Comic's I'm Currently Reading!

 

Mirka Andolfo's SWEET PAPRIKA is coming to Image Comics 2021

 

Image Comics recently announced that Mirka Andolfo's latest comic book series is coming to the North American audience in 2021! SWEET PAPRIKA can be expected sometime in July and I'm already salivating. These adorable images have been posted all over her instagram and teasing me for at least a year. 

With the announcement, Image also stated that Arancia Studio & Grey Ladder Productions are creating an animated project around the series with Emmy Award Winner Director Gabriele Pennacchioli, the directory responsible for Love, Death & Robots.

Image has described this new series as a "sexy rom-com" and a "Bridgey Jone's Diary meets Sex And The City with a twist of The Devil Wears Prada". This descriptions feels very true to some of the more adorable moments in Andolfo's earlier series UNNATURAL. 

The synopsis from the publisher:

Paprika, a young woman of Italian origins living in New York, is a workaholic: success has sucked up her life, making her forget the importance of time for herself and for her loved ones. To bring havoc in her life will be Dill, a naive and handsome boy with an “angelic” otherworldly attitude, who will push the young woman to question herself and help her regain confidence in herself and in men. Their totally opposite characters and lifestyles will give life to fun and irresistible stories, seasoned with a pinch of eroticism.

SWEET PAPRIKA isn't currently ready for pre-order so I regret to inform you that I do not have a diamond code to share but I couldn't be more excited that we'll be seeing this series next year, which is very much around the corner.

King of Nowhere #1-5

The time has come for me to get back into written comic commentary. I've had a little over a month away from all comic reviewing while I focused on twitch gaming but in all that time of course, I have continued to read comics. Recently I was able to finish reading KING OF NOWHERE. So let's talk about it shall we? 

Boom Studios released issue 1 of King of Nowhere in March of this year, at the beginning of the Canadian Covid epidemic. The series survived the first wave of lock downs and comic downsizing and completed it's 5 issue run in September. (Me being a wee bit behind on picking up my comics, I only got to recently read the conclusion.)

The series was written by Eisner Award Winner W. Maxwell Prince and illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators Tyler Jenkins whom you would most recently remember from his Eisner nominated series GRASS KINGS. If you have been following this blog for any length of time you are likely well acquainted with his work as I've covered most of his projects.

KING OF NOWHERE follows lost drunkard Denis who winds up in strange small town after a particularly enthusiastic bender. He has no memory of how he got there and begins to question his sanity and sense of reality as he is met with the locals. The town Nowhere is inhabited by fish people, bird people, talking trees and mutants of all shapes. As Denis deals with each one the reader is left to wonder if in fact he is on some terrible drug trip or if the reality of the store has shifted into another world. I could perhaps describe the story as a daydream with a little sprinkling of delirium on top for taste. 

For me, the artwork trumps the story as I am very partial to Jenkin's lovely water color. It feels like a fever dream all on its own. The finer points of the story itself rests in the subtleties. There's a self loathing and wanting need to be better-than in the main characters which gives NOWHERE its charm. There's a taste of the struggling addict in every issue which humanizes the characters, which is kind of hard since some of them look like fish. Yet its these intrinsic faults displayed to the reader which imparts more impact in the story than the overall plot which focuses largely on small town conspiracy and government crime. While those things offer some adventuring, it is the journey Denis experiences in questioning his own reality that really drives the whole story (for me).

I definitely recommend grabbing this one!  If you're unable to make it to your local comic shop, you can grab this series on Comixology of ask Santa to get you the trade for Xmas as it comes out Dec 9th! 

 

FROG QUEEN MINECRAFT SERVER INFO (Last Updated Oct 29th)

Here is a list of rules and explanations about the rules.  So before you do anything on the server, READ THESE and remember, breaking the rules = instant ban.

RULES & ETTIQUETTE

1. NO GRIEFING - This includes but not limited to: hurting someone else’s base even if it’s unclaimed, placing blocks in town or in any built area, attacking people without formally challenging them to a duel (and having them accept the challenge),  and of course stealing!  Our server has core-protect so remember we’re watching you.

2. BE KIND TO EVERYONE. This also means no stealing even if it is currently unclaimed! Stealing from stores is also grounds for removal from server.

3. Respect and listen to the Mods. 

4. Do not build your base or store too close to anyone’s build. Shops and bases that are placed too close to existing buildings will be removed by mods. Build at least 500 blocks away from The Frog Queen's base!  Ideally you want to also place your base at least 500 blocks from the shopping district. The Supply Shed is meant for newbies on the server and taking multiple times from it will result in banning. This is survival, learn how to survive.

5. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT bother The Frog Queen repeatedly while she’s building something on stream. This is considered toxic behaviour and grounds for removal. This includes things like constantly trying to be on screen, placing blocks in and around a stream build, and basically anything that distracts from the streams mission.

6. You may grab some starter gear from the supply shop at spawn but after that you're on your own! However, make some friends on the server!  They're sure to help you out!

The Frog Queen reserves the right to revoke your access to the server without warning should you disregard the rules and safety of your fellow miners and crafters.

7. There is zero tolerance for using any cheating software or systems to get around the anti-cheat installed on the server. Using xray cheats to hoard resources and other cheats will result in immediate banning.

8. Absolutely no iron or gold farms as that is something that is provided in the Iron Bank. Passive mob farms are fine, such as automatic chicken farms. However, you may not build any afk farms as the server has AFK protection installed and will boot you for AFKing. If you find a spawner, you can turn it into an XP farm as long as you do not turn it into an AFK farm. 

9. Absolutely no streaming on this server unless you were given specific permission by the frog queen. Streaming without permission results in a perma-ban. 

Fequently Asked Questions

What's the location of Spawn?

Coords -443,-162

Can I build a shop in the shopping district? 

YUP! Shopping District is built up all around the gazebo at Spawn. See coords above. 

How can I protect my base?

The server runs with a claim system where you can claim blocks using a golden shovel and stick. To learn more about how this works read the in-game book at spawn OR watch the first 15 minutes of the following video to learn how: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLR4GrOiGOY

FROG QUEEN FAVORITES: REAVER - 2nd Story Arc

Comics I'm currently reading August 2020

COMIC BOOK REVIEW: LOUD by Maria Llovet

COMICS I'M CURRENTLY READING! March Edition!

TOMORROW #1: Interview with Peter Milligan

Good day to you Comic Book Junkies! Today I am delighted to bring you a very special interview with Mr. Peter Milligan author of TOMORROW which debuts at a comic book shop near you literally tomorrow, February 26th. This is a totally new mini series by Peter, with art by Jesus Hervas and James Devlin published by Dark Horse Comics. I think this one is really going to blow you away. Here's your quick and dirty rundown of the plot and then on to the interview!

In this shocking new sci-fi horror series, a Russian computer virus has jumped the species barrier and wiped out most of the adult population, leaving the world precariously in the hands of the next generation. In the wake of devastation, musical prodigy Oscar Fuentes is separated from his twin sister Cira. Stranded on opposite sides of the country, they're swept into rapidly evolving networks of teenage gangs. Can Oscar find his way back to Cira . . . or will they be lost to each other forever, in a dangerous makeshift civilization that is mercilessly replacing the past?

The Frog Queen:

So Tomorrow is a rather timely book with the Coronavirus epidemic breaking out. Pandemic stories are kind of the rage right now -- since even before this latest virus. I would like to know what seeded your interest in pandemic stories?

PETER:

First off, I was obviously writing this story way before the Coronavirus broke. That said, it’s pretty common knowledge that more viruses are going to break out, and there might eventually be one that can’t be controlled, which will spell trouble for us and all out modern science. The truth though is it wasn’t my interest in pandemic stories that brought me to this story. I was more interested in what came AFTER the pandemic. As I say in my introduction to the story, when I first started this story a number of amazing young people were in the news, most notably Malala Yousafzai, Emma Gonzalez, and Greta Thunberg. Especially after the latest high-school shooting in America, there was a sense that if there was any hope it lay with the younger generation. I felt that too, and I suppose the first germ of Tomorrow was a kind of kick back against that feeling. What, I asked myself, if these remarkable young people – most of whom seemed to be young women - were outliers? What if humanity red and tooth and claw can best be seen not in the killing fields of Cambodia but the school playground? How would the kids run things if the teachers were dead and their parents had all been eaten by starving dogs?

TFQ:

Tomorrow isn't just a pandemic story, it also holds a powerful theme many of us scifi fans are familiar with: man vs technology. Of course, man created technology and therefore creates his own destruction. Are there any particular stories about man vs technology that might have influenced you in writing Tomorrow?

PETER:

Tomorrow is really not so much about man vs technology, rather what some technology, certain all-pervasive, ubiquitous technology might help reveal about man. In other words, it’s not so much about Mans Vs technological, more technological aiding and abetting that oldest story: Man vs Man. As for stories that influenced me, when I was formulating this story, and by that I mean honing in on the themes I was interested in, focusing on that thing that made me REALLY want to write this, I thought of it – a bit insanely – as Lord of the Flies meets Planet of the Apes. Tomorrow is not like really either of those stories – there are no desert islands and the only crazy Great Apes are humans - but both stories contain some of the themes I wanted to explore.

TFQ:

The virus in Tomorrow feels like a warning to all of those who dwell too long in the digital world. I keep feeling like there is so much to read into here. For instance given the media you're in, comics- there's this push into the digital world ALSO for comics. Yet many of us remain attached to paper counterpart. is there anything in this story a secret wish for us all to remain hardcopy readers?

PETER: 

I don’t know about a warning. But I would say that it seems to me that this stuff (the digital, cyber world) is still pretty new and it’s like we’re still trying to decide on the rules of the game. In others words, as usual, technology is running ahead of society. Because of this I do think there are dangers in the digital world, and I’m not just talking about dangers to democracy and personal liberty (which are real enough). I don’t think technology turns us into monsters--but maybe some predilections, some weaknesses might go unrealized and not acted upon without the internet. Its like this technology can tease out that monster that might otherwise have lain dormant. A secret wish for us to remain hardcopy readers? Hah hah, I don’t think so. I think comics look and feel better as hardcopies, but totally see the place for digital.

TFQ: 

What was it that led you to making twins your main characters? Do they in fact have a psychic connection? Did you do a lot of research on twins for the creation of Cira and Oscar?

PETER:

When you’re dealing with big themes – weighty stuff like the nature of humanity –you need characters who’ll dramatize it, through which you can discuss things on a human, relatable level. When the bad shit happens in Tomorrow – and it does, lots of it – I wanted to see how it affected real people. Not just the twins but a father, trying to keep his family together. A few years ago I worked on a screenplay about twins – it came perilously close to getting made, people loved it, I had several meetings with big stars etc etc – but for a whole series of reasons it never got made ( this seems to be quite normal). I did a lot of research about twins for the screenplay, spoke to them, read about them, and I always wanted to write about a couple of twins again. In Tomorrow it’s Oscar and Cira’s emotional closeness I was interested in, the reliance Oscar has on his sister Cira. Oscar finds himself on the other side of the USA from Cira when everything turns to shit - and has an urgent need to be reunited with her; but she is undergoing her own changes and maybe moving away from Oscar emotionally even as he’s getting closer to her geographically. His journey to try to find his sister, and the way they’re both affected by what’s going on, becomes the beating human heart of the story. Do they have a psychic connection? I feel that’s something I’d rather the reader decide for themselves when they read the book.

TOMORROW #1 DARKHORSE 

Issue #2 hits shelves on March 25th! Add it to your subscription today! 

COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Something is Killing the Children

Here is my most recent comic book review. This covers the first 4 issues of what has now become an ongoing series due to hype and demand. SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN is published by Boom Studios and currently available online or a comic shop near you.

COMIC BOOK REVIEW : FOLKLORDS (BOOM STUDIOS)

Hey all! Here's my latest review and if you don't like watching videos, here are my thoughts below:

 It's no secret that I'm a fan of Matt Kindts work. GRASS KINGS and BLACK BADGE being the most recent titles to capture my attention but when I saw the press release for FOLKLORDS I felt that Kindt might have written something especially for me. When I sat down to read it, I found a kindred spirit in the main character, identifying with his sense of adventure and goal oriented mentality! Hey what can I say, I completely feel that pull to get out there and seek new experiences. So before I go on here, this is your spoiler warning which

Our hero Ansel is growing up in a world where becoming an adult and leaving adolescence behind means  completing a quest! This world is steeped in fantasy fairytale lore not unlike Narnia!  However Ansel runs into trouble because his chosen quest is basically the worst idea ever. He wants to find the Legendary Folklords. Ansel quickly finds out that this is strictly forbidden. The governing force of his little village known as the Librarians, shut down all chosen quests when Ansel's peer steals his quest idea and proclaims his intentions of finding the Folklords. Every one of Ansels classmates are then assigned new, much easier and approved quests to complete.

Now there's something special about Ansel that makes this human boy stand out from everyone else. He has these dreams of another place. Another world with moving vehicles of wheels and giant machines that fly in the sky. And everyone sees Ansel as a bit odd. He makes weird contraptions and clothing. Ansel believes finding the Folklords may also answer his questions about his dreams and all the weird contraptions he dreams of and the strange people there in this other world. He is not about to abandon his life's ambition because of the whims of some faceless governing body. He approaches his classmate who stole his quest idea and asks him if he'd like to come along and complete his quest against all known law. That's the entire set up of this story.

BACKSTORY of the elf.