Comic Attack Exclusive Preview: Tracker #5

The good people over at Top Cow have given us this exclusive preview of Tracker #5, the final issue of the series, which comes out next Wednesday! Tracker is written by Jonathan Lincoln with art by Abhishek Malsuni. The cover artist is Francis Tsai. The solicit info for this issue reads as follows:

“The first property from Top Cow and Heroes and Villains Entertainment comes to a pulse-pounding conclusion! FBI tracker Alex O’Roark finally comes face-to-face and claw-to-claw with his maker – the serial killer Herod! But will Alex be able to control his animalistic instincts long enough to extract the sample of Herod’s blood to end his own suffering?”

Per the norm of Top Cow books, the art in this series is vibrant; from the pencils to the coloring, it just looks great! So what’s going down here in this preview? Essentially Alex’s girlfriend, Tory, has apparently been murdered by the ever elusive perpetrator, Herod. Alex has been hunting Herod since he killed a bunch of people on the blue line in issue #1, and he soon learns it’s because Herod needs to feed on Lupine blood in order to survive. Oh yeah- Herod and Alex are both werewolves! Now Alex is faced with a tough question- is he willing to lose the woman he loves in order to kill the man he hates?

See the full preview here.
Source: ComicAttack.net

Friends of the Cow: Silvestri / Benitez / Montiel Judge New Comic Idol Contest

From our friends over at Riot Shell:

Silvestri / Benitez / Montiel JUDGE NEW COMIC IDOL CONTEST

COMIC IDOL ONLINE RE-INVENTS HERSELF

When first starting Riot Shell and Comic Idol Online, creators Adrian Nicita & Vince Panuccio set out to create a platform for new talent and an exciting means of seeing this new talent go farther and farther as time progresses. To this day the two still has the following to say: "I was amazed at the amount of entries we kept on receiving, be it the Page Contests or the Color Contest. I am humbled by this attention and at times completely stunned by the quality some people came up with."

Adrian & Vince also noticed that the voting by title of fans alone, was not delivering the goal they set out for them self's, namely having Adrian's character Riot Shell be presented in the best way possible. So in order to optimize the contest and its results they explained: "We wanted to be both true to ourselves as well as to the voters and the artists, so I decided to make the contest even more professional and indeed I asked a Jury Of Professionals to have the final say about the contributed artwork. We are pleased to announce our 3 judges
1. Marc Silvestri comic book legendary Artist & Top Cow Owner
2. Joe Benitez Aspen / Dc Artist
3. Martin Möntiel - Riot Shell #0 / Zenscope
The decision will be made by the Jury in November.


Adrian Nicita is very happy to have the contribution of comic-pro's to help his endeavor: "I cannot wait to see the next pieces of art for the third page of the first chapter come in and to have a Jury set in place to even professionalize Comic Idol Online more... well... that is something that just makes me feel good!!"

To get the ball rolling we have just released the page 3 script which is available at www.comicidolonline.com written by Julian Lawler ( broken tree comics / Arcana Comics/ Koniwaves Studio )

We at Comic Idol Online hope that more and more artists rise to the occasion in times to come, as it promises to be one hell of a Riot!

For more information: Broken Frontier

Newsarama's Writer's Workshop: Bryan Edward Hill & Rob Levin Double Header

Ready for a Writer's Workshop double-header?

Because Bryan Edward Hill and Rob Levin are living proof that two heads can be better than one, as they've been juggling mythology and international intrigue with their Top Cow book Broken Trinity: Pandora's Box, the latest issue having been released this week.

Yet how does this dynamic duo work their magic? We sat down with Hill and Levin to discuss how they navigate characterization, plotting and the sheer challenge of filling in the blank page.

Newsarama: Guys, first and foremost, can you tell us a little bit about how each of you got into the world of writing? What made you guys decide that writing was the career for you?

Bryan Edward Hill: For me, it was very personal. My father died when I was a kid and that same week I read an issue of BATMAN. Obviously, I had a profound connection with Bruce Wayne. His anger. His loss. How he as a character turned that energy into something empowering.

I was given so much from those stories. Fiction can heal in a way nothing else can. When I started thinking about a career, I realized that I wanted to be part of that tradition. There’s a beautiful democracy in writing. It’s a blank piece of paper and a pen. In Hemingway’s hands that’s THE SUN ALSO RISES. In Frank Miller's hands that’s SIN CITY. In Brian Azzarello’s hands that’s 100 BULLETS. Once you start walking into that legacy, it’s very hard to not get passionate and obsessed.

That being said, if Great Britain would have given me citizenship I probably would have just joined MI6, drank martinis and caught mega villains for Her Majesty.

Rob Levin: I think there's some old writer cliche about "you're a writer because you don't know how to be anything else." While admitting that makes me feel somewhat useless, there's some truth to it. I've always been drawn to stories. When you connect with a fictional experience and it feels like something that's made about or for you, there are few experiences that special or that resonant.

A lot of my writing, though escapist, is really about trying to create that experience for the reader. I'm trying to forge a connection, and that's the reason I write. As for what got me there... I can't trace it to any one moment or experience. But when in doubt I always blame "Ghostbusters."

Read the full interview here.
Source: Newsarama

Newsarama: Top Cow Pits The Darkness Against the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Described by Top Cow as “the darkest tale of the Darkness yet”, the recently debuted miniseries The Darkness: Four Horsemen takes supernatural mob boss Jackie Estacado on a dark path where he meets up with four bikers who have an even bleaker outlook than he does. These four bikers come out of the Pacific coast desert after years MIA, and have returned with dark powers making them a modern-day reincarnation of the biblical Horsemen of Revelations. Forget the TV show Sons of Anarchy, these guys live up to that title literally.

The Darkness: Four Horsemen comes from the mind of storyteller David Hine. Hine is well-known for his penchant for horror with works on Spawn and Batman: Arkham Asylum, and his take on the Darkness and his new quartet of adversaries is quite eye-opening; each of the horsemen have a particular attribute, such as War or Pestilence, one that they bring out as soon as they put their kickstands down in a small western town. And out of nowhere just like the Demon Riders comes the series’ artist, Jeff Wamester. Wamester is a relatively new face on the comics scene, having just completed the Oni series Frenemy of the State... but his work on The Darkness: Four Horsemen, complimented by colorist Felix Serrano, shows a new face that’ll be one to reckon with in years to come.

We spoke with the team about the mini-series and the appeal of these biblically-based villains.

Newsarama: This miniseries boils down to a showdown between Jackie and four bikers – I've seen the Darkness take down whole groups of men, so what makes these bikers so fearsome, David?

David Hine: These are not ordinary bikers. The Demon Riders were last seen back in the sixties when they ripped off Lucio Franchetti in a drug deal gone bad. They disappeared into the desert and weren’t seen again until they turn up almost forty years later on the road to Ginsberg, California. They’re riding the same bikes, wearing the same clothes and they haven’t aged a day. Once they start mixing with the citizens, serious weirdness starts to happen. Anyone who has the slightest physical contact with one of the Riders, is doomed to a rapid and horrifying death. A normally placid teenager goes apeshit crazy and stabs a storeowner to death. A guy eating out in his local Tex Mex takes the invitation ‘All you can eat!’ a little too seriously. Hookers instantly develop terminal symptoms of every venereal disease known to man. You get the idea.

I don’t think it’s giving too much away to tell you that it turns out these four bikers have somehow become the human hosts for Famine, Pestilence, War and Death, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

See the full interview here.
Source: Newsarama

UGO Exclusive First Look at Magdalena #4 Cover

UGO's got a first look at the next cover of Top Cow's hot comic, Magdalena!

Magdalena #4

Story: Ron Marz
Art: Nelson Blake II
Cover: Ryan Sook
32 pages / FC / $3.99

Patience, the latest in a long line of The Magdalena, bearer of the Spear of Destiny, and Kristof, her mentor and Knight of Malta, continue to race around Europe hunting a demonic cult intent on bringing about the era of the Anti-Christ. With Patience doubting whether she will be able to fulfill her duty or not, the Church moves to ensure that their servant will do its will... even if that servant is not Patience.

See the cover in all its glory here.
Source: UGO

CBR Exclusive Preview: Darkness #86

The Darkness #86
Story by: Phil Hester
Art by: Sheldon Mitchell
Cover by: Rafael Albuquerque
Publisher: Top Cow Productions
Cover Price: $2.99

Alkonost, Part 2 of 2!

In the hunt for The Sovereign Jackie and crew strike a deal with an insane Russian mobster and collector of the occult, but his supernatural enforcer wants to add a Darkness wielder to the collection. What is The Alkonost and how does it control even The Darkness itself?

Top Cow Pit artist Sheldon Mitchell (Pilot Season: Stealth) joins regular writer Phil Hester (Gen13, The Anchor) for a sinister two-part story. Featuring a cover by Rafael Albuquerque (American Vampire)!

See the full preview here.
Source: CBR

Guerrilla Geek Reviews Pilot Season: 39 Minutes #1

Kicking off Pilot Season 2010 is Pilot Season: 39 Minutes #1, set for release on 22 September. This title was created and written by William Harms (Impaler), and debuts up-and-coming artist Jerry Lando, along with a cover by Rafael Albuquerque (American Vampire). Its premise is the classic heist story, but turned on its head. Inspired in part by the 1997 robbery of the North Hollywood Bank of America, Harms wanted to take the idea of a skilled team of criminals and set them to robbing banks in small, isolated towns. However, in writing, the story has evolved into a more complex tale of betrayal and sacrifice.


Read the full review here.
Source: Guerrilla Geek