Witchblade #135 is a battle issue and I love me some battle issues. Comics break down into three types: plot issues, shocker issues and battle issues. Witchblade 135 starts out as a catfight between Witchblade and an automated robot assassin that looks like a supermodel. Their battle morphs into a team up against pissed off super robots. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a shallow issue and a few plot points are met but for the most part Witchblade#135 is pure action.
Top Cow continues to put out top-notch stuff dealing with the world of fantasy and the long running Witchblade is no exception. There is a nice balance between the real world we can identify with and the fantasy world we want to be part of. Witchblade is also an adult book, a mature fantasy tale for people looking for something outside of caped superheroes. It once again proves that comic books are a legitimate art form that has long outgrown the stigma of being kid stuff.
I have to give credit where credit is due and Top Cow is due some serious credit for this new six issue series from Broken Trinity titled Pandora’s Box. Top Cow has always had a fantasy element in what they do from Darkness to the new Angelus title and so forth but this series takes what they do to a new and interesting place.
This is a well thought out, plot driven fantasy tale that has just the right amount of violence, action and the supernatural. It’s also mystical fantasy storytelling that allows the modern world into it, keeping it not only more accessible but also with a greater edge.
Fantasy isn’t easy to pull off and epic fantasy like Pandora’s Box is even trickier. Rob Levin and Bryan Edward Hill are doing a great job of not rushing the story, even with a limited six issue run, They’re establishing the ground work so that the pay off will be mighty. I’m really interested to see how Pandora’s Box fits into the rest of the Broken Trinity series and how that ultimately ties in with everything else going on at Top Cow. While DC & Marvel seem to be grabbing all the headlines with Siege and Blackest Night, they should keep their eye on Top Cow. With more books like Pandora’s Box, Top Cow could become quite a threat to the big two.
Fantasy comics are a tough sell sometimes, especially when they’re steeped in light vs. dark, angels vs. demons and that kind of epic stuff. Done incorrectly these books can come off cheesy or boring. Top Cow’s new fantasy series Angelus scripted by Ron Marz and illustrated by Stjepan Sejic seems to be avoiding those pitfalls with not only an interesting storyline but also some killer art. Let me warn you, Angelus is a comic for those that love fantasy so if you’re an indie guy or a superhero nut it might not be your cup of tea. I dig all comics so if you’re like me Angelus could be something to add to the weekly list.
Up to bat this week is Joshua Hale Fialkov. Aside from being ruggedly handsome, Josh is also prolific writer. He got his start self-publishing like Western Tales of Terror and Elk's Run (which was eventually picked up by Random House for the trade collection). He also self-publishes the hilarious Punks the Comic with artist Kody Chamberlain. He launched the first comic exclusively on Amazon's Kindle with Tumor, which is about to be released as a hard cover collection by Archaia. He's done work for Marvel, DC, Harris, IDW, Boom! Studios, Del Rey Manga, and of course, Top Cow (Pilot Season's Cyblade and Pilot Season's Alibi). Currently he's working on a top secret original project with Top Cow, which I can't tell you about. I could, but then I'd have to kill you. Also you should know that Josh is bigger than life, but smaller in person than you would think.
Filip Sablik: You grew up in Pittsburgh, went to college in Boston, and now live in Los Angeles. What's up with the cowboy shirts and hats? Not that I mind, I happen to think you're a snappy dresser and if I may say so, clean up quite nicely.
Joshua Hale Fialkov: The cowboy shirts... just sort of found me. I had a bluegrass band in college, and one of the other guys in the band lived in Arizona, and when I went to Tucson so see him one summer, I found what was probably my first snap button cowboy shirt. There's something that's classic California about them, even more than a guayabera. Plus, I'm sick in the head for the Western genre and good classic country music.
Rob is one of the smartest, savviest, and funny guys I know in the business. Rob is currently a freelance writer and editor, but I got to know him as the youngest Vice President of Editorial over at Top Cow. He rose to that position because of his keen critical eye for the art of comics. Listening to Rob give notes, you can't help but wonder if he's actually like Benjamin Button. It's pretty common for pros meeting him to assume he's much older than he actually is. As a writer, he's only just now breaking on the scene with stories like The Darkness: Butcher, a Ragman story in the DC Comics Holiday Special, The Darkness: Shadows & Flame, and the upcoming Broken Trinity: Pandora's Box with co-conspirator & renaissance man Bryan Edward Hill. He also recently edited the critically acclaimed Days Missing limited series for Archaia and the upcoming The Crazies comic prequels from American Original. It's just the tip of the iceberg of what Levin has in store for the comics industry so get on board this train early. You an find him blogging at Authentic Imposter as well as here at Geekweek or sharing his random insight on Twitter @roblevin. Finally, you should know I call Rob "Dusty" and he calls me "Frutti," the reasons are a thing of comic book urban legend.
When Top Cow sent me a copy of their new Robert Kirkman penned, Joe Benitez drawn comic Demonic I was apprehensive to say the least. Then I cracked the book open and the good times started to roll! Demonic is a super violent, high paced action comic that is able to weave in a solid story that hooks you by the third page.
Art wise Joe Benitez knocks this one out of the park. Demonic reads more like a movie than a comic book and all of that falls on Benitez’s art. Everything from clothing to hair to capes seems to move in the panels and when put together with other panels Demonic begins to move with a living rhythm. Benitez also seems to understand how to use shadow to achieve depth as well as paying attention to the detail of faces so the emotion displayed on them is very real.
Filip Sablik: What genre or type of show do you think is missing from network television?
Rick Loverd: Ha! It's pretty clear to me that a gritty face-ripping serialized horror show (ideally, with closed-ended 3-4 season storyline) really needs to get made but that the major American networks are too afraid to break their generic programming molds. Just take a look at the success of THE DEAD SET in England and it's obvious that this is a starving market in the US. Shows like LOST and TRUE BLOOD hint and what's possible, but someone needs to get a show on the air with serious edge. Stop living in fear and dive in. It'll be interesting to see what AMC and Frank Darabont can do with WALKING DEAD. I have my fingers crossed for success there because it'll open the door to a sizable audience that wants more. Of course, living up to Kirkman's comics, that's a seriously unenviable task. I'm also intrigued to hear that PUSH may be made into a TV show. We'll see if anyone can fill the void in the next year or two...
This week's victim is one of my closest friends in the business and probably the creator most associated with Top Cow after Marc Silvestri and Michael Turner - Ron Marz. Ron is a model of the hard working writer, a real professional with true integrity, and one of the more collaborative writers I've had the pleasure of working with. He's also worked on virtually every major character from Marvel and DC including long runs on Green Lantern, Silver Surfer, and Top Cow's title Witchblade (which I publish). He was one of the principal writers behind Crossgen, including my favorite Crossgen title Sojourn and also co-created Samurai: Heaven and Earth at Dark Horse Comics with artist Luke Ross as well as Dragon Prince with Lee Moder. You can actually get two Witchblade trades written by Ron free from our friends at InStockTrades.com or read an issue free online HERE. His latest issue, Witchblade #134 will be in stores next Wednesday, January 20th and you can check out a preview HERE. You can also find him on Twitter, dropping knowledge bombs on the internet, @ronmarz. Lastly, and this is important, Ron Marz appreciates a good mojito and that makes him a stand up fellow in my book of drinking buddies.
Ron Marz: I have to assume the reboot makes sense from a sheer dollars-and-cents standpoint. Sony gets to dump an expensive cast and director for presumably younger, cheaper ones. They get to replace Tobey Maguire with someone younger, who can conceivably play Peter Parker for the next decade. A reboot was inevitable, I suppose. I think what seems curious is the timing. Everything seemed in place for a fourth Raimi film, even up to Monday's supposed casting of Malkovich as the Vulture. Now that project will always be a 'what if...?' to ponder."
At this point, with no cast and no director attached, it's impossible to really form any opinion about where the franchise is headed. The one thing I hope we don't see is an extended re-telling of Spider-Man's origin. Everybody knows Peter was bitten by a radioactive spider. Everybody. Reference it briefly and move on to something we haven't seen before. There's a difference between a reboot and a remake. We don't need a remake.
