The Vault, #1-2
Written by Sam Sankar
Art by Garrie Gastonny, Sakti Yuwono
Covers by Garrie Gastonny, Bagus Hutomo
Image Comics
Release Date: August 31, 2011
Cover Price: $3.50

The Vault opens with a team of high tech treasure hunters exploring treasure chambers and traps off on Oak Island, 150 kilometers off the coast of Nova Scotia. The area is famous for hosting a whole network of tunnels and burrows that have baffled treasure hunters and archaeologists alike and this team believes they have found access to a treasure chamber through a hidden access tunnel. However, when they discover that the treasure they found won’t even cover their expenses, they keep digging.

What they find as they go deeper isn’t treasure, but rather a giant stone sarcophagus, with an unknown skeletal creature inside. The team debates whether or not to open it, but when they do, they find the skeleton inside to be not as quite as dead as they thought [...]

Criminal Macabre: No Peace For Dead Men
One-Shot
Written by Steve Niles
Art by Christopher Mitten
Colors by Michelle Madsen
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 14, 2011
Cover Price: $3.99

Full disclosure: I’m a big Steve Niles fan. I loved 30 Days of Night and Wake The Dead, as well as his work on Batman, Spawn, and JSA. His reinvention of one of my favorite characters in the DC universe in The Creeper: Welcome to Creepsville is still one of my comic treasures. So I have to say I was worried when I heard about his Criminal Macabre project. The supernatural private dick angle has been played before, and masterfully so with Hellblazer.

That being said, I’ve always been pleasantly surprised with Criminal Macabre. While Cal McDonald does have certain classic noir elements that would remind you of John Constantine, in place of Constantine’s Cockney con artist and wiseass is a bitter, depressed, and extremely violent detective with little in the way of pathos [...]

On Thursday, June 2nd, Konami held simultaneous events in Toronto, Mexico City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles for the video game media and their die-hard fans to give them a preview of what they could expect from Konami in the up-coming year. I happened to be fortunate enough to attend the preview that was held in Toronto at the Real Sports Bar and catch a glimpse of what’s new. Here’s the run-down, game-facers.

Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater

Available for the Nintendo 3DS, Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater is will feature a return to the feel of the original and is designed to highlight the features of the 3DS gaming platform. Set outdoors in a jungle environment with a Special Forces style of play, Snake Eater will have a few cool new features:

Photo-Cammo: The new photo-cammo feature will allow players to take a snap shot of anything using the 3DS camera and use the colors to customize their own unique camouflage for their characters in play. I myself am looking forward to creating a “dog-shit brown” Snake Eater character [...]

Skullkickers #7
Five Funerals and a Bucket of Blood, Part 1
Story by Jim Zub
Art by Edwin Huang, Misty Coates
Cover by Chris Stevens
Variant cover by Steven Cummings and Espen Grundetjern
Image Comics
Price: $2.99
Street Date: May 25, 2011

How could you not love a comic book with a name like Skullkickers? It does bring up images of thick, steel-toed boots bashing in brains, splattering them onto the pavement, doesn’t it?

Well, if that’s what you’re expecting, it’s not what you’re going to get.

Skullkickers is a fantasy series, obviously heavily influenced visually and creatively by World of Warcraft and the Final Fantasy video game series. The story revolves around a pair of monster hunters: an alcoholic dwarf with an axe and a stoic bald warrior with a revolver. In the first six issues, the good Skullkickers are forced to travel from the village of Mudwich to do battle with necromancers, demons, living corpses, and giant primordial demon lords. As Five Funerals and a Bucket of Blood Part 1 opens in Skullkickers #7, the Skullkickers return to Mudwich celebrated heroes only to become wanted fugitives, embroiled in an assassination plot against the city’s nobility by a pointy-eared elfin killer and a pair of murderous fairies [...]

Are you excited for the release of Marvel Studios’ Thor on Friday, but you don’t know your Baldr from your Bilfrost? Well, the good folks at Geeks of Doom have got you covered!

Marvel Comics delved deep into traditional Norse mythology to create the backdrop for Thor, pulling gods, monsters, giants, and exotic locations to populate their modern take on the old legend. Few people realize this, but Norse Mythology is the manliest thing to ever exist; even manlier then an Ultimate Klingon Fighting League. We’re talking Dungeons & Dragons on steroids. We’re talking honey mead-swilling, giant axe-swinging, buxom maiden-screwing, giant troll-wrestling hurricane of 100 percent, grade-A he-beef. Why do you think Power Metal loves it so much?

In honor of Thor, Geeks of Doom jumps two skullcrushing boots first into the world of Viking gods. So grab a stein of mead, a side of boar, and enjoy Geeks of Doom’s NORSE MYTHOLOGY A-Z (Or At Least Y Anyway) [...]

Lucid #2-4
Written and Created by: Michael McMillan
Illustrated by: Anna Wieszcyk
Lettered by: Shawn DePasquale
Archaia Comics

A black president getting assassinated? Looks a little close to home…

The world of Lucid is a world of magic: a modern world where a secret cabal of sorcerers who work for the United States government. A member of the Ambrosian Order, Matthew works to protect the government, including the president from other magical forces seek to assassinate him.

While pursuing assassins, battling demons, and neutralizing magical threats, Matthew and the rest of the Order are investigating an organization known as Artemis Megacorp and its connection to the Pendragon Prophecy, a foretelling of an age when everyone on the planet has magical power. [...]

Feeding Ground #1-4
Written by Swifty Lang
Art & Letters by Michael Lapinski
Story by Swifty Lang, Michael Lapinski, and Chris Mangun
Edited by: Paul Morrissey
Archaia Comics
Release date: February 23, 2011 (Issue #4)

Feeding Ground is a comic about the blurring of borders: borders between man and animal, good and evil, childhood and adulthood, even borders between countries. The Feeding Ground of the comics namesake is the term given to this nowhere space the characters find themselves in, trapped and hunted by monsters of all stripes.

Swifty Lang and Michael Lapinski have created a fascinating comic in Feeding Ground, one that marries the topical politics of the day with supernatural horror and traditional Mexican folklore. It follows the story of Diego and his family, living on the edge of the Mexican/American border. Surrounded by Mexican gangsters, Diego works as a snakehead, safely transporting illegal immigrants across the Mexican/U.S. border. His daughter, while playing along the edge of a farm owned by local land baron, Backwell, is bitten by something she couldn’t see, and begins a horrifying transformation right as her brother kills a local pimp and hustler in order to defend his mother [...]

Hobo With A Shotgun
Directed By: Jason Eisener
Written By: John Davies
Starring: Rutger Hauer, Gregory Smith, Molly Dunsworth, Brian Downey, Rob Wells
Release date: March 25, 2011 (Canada)

Once in a lifetime, you come across a movie that rips the scales from your eyes and forces you to see the world as it really is. A movie that reaches into your very soul; tapping into the existential yearning that is the yolk which connects us all to our basic humanity. It’s a movie that one single viewing of can change your life forever.

For me, that movie is Hobo With A Shotgun.

For those of you who don’t already know the story, Hobo With A Shotgun was the brainchild of Canadian filmmaker Jason Eisener. Winner of the SXSW Grindhouse Trailer contest, Jason Eisener’s fake trailer for Hobo With A Shotgun was attached to the blockbuster Tarantino/Rodriguez Grindhouse double-bill of Planet Terror and Death Proof for its Canadian run. The trailer became such a hit that soon shooting of a feature-length film began in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia [...]

It was on like Donkey Kong on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 as Scott Pilgrim made his triumphant return to the streets of Toronto! The midnight release of Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour held at the Beguiling at Markham and Bloor jammed a city block full of Ramona Flowers, Young Neils, The Evil Ex-Boyfriends, and of course, Scott Pilgrim himself!

With a dash of a book signing, a smattering of street festival, and a generous handful of comic book convention, the Midnight Release Party (organized totally over Facebook) for Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour was attended by well over 300 people and featured costume contests, prizes, and the man of the hour himself, Bryan Lee O’Malley, signing the sixth and final edition of his wildly popular Toronto-based comic book.

Check out images I took from the event here below.

A cult phenomenon since its launch in 2004, the graphic novel series combines hipster pop culture references, manga-influenced art, and the feel of a classic video game to tell the story of Scott Pilgrim, a 20-something bassist in Toronto, ON who must battle the Seven Evil Ex-Boyfriends to win the love of indie-nerd beauty queen Ramona Flowers [...]

It’s been 20 years since the third and final Back To The Future movie was released and since then there’s been a major void in the franchise. Sure there was a short-lived animated series, and yeah, Universal Studios theme parks had a BTTF ride, but not everyone got to experience that; plus, it was closed down back in 2007, so now the fans have nothing.

With the 25th anniversary this Saturday of the release of the first movie, it’s no surprise that some Hollywood types would be clamoring to get a BTTF: Part IV into development asap. Below is a transcript of secretly-taped conversation between two producers discussing their grand plans for a new sequel, Back to the Future IV: Bif’s Neanderthal Revenge. [Hey, at least it's not plans for a remake!] [...]

Firefly Still Flying
A Celebration of Joss Whedon’s Acclaimed TV Series
Paperback
Joss Whedon
Original stories by Ben Edlund, Jane Espenson, Brett Matthews, Jose Molina
Titan Books
Release date: May 25, 2010

Firefly is truly unique in the annals of television. Canceled after only a single season, Joss Whedon’s science fiction-Western mash-up has enjoyed a cult following that rivals Star Trek and Doctor Who. Known as Browncoats (after the rebel force from the show), these true blue fans have kept the show’s spirit alive by passionately devouring books, comic books, and even a full-length motion picture sequel Serenity.

Firefly: Still Flying, much like the series itself, is a mash-up of two different genres. It is at the same time a collection of short fiction and a fan guide. Titan Books assembled a crack team of former show writers to submit short fiction, including “What holds us Down” by Jane Espenson; “Fun with Dick and Jane” by Ben Edlund, “Crystal” by Brett Matthews; and “Take the Sky” by Jose Molina. Separating these stories is a collection of interviews, production notes, storyboards, prop design specs, and cast and crew histories [...]

Movie Review: Splice
Directed by Vincenzo Natali
Starring Sarah Polley, Adrian Brody, Delphine Chanaec
Release date: June 4, 2010

On May 21, 2010, it was announced that Craig Ventor, made famous by his work on the Human Genome Project, had successfully created artificial, self-replicating life in a laboratory setting.

For the makers of Splice, the timing couldn’t have been better.

Canada, my own stomping ground, has a long and proud horror history that few people take notice of, and Splice is a smart edition to a genre that has been suffering from remake ennui. Warner Brothers, in conjunction with the good people at Dark Castle, have produced a smart, sexy modern day monster flick that pushes all the right buttons as the debate about biotechnology heats up.

Adrian Brody (The Pianist, King Kong) and Sarah Polley (Dawn of The Dead, Beowulf and Grendel) star as a pair of ultra-hip, cutting edge scientists in the employ of a global pharmaceutical company who have made a name for themselves designing artificial life forms. There first successful project was a pair named Fred and Ginger. The company hopes to profit on the enzymes that the pair create to cure livestock disease, but it’s the dream of the researchers hope to take their research to the next phase. In defiance of their corporate masters, they create a human genetic hybrid and that’s when the fit really hits the shan [...]

We all know the story so well: The young scrappy boy who shares an intimate kiss with his sister before going to learn ‘magic’ from a muppet in a swamp, the space princess sexually assaulted by a drug smuggler in a broom closet, the back-stabbing Colt .45 pitchman, and of course the reunion with the estranged father who then maims his son.

But what of the unsung heroes of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the little people who charge the blasters, reset the flyers, and get shot down by the AT-ATs?

Ladies and gentleman, here’s a peek at a day in the life of Lobot, Lando Calrissian’s faithful assistant on Cloud City [...]

Irredeemable #13
Written by: Mark Waid
Artist: Diego Barreto
Covers by Paul Azaceta and Crisscross
BOOM! Studios
Price: $3.99
Releases date: May 5, 2010

What would the body count be if Superman lost his mind? Mark Waid and Diego Barreto’s Irredeemable takes us into a disturbing universe where the world’s most powerful superhero has gone rogue and the body count climbs into the millions.

Produced by BOOM! Studios and nominated for an Eisner Award, Irredeemable features the super team The Paradigm, led by the all-powerful Plutonian. As the Plutonian suddenly goes rogue and begins a mass slaughter, the rest of the Paradigm struggle to reel him in as civilization slowly collapses. In Irredeemable #13, we catch up with Bette Noir, one of the few remaining free members of the Paradigm as she catches up with her father in a refugee camp. There, she confesses to him that she had the opportunity to stop the Plutonian, but didn’t because it meant admitting infidelity to her husband. Even at the end of her tearful confession, her father refuses to forgive her for her incredibly selfish act [...]

MIGHTY MJOLNIR!

The first still from the hotly anticipated film adaptation of Marvel Comics’ hammer-slinging hero has been handed down from Asgard!

Check out the image here at right (click for larger view) of Chris Hemsworth as Thor in Thor.

As this one tantalizing picture shows, Thor will be clad in the character’s traditional steel bracer armour with the classic red cape from Jack Kirby’s original designs. This image will hopefully put to rest the fears of fans that the film production would try too hard to ‘contemporize’ the look and feel of the character [...]

Impaler #5
Written by William Harms
Art by Matt Timson
Letters by Troy Peteri
Top Cow
Release date: March 31, 2010

You know what’s a great word? Impale. At all opportunities, the word impale should be worked into a sentence. So I am proud and excited to review Impaler #5, Top Cow’s newest addition to the ever-expanding world of the vampire. At least these ones don’t ‘sparkle’ in the sun.

America has been overrun with a plague of vampires who have consumed the East Coast in a bloody rampage, turning or tearing through anyone they find. These aren’t your garden variety fanged Eurotrash in capes either. Inhuman grotesques wrapped in shadow, giant misshapen monsters with blood sucking tentacles, and winged demons litter the landscape. The story follows the soldier Lt. George Wagner and his fellow troops as they fight to survive, cut off from the rest of humanity, while Wagner’s wife and children flea to New Mexico and stay with a kindly stranger named Tom. Meanwhile, Detective Victor Dailey has been recruited by a man with superhuman powers named Vlad, and is preparing to turn the tide against the undead [...]

Farscape: Scorpius #0
Story: Rockne S. O’Bannon
Script: David Alan Mack
Artist: Mike Ruiz
BOOM! Studios
Release date: April 14, 2010

Everyone’s favourite Peacekeeping, S&M bondage enthusiast is back! BOOM! Studios is continuing its foray into the Farscape universe by exploring the fate of Scorpius, the masked, wormhole-obsessed Scarran who has dogged John Crichton and the rest of the crew of the living prison ship Moya for years.

Farscape: Scorpius #0 opens on Scorpius as he is exiled to a miserable frozen world of ice by the newly re-instated Dominar Rigel XVI, once again in command of the Hynerian Empire. Left alone, Scorpius is left to reflect on his life, and on those who have exiled him. Though he has the capacity to convert what’s left of his pod into a communications beacon, he knows that even if he was able to establish communications he would have no one to talk to, and his only friend a small crustacean predator he has named John. We even see a small glimpse into the history of Scarran. As a young boy, he was forced by his instructors to play a game to which he did not know the rules and was brought up in an almost Nietzchean environment that praised strength, cunning, discipline, and that the only justice one will find is the justice you make for yourself. However, when a space fleet lands near his cave, he sees his opportunity for escape [...]

Shadow Prowler
Book 1 of The Chronicles Of Siala Trilogy
Hardcover
By Alexey Pehov
Translated by Andrew Bromfield
Tor Books
Release date: February 16, 2010

The first novel of a new trilogy, Alexey Pehov’s Shadow Prowler, is classic sword and sorcery fiction, practically overflowing with wizards, warriors, thieves, and mythological creatures roaming a rich fantasy landscape. With a certain tongue in cheek humour and the traditional quest story arc, Shadow Prowler carries a lot of appeal for traditional fans who enjoy the high fantasy genre.

Shadow Prowler follows the story of Shadow Harold, a thief given the task of reclaiming a magic Horn to keep the black evil of the Nameless One from consuming the kingdom of Siala. Teamed up with an Elfin Princess, ten members of a legendary warrior troop known as the Wild Hearts, and a goblin jester, they must make their way through an underground labyrinth composed of the bones of the dead to reclaim what’s been stolen from them by demons hoping to unleash their evil master [...]

Die Hard: Year One
Volume 1 Hardcover
Written by Howard Chaykin
Art by Stephen Thompson
Colors by Matthew Wilson
Letters by Ed Dukeshire
BOOM! Studios
Release date: March 24, 2010

There are a lot of unique art forms to North America: Jazz, Rock and Roll, Comic Books. In many ways, they make up the pop culture mythos of America. To this list I would add action movies. The eighties gave birth to a whole new genre of over-the-top, hyper-masculine action films, and reigning supreme on top of that heap is 1988’s Die Hard. With its reluctant hero, its tongue-in-cheek humour, and unforgettable action sequences, it is one of the most memorable American films of the last fifty years.

BOOM! Studios has produced its own addition to the Die Hard legacy with the Die Hard: Year One comic book series, and as an experiment in expanding the John McClane legend, it’s a roaring success.

In the chaos of America’s bi-centennial in New York City, a group of corrupt cops led by a working class revolutionary commit piracy by hijacking a yacht party. What they didn’t count on was a trainee officer and Vietnam veteran John McClane being aboard the boat [...]

Cyberforce: Hunter-Killer #5
Written by Mark Waid
Art by Kenneth Rocafort
Top Cow
Release date: March 10, 2010

I was never much of a fan of CyberForce during the late nineties. I found that most of the comics put out in that era looked the same and the characters tended to run together. So naturally I was surprised to read CyberForce/Hunter-Killer #5 and find it so much fun.

CyberForce/Hunter-Killer follows Cyberforce, the underground cybernetic resistance force fighting against the world-dominating CyberData Corporation, and their partnership with Hunter-Killer, an elite force commissioned to hunt down and destroy the rogue Ultra-Sapiens created in the 1940s by mad scientist Morningstar. Cyberdata has produced a modern mobile phone system called JETT that activates the latent abilities in Ultra-Sapiens in order to take the government contract for hunting with their S.H.O.C. troops. In the end, team member Network and Damper are forced to sacrifice themselves in order to shut down the spread of the Ultra-Sapien activation [...]