Evil Empire #1
Written by Max Bemis
Art by Ransom Getty
Color by Christ Blythe
Letters by Ed Dukeshire
Cover by Jay Shaw
BOOM! Studios
Release Date: March 5, 2014
Cover Price: $3.99

As a huge fan of post-apocalyptic stories, I’m always pining for the next Walking Dead or Jericho that’ll satisfy my primal curiosities about a world where the material comforts of modern suburbia have been ripped away. Enter writer Max Bemis’ new series Evil Empire. Perhaps my expectations of fire and brimstone were misplaced; what we get is more TMZ than DMZ. And, yet, that’s not a bad thing.

Evil Empire follows the rise of a totalitarian regime in a near-future America. Reese is a rap star whose politically charged lyrics brand her as a lone, dissenting salmon swimming against the rip tide of political conformity. Just as Reese scoffs at a vacuous political commercial, the star of the ad, Sam Duggins, makes a surprise appearance backstage. The aspiring politician seeks to tap into the energy of Reese’s fanbase by befriending her and, presumably, winning her endorsement. After some hokey cardboard cheesing that’s typical of a big-name politician, Duggins intrigues Reese enough to win her reluctant attention.

Veil #1
Written by Greg Rucka
Art by Toni Fejzula
Colors by Toni Fejzula
Letters by Nate Piekos
Cover by Toni Fejzula
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: March 5, 2014
Cover Price: $3.50

Writer Greg Rucka’s comicography reads like a wishlist of every kid who ever dreamed of creating comics. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Punisher, Spider-Man, Wolverine, the man has penned all the main eventers. Lately, Rucka has focused on his creator-owned comic Lazarus. Veil is his latest project. Rucka claims that this concept has been fermenting in his mental brewery for over 20 years. Shit, man, that’s all you had to say!

Veil #1 opens with a bizarre scene in an empty, locked subway filled with rats, pentagrams, money exchanging hands, a gun, and a crazy naked chick with amnesia. It makes no sense. Two pages into the book and my mind was already loaded with a cross-examiner’s list of questions.

So, you want to be a superhero, do ya? Unless you’re the last survivor from an alien planet who’s blessed with the ability to absorb yellow sunlight and shoot laser beams from your eyeballs, you’ll need to work yourself into reasonable shape.

Enter Neila Rey’s Batman Workout. This routine is a full-body circuit built on a set of nine basic exercises: squats, push-ups, mountain climbers, dips, cross-punch sit ups, jumping lunges, side plank crunches, leg raises, and bicycles. The workout has you plow through ten sets of the entire circuit, performing ten repetitions of each of the 9 exercises in the routine. Easy enough, right?

We gave The Batman Workout a try, so continuing reading to see what we thought of it and to view the full workout details.

It’s Labor Day weekend, which can only mean one thing: DRAGON CON! The cosplay is out in force this year with likely record crowds at Atlanta’s annual geek convention. The thing that really sets Dragon Con apart from other conventions that I attend is the insanely fun nightlife where the geeks invade the hotels in downtown Atlanta. The best cosplay can be found around midnight at the Marriott where you’ll find yourself engulfed in a mass amalgam of amazing cosplayers encompassing every genre imaginable.

This photo set here below covers cosplayers from Friday night, the downtown parade, and Saturday afternoon. Cosplaying legend Yaya Han (Heroes of Cosplay) was the highlight of this set as she manned her booth decked out in a Star Trek uniform. Other great cosplayers include Marty McFly and Doc, a huge foam Cylon, an amazing Tron uniform, and Shonuff from Last Dragon. While waiting in the two-hour pre-registration line we set the over/under for twerking Miley cosplayers at three. We ran into the first one around 1am on Friday night.

The Creep
Written by John Arcudi
Art by Jonathan Case
Cover By Tonci Zonjic
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 24, 2013
Cover Price: $19.99

Heads up: The Creep is a bit of a downer. It’s a sullen and occasionally depressing crime mystery about Oxel Karnhus, a private investigator. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great story, just set The Creep aside if you’re having a bad day.

Oxel finds himself sucked into investigating a teen suicide case that the cops brushed aside. It’s a favor for Stephanie, an old flame from his younger days. Since they last saw each other, Oxel developed a case of acromegaly, a condition that causes body tissues to get larger over time. In Oxel’s case, his jaw grew crazy-huge like Rondo Hatton.

The Creep contains the full series which follows Oxel’s investigation into Curtis’ suicide. Apparently his suicide is somehow linked to his buddy, Mike’s suicide a few months earlier. These suicides lead directly to Jeff Brinke, Mike’s grizzly grandfather who took the boys out into the wilderness for some good, old fashioned outdoor activities. He was a role model for the kids and the woods gave them a release from the torturous existence of the image-conscious teenage world. Oxel digs into Jeff’s past and finds out that he has a past with mental issues and was admitted to a hospital at one point.