giant-Size Wolverine) called The Immortal Iron Fist that seeks to delve into the mythos of the cult marvel b-list hero. it looks great so far... by the way, there's also a movie starring Ray Park/Darth Maul in the works for 2008 release, directed by Steve Carr (Doctor Doolittle 2, Next Friday) of all people.

we'll see...

samax.

www.ghettoManga.com

it has finally begun...

versus called me out. i have been slack on my game lately in many areas, but none so inexcusable as my neglect to speak on the broadcast debut of
Afro Samurai,
the new Animated Series starring the original Bad MuthaF^!$a: Sam L Jackson... which is not to say that i'm late to the game:

i been geekin' on this since february (don't believe me? check my previous blogs, cousin!), and i went aaaaall the way to killer cali to peep the news on it at the sanDiego comicon, where i shook hands with the muthaf!^#$n' Rza... anyways, now the mostly-lame spikeTV is airing the show, (10 o'clock thursdays where i rest... check your local listings kids...). it was my job to make sure you know about such things, and i dropped the ball like terrell owens. my bad.
but i come baring gifts, fam'ly! click the pics for a clip apiece on youTube. then start watching it on thursdays before you go to the club... if you see me out, we can talk about it, a'ight?

holla!
samax.

give me LIBerty or give me...

many a hip hopper considers Talib Kweli (the non-Mos Def half of Black Star) to be wack now... i'm not one of 'em. as such i was an easy sell for that new Talib Kweli/Madlib mixtape LIBeration (Ta-LIB... madLIB... get it?!?). i mean, it's a no-brainer! kweli rockin' it with hip hop's best kept secret, the magnaminous (i love that word... i don't know what it means, but i use it anyways) Madlib!
well, that... and it's free! tap the pic and get 10 joints for nothin'... don't say i never did nothin' for ya!

i just copped it myself... expect a review soon.

holla!

samax.

happy new year...

well, it's 2007. james brown, gerald levert, j.dilla, and joseph barbera didn't make it... but you did! and that's worth celebrating!!! i'll hitch'all back with some reviews and assorted other opinions later... for now, i'm just glad to be alive, and i'ma go enjoy myself...

holla!

samax.

read Cross Bronx here...

click the cover image to read CrossBronx, by Ivan Brandon (NYC Mech) and Mike Avon Oeming (Powers, Hammer Of The Gods)

R.I.P Joseph Barbera...

legendary Golden Age giant of american animation, Joseph R. Barbera passed away this Monday. Initial reports say of natural causes. He was 95 years old and is survived by his wife, Sheryl, and three children; Jayne, Neal and Lynn. As half of Hanna-Barbera, he created (or presieded over the creation of) many household-name cartoon characters (Thundar the Barbarian, The Herculoids, Space Ghost, Tom & Jerry). you can catch a great article about his life at newsarama.

peace, love etc.

samax.

Dreaming of a Metal Faced Christmas?

indie rap luminary M.F. DOOM has a special holiday treat for you all. Christmas Eve from 10PM to 6AM the supervillain will be hosting Adult Swim on Cartoon Network. As the masked half of Madvillain explained in the teaser commercials, "Why spend Christmas Eve waiting for some extra fat white dude to come busting through the ceiling, when you can spend Christmas eve with yours truly, DOOM". DOOM will be basically talking in between shows, giving his thoughts on the holiday happenings, and spreading holiday cheer to all who indulge... (more DOOM news)

"I Ain't Dead, I'm Just Mackin'..."

okay, so i was reading the Davey D blog post about rap juggernaut Nas' new plate Hip Hop Is Dead which also discussed whether or not hip hop is, in fact, dead... so this is my response. my opinion on the issue is pretty adamant (as you'll see), but please feel free to respond...

"this record is fresh, but hip hop is not dead, dying, or whatever. it's popular right now for people spoiled by easy-access to good hip hop videos and music to say it is.
so, as usual, it takes a couple years for some mainstream cat to say what underground niggas have been sayin' all along... and now that nas and jay-z are saying hip hop is dead, i'm gonna hafta have this conversation (again...) with late comers... this is really all just proof that hip hop isn't dead...

on the other hand, some things are dead that make you FEEL like hip hop is dead:

YO! MTV RAPS IS DEAD: and with it, the movement for fair, balanced, varied representation of what's happening in hip hop. now with multimillion dollar videos, payola, and other assorted CORPORATE crap influencing rap shows, the possibility of a show like it (and the once-great competitor, Rap City) that really programs based on a love for hip hop, not the mighty dollar, is dead.

RADIO IS DEAD: but that's like saying "concrete is dead"... if you are depending on CORPORATE- controlled radio to tell you what's going on in hip hop, not only are you stupid, you're also lazy, and hopelessly out of touch. if you are one of the lucky few that live in a city where your radio stations are run by people who truly love the culture and care about promoting good music, you probably KNOW hip hop isn't dead. the rest of us just need to stop listening to the radio. now, i hear there is some hope in the form of satellite radio, but i refuse to pay for radio... the internet does the job just fine for me...

BIGGIE AND TUPAC ARE DEAD: so stop trying to crown somebody "king of hip hop", "the south" "new york" or anything else... while it's fun to argue over who the greatest rappers are, it actually is kind of stupid to believe in these titles.
case in point, LL Cool J (a rapper with more staying power than any emcee i've ever seen, and just as much right to the title...) was on Letterman promoting his album G.O.A.T. (which stands for "greatest of all time") a few years back, and chuckled when Dave asked him if he really thought he was the greatest rapper ever. "Naw man... rappers don't take this stuff that serious..." seems we can all learn a lesson from the original todd...

hip hop fans need to stop trying to be on the bandwagon of whatever/whoever is hot and just support the rappers they like. if we spent time looking for and supporting good music instead of crying because the radio/video shows don't do hip hop right (i grew up on hip hop with very little support from the radio, crybabies!), no one would even think to blog on this topic.

maybe Nas should have called his album Hip Hop Is Corporate, or Hip Hop Is Vulgar,or Hip Hop Is Producing Crap or Hip Hop Is Not A Valid Career Path, So Some Of You Need To Stop Rapping or some other such title... but it's a pretty good record, either way.

holla!
samax.

the Answer to all the Mavericks' problems...

arguably the most dominant player on the planet (and certainly MY favorite player), Allen Iverson is on the trading block. frustrated with Philly's inability to give him the supporting cast he wants, Iverson has demanded to be traded this season. If Mark Cuban has any sense, he will give the Sixers any reasonable batch of scrubs and picks for the 6 foot (in his b-ball shoes anyways...) one man army. ESPN.com's Bill Simmons said it like this:

"First, as soon as this trade happens, Iverson will play out of his mind coming out of the gate, followed by a series of stories and features from his new teammates saying things like "I can't believe how good this guy is" and "He's completely transformed this team, we think we have a chance to win every night now," followed by the Sixers fans flipping out and demanding King's departure. I wish there was a way to wager on this scenario in Vegas. I can't believe softer contenders like the Magic, Nets or even the Mavs have underestimated the undeniable force of his personality, the potential of his crunch-time scoring if there were other scoring threats on the court, or even the fury he'll unleash on a new team. He will practically KILL HIMSELF trying to haunt the Sixers over the next three seasons. Mark my words..."

that's what's up...there is not another player like him, he's got an almost evil killer instinct and he will destroy himself to win. a smart franchise will get him, and if they are ANY good... they will make everyone who ignores him sorry they passed up on him...

(read Simmons' article on A.I. here)

i got my fingers crossed...
samax.
www.ghettoManga.com

Paint the White House Black...

so i've been buying very few comics lately. don't get me wrong, i still love comics and all that, but money is slim these days, so i read a lotta comics in the store! one comic i REALLY want to be better is The Black Panther.
I mean, i get excited just thinking about a really great run of it. alas, Marvel seems determined to not let it happen. the writing is very good (by hollywood director and BET Exec Reggie Hudlin), but the art is struggling, since veteran artist John Romita Jr (Eternals, Wolverine, The Gray Area, Spiderman) left the book for whatever reason after one story arc (collected in Trade Paperback form, cover art by Romita shown here). i mean, the marriage of the Panther and Storm of the X-men (arguably the two most important black characters in all of comics) was drawn by... Scott Eaton? wouldn't it have rocked if it was drawn by rising (black) star Olivier Coipel (Avengers, House of M... cover art seen below), Chrisscross, Carlos Pacheco, or Chris Bachalo (droool...)

anyways, the latest issue of Black Panther is OFF THE CHAIN (and that's a good thing...). the Royal Couple (did i mention that the Black Panther is Warrior/King/Priest of the african hereditary meritocracy of Wakanda, the most technologically advanced nation on Earth? oh... well he is. peep this blog for more background) is visiting other countries since their recent wedding. after visiting Latveria, Atlantis, Attilan and Great Britain, Storm and T'challa's goodwill tour comes to Washington, DC. they aren't in the White House for very long before the president disrespects Storm... (oh no he didn't) and T'challa has to pull his card. now it's REALLY ON!

in this issue, T'challa punks the president, iron man and captain britain. all in a day's work for the greatest man alive!

holla!
samax.
www.ghettoManga.com

RZA, GZA & Bill Murray= Delirium

this is the illest thing ever, fam'ly!
ghostbustin' Bill Murray and Wu-Tang together, now you KNOW you in trouble!

the Genocide Jumpoff Film Festival

over the thanksgiving weekend, (also referred to as the annual Genocide Jumpoff Film Festival) i checked out a few movies. the first film i watched was The Fountain, starring Hugh Jackman (the X-men movies) and Rachel Weisz (The Mummy movies). this joint is anything BUT Wolverine Versus The Mummy... it's a story about Love and Death. it's heady, well-acted and self-important. if you like stuff like that (i do), you might dig it. there are some wierd effects, and i thought the movie was pretty original/ballsy... which helps. i won't give away the plot, as i suggest it as a good date movie for non-stupid couples...

Next on the menu was the new Denzel Washington joint: Deja Vu. in addition to starring one of the best actors in America (just TRY to watch Glory without getting choked up, Tough Guy... I F^&$KING DARE YOU!!!), this puppy was directed by Tony Scott (Man On Fire, Crimson Tide, Last Boy Scout, Top Gun), so my watching it was a done deal! like any Jerry Bruckheimer flick, there's madd skills, madd drama, and madd explosions. oh. and a hot chick... like every good movie, this joint swings on the hemline of a fly honey. in this case, relative newcomer Paula Patton (Idlewild) gets the nod as the racially ambigous damsel in serious distress (as in, by the time we first see her, she's already dead)... but i've already said too much... go watch it ASAP!!!

next, i snuck into Casino Royale. i only watched about 60% of the movie, yet i can easily say this is now my favorite James Bond movie. without having much in common with the other Bonds, Daniel Craig (Road To Perdition, Munich) OWNED this role from the jump off!!! he is so believable as the lady killin'est, martini-drinkin'est, gun-clappin'est british bastard alive. Besides which, Casino Royale has the kind of nervous suspense the last few joints sorely lacked, driving me nuts throughout the time i was in it. i didn't see the very end, but i could tell it would end well, and i'll definitely go watch it again!

the reason i had to miss the end of Casino Royale, of course, was to go wander into Stranger Than Fiction, a movie i've wanted to see since i first saw the trailer months ago. i'm a big fan of the film's star, comedic genius and SNL alum Will Ferrell (Elf, Talladega Nights, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back), but what excited me most was that the quality of rest of the cast (which includes Queen Latifah, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson, and Dustin Hoffman!) suggested i would get more than the usual comedian-driven string of gags... and boy, did i!!! like Punch Drunk Love (the 2002 Adam Sandler/Paul Thomas Anderson collabo/absurd romantic comedy), this is a drama that you laugh at, about a likeable, yet truly pathetic human being trying to have the defining moment of his life... and in the case of Stranger Than Fiction's Harold Crick, that moment may be his last!

see, Crick is an IRS auditor that starts hearing a woman's voice in his head. but he isn't crazy! that voice is the narrator of a novel in which Harold is the main character. Crick is already getting sick of it when the voice lets him know that his death is imminent! Though pretty clueless, he's at least smart enough to find a literary expert to help him sort out what's happening and what he can do about it: a college Literature professor brought to life by veteran actor Dustin Hoffman (Runaway Jury, Outbreak, Kramer vs. Kramer), who acts as his counsel throughout the film. after at first concluding he was nuts, he becomes at least intrigued enough by his situation to help him along. without giving away the whole movie, i will say that this is the best film i've seen in a long time. the cast is brilliant and the story never overworks. it touches on so many subjects (writing and the creative process, life, love, death, and our fear of them) that could have been very heavy and sentimental , but treads them all lightly and avoids all the right trap doors. Ferrell submits to the understated process of acting, being funny without winking at the camera... and is BRILLIANT!!! i would recommend this movie to just about anybody, even though many people will be unable to enjoy it fully (like little kids eating food that's for adults), it will still be good, and good for you!

it's a GIRL thing...

Growing Market for Girls as Comic Book Fans:
"There was an audience here waiting, girls that watched 'Sailor Moon' and loved it," said Svetlana Chmakova, an artist who draws Japanese-style manga comics, for Cosmo Girl Magazine and publisher TokyoPop.
Manga has exploded in popularity here in the United States, and most of the fans are female.
North American manga sales have tripled in the last three years, from $50 million in 2002 to $155 million in 2005.
Sales of graphic novels — comics in book form that include manga — have tripled in the last five years... (more)

the new BC era

whenever people go into the whole "HipHop is Dying" funeral dirge, all i can think of is fresh underground acts like Harrisburg, PA crew Beyond Comprehension.
i mean, with crews spitting material like this, i cram to understand how hipHop can be dying... unless maybe it just dies periodically and comes back a few months later on some Jean Grey/Phoenix ish.

anyways, Beyond Comp (comprised of Stepp Savage, Subliminal, Sanjeev the SunChief, and whoever else they can put on...) makes rediculous noise on tracks like "Vibrant Health and Energy" (currently This Weeks Cut... click the link for a quick listen!), "Energize" and "Avalanche Rap" that sounds weird at first, but after about 30 seconds of it, it'll have you on involuntary head knod... their music is pure indie-rap genius!

i believe Sanjeev said it best on "Energize" :
"legend has it/
was a beat by Stepp Savage/
that'll have us breakin' bread and splittin' cabbage on the sabbath./
tap into my Chi, one of many forms of magic/
in a gauge, i'm a target like a semiautomatic (BLOW!)..."

you can't argue wit' that! so, go check out Beyond Comp on their myspace. while you're at it, Cop the Solar Diamonds Bootleg while yer at it! and tell 'em i sentcha!

holla!
samax.

j45 and samax together? now you KNOW you in trouble!

one of my all-time favorite MySpace peeps- resident ATLien GoldiGold- recently invited me to write a column for his new online newsletter Jungle Jem. so i decided to set it off with a 3-part joint entitled "Brotha Got Bills"... slide over to Jungle45 and check it out!
Goldi and the j45 squad are the real deal... you'll most definitely hear more from these cats in the future, so be smart like me and get in on the ground floor while the gettin' is good, fam'ly!

holla!
samax.

One Day Art Show

this is where i'll be tonight. Kristian Donaldson does art for hot indie books DMZ and Supermarket, so when i heard he was doing this one man show, i was geeked! i'll be at the show hosted by those fine folks at Zeus Comics (holla!), after which i'll go to Zubar for my own personal afterparty! come to either spot and look for me in my grown man hat... mention this blog and get a free sketch!

anyways, for those who can't make it (don't hate!), check out K.D.'s website: http://www.prodigalnine.com/...
a'ight?!
samax.

Reality Check!

my problem with crossovers like civil war is that they tend to be a little too heavy handed. looking for characters to kill off for the sake of the larger story, writers of these stories always come gunning for the characters i like best: 2nd and 3rd stringers. Blue Beetle, Blue Devil, Goliath, and (you guessed it) The New Warriors. yeah, Civil War starts out with the deaths of The New Warriors, a team of teenage heroes at the hands of Nitro, a dude who can cause giant explosions. the Warriors didn't shuffle off the mortal coil alone, as the calamity also blew up a school killing students, teachers and pretty much everybody around leading to post 911-type hysteria and all that... but the real tragedy of the series is the wiping out of the New Warriors.

the reason that sucks so bad is it came right after the release of a really cool New Warriors mini (now collected in the extra fresh trade paperback: New Warriors: Reality Check) by Zeb Wells (Spiderman/Doc Ock: Year One), with art by LedHeavy's Skottie Young (Human Torch). This book (like many books i've watched get cancelled over the years) was awesome. thanks to Wells' funny, fresh, and authentic dialogue and the hip bouncy art of Skottie Young, reading this comic is a lot like watching a cartoon. but unlike most cartoons, this one dips freely into the rich, wacky history of the Marvel Universe: The Warriors tangle with the Red Ghost's super-intelligent, super-powered Super Apes, Tiger Shark and the Armadillo... heck, they even square off with a Herald of Galactus (well... sorta).

That would sell it for me, but as an added bonus, this book really makes full use of the up-and-coming future super star Skottie Young! his grafiti and manga mash-up style is perfect for the youthful exuberence of this team. his characters are so animated that even simple conversations are enfused with energy, and of course, slacker-videogame-vanguard Speedball is especially fresh under Skottie's frenetic pencil. In addition to nice redesigns for Night Thrasher, Namorita, and Nova, Reality Check introduces two new characters to the team: a fat dude who talks to bacteria and germs, and my fave, a hot sista named Debrii. Young's design for Debrii incorporates all the stuff i dig: Black female with big attitude and a bigger afro, super-hero costume crossed with hiphop plain clothes steez, etc. NICE!

the premise is that the team is brought back together to do a reality show where the team roams around America helping small towns (who have no super heroes) with their SuperVillain problems, and as you might expect, hyjinks ensue!

the series was looking pretty fresh, and while i understand cancelling it... i sure wish they'da let the characters survive for new adventures. this book has that ingrediant that too many Marvel books lack: Fun!


holla!
samax.

Jason Pearson's Body Bags

what have i been thinking? i got a blog called ghettoManga, a stated purpose to hip the unsuspecting masses to fly hipHop flavored comics with anime-worthy pinache, and have yet to mention a book of MASSIVE proportions?

forgive me friends... today, i give you Jason Pearson's Body Bags. i first saw J.Pearson's work on covers (i bought Catalyst: Agents of Change primarily for his next-level cover art...), and was blown away by his impeccable sense of movement, flash and incredibly polished anime-ish style. in a field of Graph and Anime inspired artists of the mid-nineties (and there were A. LOT of 'em), Pearson's work stood far and away the best of the bunch.
anyways, Body Bags was part of Dark Horse's "Blanc Noir" imprint (with such notable label-mates as Brian Stelfreeze, Cully Hamner and Adam Hughes [if you don't recognize those names... i got a TON o' work ta do...]) . the house eventually folded, but not before j.p. wrote, drew and dropped the opus-worthy miniseries, Father's Day, which introduced us to Mack (aka "Clownface"), ruthless Body Bagger (high stakes bounty hunter) his elderly partner Pops, and his long-lost daughter (and wanna-be baby bagger) the bodacious Panda.

the book is PURE. F^&*^IN' GENIOUS!!! it's a violent, irreverant, blood-spraying masterpiece!!! Jason's new stompin' grounds, the aptly named 12-gauge Comics, has re-released Father's Day, so please do yourself a favor and go COP IT!!! for those too paranoid to trust me, go preview Father's Day for self.

holla!
samax.

the Ongoing Persecution of Slick Rick

More than ten years after an immigration judge first ruled that Slick Rick's "outstanding equities" entitled the British-born rapper to remain in America despite the efforts of the federal government to deport him for committing a felony here in 1990, he is once again facing deportation. (more)