Zyklon b #1

I first heard about zyklon b on twitter to be honest when writer/creator Adam Cheal followed me, and sent me the link for his indiegogo project which I never really seen any of these before, so I had a look at the stuff online and I was very interested especially when Adam said he was from England too, I like putting uk creators into the industry for everyone else to see, especially when people think primarily that comics is an American thing to do, I know some of the greatest writers out there are British but most live out in America, or work on huge American publisher labels, and i like to think i have at least played a small part in helping getting this brand out to the world.when I started putting out art work, articles etc. about this comic and the work it was doing, it was very well received.Then I read an article about the controversy surrounding it, and to be honest didnt pay much attention in history at school but, this article pointed out something to me, that I had to look into that was quite surprising, Zyklon b was used as a weapon of mass killings during the holocaust, which obviously would cause upset for some people, but it seemed to just make more people want to get their hands on this comic, and Adam was kind enough to send it to me, so here is my review, I just hope I can add to the hype and make everyone want it as much as I did.

Zyklon b begins with an opening page at Raining hills asylum for the criminally insane, June 15th 1998, and we are following dr. Susan Parsons as she goes up the drive way to her meeting with the lead character Simon Fisher who is incarcerated in the asylum, and is known as “patient X” or as the newspapers branded him “The Gas Killer”, and they begin to converse about how Simon became the gas that the prison used to try and kill him on death row.

Which take us back in time to when Simon was imprisoned at San Quentin prison and taken to death row, and this is the origin story of how Simon Fisher became the character we will come to know as Visher.

This brings the introduction of another character called Caleb Fontana, who is Simons cell mate, they become acquainted and later when Simon comes into some trouble from other inmates, Caleb comes to his rescue in a hulking maniac fashion

Caleb reveals his beliefs and practises in religious dark arts to Simon and teaches him to use them to look out for himself while in prison, and again results in some pretty gruesome circumstances for the other inmates of the prison

The resulting backlash from this lands Simon in trouble again with a judge and he gets sentenced to death, and moved to death row, and eventually ends up in the gas chamber for his crimes, but little does he know that someone is looking out for him, and due to the dark forces at work Simon becomes the gas used to try and execute him, and he uses this to escape the prison after the gas clears, and goes off into the world searching for all manner of things a man wants after getting out of prison, a good meal, decent drink, but due to his new form he could not satisfy these needs, not even his sexual needs could be satisfied, though not without trying.
Visher then goes on into the world with a new found rage that he can’t contain and goes to take revenge on the people that have wronged him, the person that put him in prison, the judge, and the warden of the prison, in ways that cause as much pain as possible to the people that caused him so much pain

After his revenge, Visher feels guilty and decides to turn himself in to the police, which is how he ended up in the asylum where this issue begins, and the in the room where Simons story leaves the doctor in tears, which leads to a revelation in the story, and opens up the issue to the endless possibilities that could happen in the following chapters of this story

This book absolutely pulls no punches when it comes to horror, gore and blood, it really shows the passion that Adam Cheal has for horror and the comic book industry, which really makes you want to read more and more from this man, it really is brilliant writing and it will not only appeal to horror fans, but also somewhere in there if you look is a bit of an antihero story, which just adds to the feelings that you get from reading about this character and his story throughout the book, the art is by Joel j. Cotejar and really makes this book stand out, and fits the writing perfectly and is very well put together, colours are by Mike Summers and just add to the awesome artwork and the dark tone the book has. And the letter are by Mindy Lopkin, and cover A is by Chris Hagan and cover B is by Soussherpa
Honestly this is the first book that is horror based that has really grabbed me, and I’m so grateful to Adam for involving me in the process putting this book out to the world and I only hope my words can bring you more interest sir, as I feel this creation should really take off, and I know the hard work that is going into this series and you really deserve this to be huge.
If you would like more info on this book or would like to know how and when you can buy it, then please visit the zyklon b website and follow Zyklon b on twitter and it’s creator Adam Cheal and please tell him who sent you.

As ever please leave your comments and let me know what you think here and on my twitter page

Jason

Black Scorpion one shot

This review was sent to me by Stephen Downey the artist of black scorpion, they launched this weekend just gone at MCM expo in London and it is a sort of prologue for an upcoming story in their league of volunteers story, and black scorpion the farther of one of the team, and this is a story to show a bit of an introduction story of him and to show his adventures in world war 1 before we get into the main story of the league of volunteers, and is a unorthodox take on a hero story. The writer/creator of this book is Robert Curley and he takes the helm on all the upcoming stories, and this team is an irish team too, so they wanted to show a bit of patriotism and do an Irish hero story which to be honest I don’t think there is a lot of, and I really think it is done very well

Black Scorpion starts off in a battle, during the battle for messines ridge June 1917, and the art speaks volumes and no words are needed opening couple of pages, then we get to a character called tom, who is in the middle of the firefight and has a discussion with another soldier, about not wanting to go out into the battle any further than they have already and it would be suicide to do so, however he takes a massive hit, and before he blacks out, has a vision of a man in a mask

Then Tom wakes up in a hospital bed in a new regiment of the army away from the battle it seems, and he stumbles out into the open and a couple of characters playing cards and chatting away, and Tom walks over and joins in their conversation. Soon Tom shares his story about his vision before he blackout and woke up in the hospital bed, and it seems that he is not the only one who has a story about this mysterious character, and it seems that he too has a whole team of people with him

The 3 men go through their stories and all things seem to lead to Black Scorpion and his league of volunteers, and it seems that everyone around him has seen them.

This book is not a hero book in the strictest cape and superpowers sense, but really is up there with the better books I’ve read recently, I really like the whole feel of the art by Stephen (if you want more of his art here is his Website link) it really has a epic feel of the time frame of the story as if the book is from 1917, and really awesome. The writer/creator Robert Curley writes this story very well, and brings together an excellent preview of these characters for wherever he might go with the full story, and I am certainly very intrigued to see where this goes, and I’m pretty sure that after reading it you guys will too.
The book is published by Atomic Diner a small independent publisher based in Ireland and has all details on all the books that they have published. Please go and check them out, it is a small independent company and they publish comic books, you know I’ve been all about indie books recently and I am gonna follow this book when it’s released in July this year
If you would like to purchase the one shot I just reviewed then you can by clicking Here please check it out

Please leave comments or let me know what you think on my twitter page

Jason

Revival #1

So this right here is my first review from a major publisher, and I was asked by Tim Seeley (the books writer/creator) not to reveal to many interior pages, so this im gonna try to keep it bit shorter than my full reviews, just because I put quite a lot into them, and to be honest after reading this I think it is gonna be a huge hit for image comics, and that this could be the next big book to be released from them.

Revival begins in a field with an animal that I have never seen before, a zorse, which I was unfamiliar with, but it actually made me research them, which is drawn amazingly by mike norton

Then the story cuts to a road block and some dialogue between local p.d and the sheriff of the town, and they are talking about some sort of epidemic that has overtaken their town and they are trying to contain the problem, and not let it get out to the rest of the country!

After this conversation we cut to a home, in which we discover a local police officer, and what it seems is one of the main focuses of the story, Dana Cypress, as she gets ready for her day listening to a talk radio station, which is discussing the current situation going on in the local area. Dana gets ready and goes out and shouts her son Cooper, who is playing out in the snow with his action figures, when he comes across a mysterious figure walking from behind the tree’s where he is playing, which is very scary for the young man and this causes him to go running back to his mum, who is waiting for him.

(The character art might be a bit misleading to someone who hasn’t read the book, but that is exactly why I included it!)

Dana goes off to the police department, where she is approached by the sheriff which is also her father, and briefed on the situation, and told that she would be taking the lead on the investigation for the p.d task force dealing with crimes directly involving the people effected by the epidemic.
To which we cut to Dana taking off to a crime scene, but on the way she runs into a character who is another main focus of the story as it appears, her sister martha, she then gets into the police car and goes on the ride along to the crime scene, where she is told to wait in the car.

Dana goes to investigate the situation where she comes across an altercation between a couple of neighbours, which leads to the discovery of the death, which on closer inspection from Dana she discovers that both are wrong and they go into the barn to investigate further, where they come across an elderly lady who is in the corner facing away from the others and a small cat with a tooth in its mouth, and the floor is covered in them, which seems very odd, but then we continue to the old lady in the corner, who is now reciting some sort of scripture, and …….

This all leads to a whole crazy kind of fight scene, where the old lady takes to slashing at and trying to kill everyone in the barn with her

With all this going on, Martha runs to the aid of her sister, which leads to a HUGE finale to this issue which just makes me more and more sure that I am for certain going to be following this book

I really couldn’t possibly sum this book up without giving every thing away, the writing by Tim Seeley is very well done and leads to a very strong introduction to this series, and to all the characters that will be involved in this story and I’m certain after this comes out you will all be following this book from the very beginning. The art by Mike Norton is incredible, and fits the story very well, and pushes the book to a level that is very close to, if not already, perfect. Revival is out in July 11th on image comics, and as you may guess, I already have my order placed for both covers (inter comics is also going to be running a promotion when it comes out too, so contact him for more details) and please visit the Revival website to see more awesome stuff.

On a personal note I would like thank Tim Seeley for sending me this, and allowing me to review it as well, I really am honoured to be among the first people to read this and also give my thoughts too, and I am very grateful

Please tell me your comments people I really enjoy doing this and it’s great when people tell me if they like things or if they don’t

Jason

Clay County

Hello people, I was sent this book by one of its creators Bruce Brown after Kyle sent him in my direction, and I got a message from Bruce and he sent me the PDF and I started read clay county, and to be honest I have never read anything like this sort of book before, but as I’m buying a more broad variety of comics now I really was excited to read it.

Our story begins in a bar that for lack of a better word is in the hillbilly territory of America, and a group of people that can only be described as very drunk, Bake and his crew, are all sitting around drinking and watching tv, which has a broadcast that is being played out regarding an alien takeover of the world looking for something, which of course our heroes don’t want to watch stuff like that, and also shows a figure approaching the bar

This person kicks in the door to the bar and introduces himself as “sergeant Coleman of the resistance” and that he needs to evacuate the location, to which he get laughing and handed a beer, but he is persistent and tries to encourage the hillbilly heroes to leave, and of course they don’t agree until ……

The aliens are looking for a fuel source called SF:92 which they located on earth and have come here trying to find it, and have taken over our planet and all its leaders in the process

After the destruction of their local watering hole the guys seek a safe place to hideout as the aliens spin back around and they come to Bake’s barn which is full of all sorts of weird and wonderful things, including the weapon the guys are going to use to take down the alien spaceships.

Which is to sergeant colemans surprise effective somewhat! The group then get more than they bargain for and an onslaught of alien ships and weapons

After the guys make an escape they devise a plan and send ol’ hot dog out to cause a distraction, which leads me to what I thinks one of my favourite pages and quotes in this book, maybe in all books, I’ll let you see it for yourselves

This really made me laugh out loud, and is I think the best quote I’ve seen in a comic book for a while. “son….never underestimate the power o’ naked” but however the distraction doesn’t end to good for our naked friend and he ends up on board one of the ships with his dog and that’s where they remain for a short time, while our guys go off to find a way to take down the aliens once and for all, they go off to the barn and come to a conclusion that was very unexpected, I wont reveal anything because I think you all should read it!

The guys then go and put their plan into action, which of course doesn’t go to plan and all of the group end up being captured, but after their escape from the alien ship, they realise that the aliens have taken all the beer, which doesn’t make our drunken group very happy and needless to say they go back out to get their ‘shine back, which results in a fight with the aliens, and the beginnings of our conclusion, which I am not gonna say anymore about, as I feel I might tell y’all to much!!!!

What can I say about this book, as I said before I was a bit skeptical bout this review as I never really read anything like this before, however this really has restored my faith in the fact that I should read more books that don’t just involve heroes in capes and cowls with super powers.

This book is is written by Bruce Brown and Chip Christell, it is written in a way that is so funny to read and the humor really stands out, I could only imagine the guys writing this wherever they were at the time and just laughing out loud, and it really come through in the script. Adam Mrozowski is on art, and on opening the first couple of pages the art seemed a bit unconventional in style, as in its not all perfect sharp,straight lines but after getting into the story you very quickly realise that it fits perfectly, and really is critical that it is drawn in this way

I truly enjoyed reading this book and I strongly recommend you all go and read it, you will not be disappointed, and please believe me when I say this, it’s very much one of my favourites of this year, thank you Bruce so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book, and share my views.

Please leave me your comments and share my review if you like it,

Jason

2012: the year of the comic book movies

So with all the hype after “The Avengers” movie (or “Avengers Assemble”) to us in the uk, sort of make you think that Hollywood may finally be catching on that the movie adaptations of comic books and graphic novels is big business, and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person to have this opinion but this makes me feel like studios are finally listening to what people want, (Guerilla’s movie #HootHoot) but all the films that have and will come out this year that are influenced by the industry we all know will take over the world (may be sooner than we all thought.) is making people want to go to the cinema again, and I really like that thought!

I know some movies should have been left at the first outing and not ever touched again,

But even as I write this I wanna tell you all I kinda liked the first one, and still haven’t even watched this yet so I still will watch it but it should have been left alone!

Then we had the ultimate team of superhero movie that there has ever been (until justice league*warner pay attention*) and I don’t want to get into reviewing this film or anything like that, just know that I really liked the film it was awesome I don’t think Joss Whedon could have done any better, and any other director wouldn’t have even come close to the spectacle this movie is

And also I just wanna say that the movie was great and I couldn’t have asked for anything more but it still didn’t stand up to “The Dark Knight” and I’m pretty sure anyone reading this knows me and in that you all know that the anticipation and the excitement the is building around “The Dark Knight Rises” is getting a little bit intense and although the avengers movie has done incredibly well at the box office I think even The Avengers and the whole of marvel will be at the cinema on or very near to July 20th!

I also am quite excited to see “The Amazing Spider-man” spidey has always been a personal favourite of mine, and I think stan lee’s greatest creation and this new take on Peter Parker is very intriguing and I have to say I think will be a massive success and one of the surprise hits of the year.

However I also feel that another huge movie potentially is going to be the reboot of a film that I think was pretty cool in the first place even though Stallone was in it! I can’t wait to see “Dredd” and I hope it is gonna be as awesome as I hope because judge dredd is an amazing character and I just hope they can do him justice, but judging from what we have seen so far and the images emerging in pretty confident that it will be awesome

Please remember that all this is just my opinion and I was just writing down my own thoughts! I’m sure people will disagree (especially with my dark knight better than avengers comment) but I’m pretty sure you all know where I’m gonna be spending my money on July 20th I will be at the midnight show, and I will not shut up about it for day’s!!!!!!

Please tell me your thoughts and comments

Jason

Xenoglyphs

So this is going to be my first review, but also a preview to you guys because I know there is only a couple of issues of Xenoglyphs out in the WORLD, I feel very lucky to get the chance to do this so early before actual release.

I actually won this issue as part of a twitter competition run by the creator Omar Spahi through his Xenoglyphs twitter page, which at the current time stands at more than 200,000 followers, which is an insane amount, almost as many followers as comic book legend Stan Lee and I was so excited to have one of the first copies ever!

Xenoglyphs follows the story of Steven James, a separator, who will do anything to stop the Xenoglyphs falling into the wrong hands, in this case “The Master Of Evil” Anubis

Which as you can see he wants them quite badly, and from the way he is drawn and the whole feel of this character, he is a terrifying man(wannabe god)
The opening couple of pages is a dialogue between a man who has been hired to find the Xenoglyph that is in Eygpt and the mysterious and quite scary Anubis.

We then cut to Steven and his friend Dom who are in Egypt searching for the Xenoglyph, at a museum that seems to be in the middle of some sort of political protest, but the guys go into the museum to recon for a way to get a certain artefact to help them recover the Xenoglyph they are looking for.

After our heroes are finished inside they walk out into the anarchy of the protest, where mayhem has broken out and things are being hurled, and Dom and Steven rush to help an injured person with the revelation that Steven already has a Xenoglyph and seems to use it for good in some way, however this doesn’t go down to well with the locals, and with cries of “Kill The Americans” fighting breaks loose and the guys make a dash for safety

This also brings in another new character, Jennifer, who only appears briefly but you get the hint that this is not going to be the last you see of her.

We then go into the mysterious back story of the Xenoglyphs and how they played a parts in history that isn’t seen by most people only the stories past down in legend from the gods to their separators

After some of the back story we come back to Steven and Dom as they continue on their current mission of obtaining the artefact they need to help them to get the Xenoglyph they are in search of until they come across a very inconvenient discovery!

The writing in this book is very well done and Omar has done an excellent job with the whole story and it is just enough to leave you wanted more and more without putting to much into the first issue and I can’t wait for everyone else to read it. Throughout this book the art is amazing, Peejay Catacutan has really put a lot into this art, and I know the trouble the Omar and Peejay go through to put this story together, and then the other members of the team, Steve wands who is the letterer and Jesus Contreras the editor, the whole team has done an incredible job, and I know that they have gone even further to let us read their story by self publishing, Ossm comics which is Omars publishing company.When reading this book you get the idea of a bigger picture that doesn’t just begin and end in comics. This will be an animated series too eventually and also trading card games, and action figures the list goes on, this has the potential to take off and be a worldwide hit through any medium!

There is only one criticism about this issue, and it is that I don’t have all of the others yet! I have included the links to all twitter feeds in this page (if something is highlighted click it) and please go and make sure you tell Omar and everyone at Xenoglyphs who sent you, and please visit the Xenoglyphs website for more info.

It’s finally out and you can go and buy XenoGlyphs and I think everyone should. Click this link.

On a personal note this is my first review so I am an amateur at this so please tell me what you all think, if I get a good response I’m pretty sure I’ll do more because I enjoyed this!!!!

Jason

Geek art

I just wanted to try and upload a picture to share a couple of my favourite pieces , this is just an incredible piece by Freddie Williams II, I want one of these commissions so bad. I follow Freddie on twitter and he always shares art that he does and it’s all so amazing, hopefully one day his work will find its way over to England so I can put some on my wall!!!!!

This variant cover for new 52 batman #8 it is awesome as well I really like this cover, it’s penciled by Jason Fabok

An introduction to me

So hello, my name is Jason Webb and this is gonna be my blog, I don’t know what I’m gonna do on here but I’ll give it a go. I suppose for my first post I should write a bit about me just because thats what people do isn’t it.(this might read like my twitter profile but I’ll put a bit more on here!)

So I am 26, and I am married to the love of my life, her name is Emma Webb (obviously) she is my whole world we have been together for a while, we were engaged and living together within 6 months (i just know she was the one) and we have been married since the 6th of November 2010, I could not be without her (and she embraces my geek which makes her the most perfect woman in the world!) I love you baby, I know you gonna read this!

We have 3 beautiful girls Emily, Lily and Taylor they are the most amazing kids I’ve ever met, they mean so much to me, and without my little family I would be lost, my girls always are so good, they love to watch films and read and draw superheroes they are into it as much as I am, so the fact that I can share that with them too is so awesome!

I come from a little town called Bedworth in England, that is about as much as I can say about where I live because that’s about all that’s interesting round here @blmoreton will tell you the same!

My work is pretty cool, I am a support worker/carer for adults with learning disabilities, I have been doing it for 6 years now, and truly people say they love their jobs, and most of them lie, but I honestly do love my job, I feel like I help others, and that is awesome, my own little bit of hero.

Anyone reading this will know that I read comics a lot, and I love the whole culture of comic book geek, I always was a geek but not as much as I am now, and all the fellow geeks know there ain’t a better group of people to be round! To have so many people share your interests is a very cool feeling, anything I wanna know I go to the twitter feed.

This blog I am just going to do some reviews of anything I feel might be interesting, which will probably be connected to comic books in some way, and if I want to just put my opinion out there then I will do that too, I hope you all enjoy my writing, it will be done as and when I can update it, don’t know how often, but I will.

Hope this interests you all,

Jason