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Chewler by David M. Brown

Excellent Chewler review!

Lord of the Reads

Graphic Novel: Chewler
Writer: David M. Brown
Artist/Co-Writer: Shannon Gretzon
Letterer: Sean Fagan
Publisher: Exspastic Comics / 5th Dimension Comics
Year of Publication: 2014
Price:  TBC
Pages: 88
Review by: Jason R. Vowles

In a nutshell: The ultimate indie comic discovery. Bizarre, artistically inventive, visually orgasmic boasting a hilariously comedic story line about drunks, super-computers, aliens and a dead Nazi dictator.

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Obscura Vol. 1

The Gravy Age

Howdy! Continuing an unintentional theme (which, I totally don’t mind) let’s take a look at a horror comic from Fifth Dimension Comics, Obscura Vol. 1

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Moonshine and Mythological Creatures! A ‘Hellbillies’ #0 Review! (King Bone Press, 2014)

(A spoiler-free review)

Eustace: Don’t go talking that injun mumbo-jumbo now.

Jack: You know it to be true, White Devil.

What’s wrong with me?

I’ve known the name ‘King Bone Press’ for quite a while now, they run with the same Twitter crowd as I do, I’ve really liked all the art I’ve seen from them…so what took me so long to get hip? I’m not really sure. Probably the fact that I myself am overwhelmingly busy making comics…but still, no excuse.

But hey, good news! I finally got off my ass and showed them some support! I’m glad I did because the book I’m reviewing is awesome! It’s not titled ‘Awesome’ but it could be. This book is called ‘Hellbillies’ and she’s a beauty! It’s brought to us by the aforementioned King Bone Press. Written and lettered by Jon Westhoff, art by Bryan Boles and colors by the world’s greatest Canadian, Sean Fagan.

The short, bare bones synopsis goes something like this: Something weird is stirring in the southern backwoods of America. Eustace Conway and his merry gang of misfits do their damnedest to keep the world safe from all manner of monsters and oddities. Joined by a tough chick claiming to be a reporter, we follow them on an adventure to stop a pissed off mythological creature.

Immediately after opening the book, I was struck by how well the ‘backwoods’ feel was captured by the creative team. Boles’s style leans to the cartoon side which is perfect for the tone of this book. Westhoff moves things along nicely with enough characterization and humor to keep those pages turning. Fagan, who’s skills have been honed on comics like Monkey Squad One and a few 5d projects, offers up his best work yet as his colors kept me absorbed in the setting of the book. Well done all around!

My favorite character was Eustace’s Dad who brought to mind Hank Hill’s little bastard father from King of the Hill. He had my favorite moments from the book which I won’t ruin for you here. Suffice it to say though, I want more. Not sure what that says about me as a person but hey, who has the time for introspection when there are comics to read (and write).

I’m not one to spoil things so I’ll stop here but let it be known, King Bone Press is the real deal. I’ve had the pleasure of reading another of their books titled ‘Caperbet’ and it too was top shelf stuff. Their back catalog is fairly deep and a couple of the books, including this one, are available on Comixology. Hellbillies is a really fun read and I can’t recommend it enough…now I better get back to making comics…can’t let King Bone have all the glory now can I?

-David M. Brown

Get your King Bone Press goodies at www.kingbonepress.com and follow them on Twitter @KingBonePress!

The Servant #1 Spoiler Free Review

David Brown – Nov. 3rd, 2013

The Servant #1

Co-Creator and Written by: Jason Ford

Co-Creator and Art by: Felipe Anguiano

Lettered by: Sean Fagan

Editor and Male Model: James Ford

There are a couple things that keep me going as a nerd these days. One of them (obviously) is comics and the other is podcasting. So imagine my excitement when I learned that one of my very favorite podcasts, The Wombmates (starring the illustrious brothers Jason and James Ford) were behind a comic of their own! After so many hours of hearing the boys talk comics, I finally got to read one from them. As you can see from the credits, Jason writes and James edits and models like a sexy pro. I’d not heard of Felipe before this book but he’s on my radar now for sure. The always wonderful Sean Fagan shows his lettering prowess here as well. But enough fuckery, did I like what I read from this band of comic bastards? Read on…

The servant is an epic fantasy tale with all the trimmings. We’ve got warriors, dwarfs, mages, ale and all the things I love about fantasy. The best part is, none of the material feels tired which is a huge compliment to the creative team!

ART:

Looking at the page above, you can already tell that the art makes it a joy to lay your eyes on. Felipe Anguiano employs a really nice style here, sort of half cartoon-half comic and it works very well with the material. Thankfully, his talent allowed him to effectively separate the characters by giving them their own unique looks. I was never confused as to who was who or what was going on. There are also some great ‘shots’ like the last panel of the page above…I thought it felt cinematic and well thought out all the way through. Not sure how I hadn’t seen Felipe’s work until now, he’s really got a good thing going here.

Writing:

Jason Ford really impressed me. He was able to set his world up almost effortlessly and in a small amount of space. The reader is dropped into the story with no idea what’s going on and Ford brings us up to speed with the ease of a seasoned writer. Going to much into the plot of ‘The Servant’ would ruin the fun of you reading it yourself but I will say that it seems we’ll be going on an epic journey with this group. In a non-spoilery voice, I’ll tell you that this first issue is used to smartly introduce us to the cast of characters in an entertaining way that sets up further adventure…what else do you want from an issue #1? Want to know how I knew I really liked it? The first thing I did when I finished it was read it again. That’s always a good sign! Another thing to mention is that it was fucking funny! My favorite character was Chip who makes his debut to the reader by bursting through a door firing eggs at people. One of the Mages says to the other, “At least the eggs aren’t on fire this time.”. It killed me! (See below).

In closing, I have to say I’m exited as hell to keep reading this book and I’ve got my fingers crossed for a Kickstarter in the future so I can own a physical copy! You can check out ‘The Servant’ and all the other Wombmates goodness at http://thewombmates.com

Support independent artists!!!

Review: The Magician

THAT COMIC BLOG

Writer: David M. Brown
Artist: D.N.S.
Letters: Philip Nolte

Earlier today, while on my break from selling tickets, I received an email from the writer of this book and co-founder of Fifth Dimension Comics, David Brown. Attached to the email was this comic. The Magician is a short six-page comic that I believe is planned to be part of a larger anthology collection. Fifth Dimension Comics will be launching a Kickstarter project in September sometime for this anthology.

Eugene Roberts is the titular Magician whose big trick is making people’s problems disappear. This short story follows Eugene on what, for him, is an average day. I don’t want to say too much about the story as it would take away from the reading experience, I feel. However, I will say: The Magician is a dark, haunting tale and well worth a read.

While there’s not a great deal of dialogue…

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A 5d Review: ‘The Mighty Titan #1’

A spoiler free review!

Being an indie comic creator myself, I know first hand that there is still a stigma out there that will have you believe that independent books just aren’t very good. While that is certainly sometimes the case, the same can be said for many ‘professional’ books as well. After asking around a bit, I found that a lot of the people I grilled about the subject simply thought that if indie creators were good enough, they’d already be working ‘professionally’.

Well I’ve got news for you mainstream or nothin’ readers out there. We are all amateur…some of us are just more professional about it.

That brings me to:

‘The Mighty Titan #1’

Written and Created by Joe Martino

Penciled by Luca Cicchitti

Inks by Jeff Austin

Colors by Keith Betancourt

I didn’t know what to expect going into ‘The Mighty Titan’ but I had heard plenty about Joe and his gang on Twitter and as a fan of Kickstarter comic projects.  So, what were my first impressions you ask? Two words: Jerry Ordway! That’s right, comic veteran Jerry Ordway provided a beautiful cover for the book.  Jerry brought his A-game and certainly did not disappoint. His pencils have that ‘classic’ feel that I always seem to gravitate towards. But hey…you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, right?

I tore into this book with a mad fervor hoping it’s insides could live up to it’s glorious outsides. Good news, it did! What I found inside was a story and art that again brought the word ‘classic’ to mind. Don’t get me wrong, by ‘classic’, I don’t mean ‘dated’. This is storytelling like I remember from my childhood. Reading through ‘The Mighty Titan’ brought back a lot of nostalgia for me. Little touches like using caption boxes to set the scene or to mark the passing of time really made for a throwback sort of feel. Something I appreciated!  The book has got everything I love in a superhero comic, heroic bad-ass, vile villain and a sense of a larger world. These qualities shone through each page like sunshine through a rain cloud.

The writing was as engaging as the pencils! The creators really seemed to gel like a well-oiled machine which is odd given that this is issue #1. The colors are vibrant and the well defined inks never overstepped their bounds. Basically, the book came together like a dream and read extremely well. Being that this is only issue #1 of a series, I expected the cliffhanger and thankfully found it intriguing. Nothing worse than a book one that doesn’t leave you wanting more. This is certainly a series not to be missed. If the team can keep churning out quality work like this, the rest of us are in for a mighty treat!

5d Score: 4 1/2 out of a possible 5 stars.

Check out more from Joe and the gang over at http://www.jgmcomics.com/