" C O M I C B O O K E - M A G " __________________________________________________________________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Issue 3 - Volume 1 - April 23, 1995 "Brought to you from the fine folks at the COMIC BOOK Network!" Editors: Ed Dukeshire & Mike Imboden __________________________________________________________________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [-1-] The Bullpen ........................ Ed Dukeshire [-2-] The 25th Hour ...................... Mike Imboden [-3-] Reviews CREED #2 .......................... William Hughes X-O MANOWAR #46 ................... William Hughes [-4-] CSNsider ........................... David Leblanc [-5-] Feedback ........................... Our Address [-6-] BBSes Linked into CBN .............. CBN Staff __________________________________________________________________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- /--[-1-]--/ THE BULLPEN /----------------------------------------------/ The Bullpen by Ed Dukeshire Well, I was going to skip this week's issue but Mike's piece just came in and I felt I had to run it. 'nuff said. -- ed __________________________________________________________________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- /--[-2-]--/ THE 25TH HOUR /--------------------------------------------/ The 25th Hour by Mike Imboden I was all set to whine and complain about my BBS going belly-up when something a little more important happened. It didn't happen to me personally, nor did it affect anyone that I know. In fact, it happened a handful of hundreds of miles away. By now most everyone is aware of what happened in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, April 19th - a bomb literally ripped apart a building killing, at last glance, at least 36 people with "dozens and dozens" more expected to be removed from the rubble also dead. A large number of those killed were children, from babies to toddlers and pre-schoolers. Out of 40 kids in a daycare center located in the building 20 of them are unaccounted for. Of the 20 located, over half are dead. While the FBI has suspects, (again, as I write this), they are not positive WHO is to blame. What's this have to do with comics? It's no big secret that today's heroes are "grimmer and grittier" than they were a few years ago and are certainly more so that they were ten or 15 years ago, (and beyond). Do I blame THIS as a factor in the bombing? Of course not. But it does make one more readily aware of the evil that is out there. It also makes one's beliefs in the good guys come under scrutiny. Aside from those misanthropic individuals out there, our society is one that is deep rooted in hereos. From the "Tall Tales" of Pecos Bill and Davey Crockett to real life "heroes" such as Babe Ruth, Rocky Marciano and Michael Jordan. Everyone has a hero, some more low key than others but no less a hero. Maybe it's a father or some other relative, maybe it's a policeman or fireman. Maybe it's even a super- hero from a comic book. Obviously it's the latter I want to focus on here. As a kid and up until not to long ago my hero was always Spider-Man. But in the last year or so he's become less of the HERO and more of just a "hero" - it being used merely as a label, much like calling Jack Kirby an "artist". It's just the most basic and base label that could be used. We all know the "King" was more than just an artist and to call him "just an artist" does him injustice. As for Spidey, well, calling him a "hero" isn't exactly right. As a base label it's fine, that's what you might file him under if you were building a database or something. But as a true HERO, well, the Web Slinger falls short. How many heroes would make a deal with a known mass murderer? How many would let not just one but TWO mass murderers walk away when he or she was fully capable at one point or another to take them in to face the authorities, (at least)? Well, thanks to our wall crawling "hero" we have Venom and Frank Castle roaming around. Mr. Parker is in pretty good company, though. When Superman picked up a gun, (of course it was HUGE), in REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN he lost a couple notches in my book. Yeah, ok, he was weak and powerless but shouldn't our Superman, our HERO, try to find another way to T.C.B.? Batman lets Azrael walk away and then eventually bank rolls the poor slob so he can "find himself". Hal Jordan flips out and tries to wipe out the entire universe. A handful of Avengers, after getting a taste of what it's like to kill, break away from Captain America's strict code of ethics and form a no-nonsense team. The list goes on and on with once proud heroes sinking down to the level of those they battle on a daily basis. I can almost buy the line of thought that says that they are only evolving and adjusting to today's criminal element which is tougher, meaner and more psyhchotic than yesterday's, but not quite. These are HEROES darn it, they shouldn't have to sink down to a lower level. In the wake of Wednesday's cowardly terrorist attack on innocent people, (I'm sure they knew that daycare center was in the building), I find myself looking once again for a hero, a true HERO, to believe in. It's times like these that we ALL need to look up to our heroes and realize that there IS good out there. The firemen and rescue personnel working through the night in Oklahoma City are heroes. That cop with a jelly-filled glazed donut is a hero even if he doesn't look the part. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes - you might even be someone's hero. What I'm trying to say is that, even if our childhood heroes no longer fit the shoes of a hero in our eyes we're never too old to have them. The trick is to find them. -M!ke !mboden __________________________________________________________________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- /--[-3-]--/ REVIEWS /--------------------------------------------------/ Title: CREED #2 Review by: William Hughes I wasn't as impressed with this second issue as I was with the first. The story seemed a bit muddled and confusing, and the artwork in places as well. I suspect the announcement that CREED has been snapped up by LIGHTNING COMICS may have something to do with it. Yep, after just one issue, high school senior Trent Kaniuga has garnered some attention from a bigger company. The title will be getting a fresh start with a new number one from that company, IN FULL COLOR!! That is going to be a nice touch. Even though I expected better after such a great debut in number one, this issue didn't sour me on the book enough that I won't pick up the new series in September. The following is the press release on the publisher change, found in the back of the second issue: -- SNAPPED UP BY LIGHTNING "Lightning Comics is pleased to announce it has been granted future publication rights for CREED," says a Lightning statement. Lightning will "retell" the CREED #1-2 mini-series from Hall of Heroes in its own CREED #1. Lightning's 48-page CREED #1 will be exactly the same as Hall of Heroes CREED #1-2, with a various tweakes and changes. In the Lightning version, the books will be prfoessionally re-lettered (Hall of Heroes lettering leaves a bit to be desired), there'll be all-new covers, an artisit's sketch book, perhaps some pages replaced, higher paper quality, and much of the artwork tightened up. Trent feels he was a little rushed the first time around and he is looking forward to imporcing upon his already impressive work. The ongoing series launches in September under the sage title, TRENT KANIUGA'S CREED. -- For those of you who missed my Random Thoughts on the first issue, I really enjoyed it. The storyline reminded me a bit of a more mature CALVIN AND HOBBES, with a touch of LORD OF THE RINGS thrown in. The artwork is very nice, and I don't think there's another book like it on the market today. I encourage everyone to check out the "new" first issue from Lightning Comics in September. Bill Hughes!! Email Address: william.hughes@p3.f744.n109.z1.fidonet.org. -------------------------------------------------------------------------/ Title: X-O MANOWAR #46 Review by: William Hughes Well, I've seen the Bart Sears issues, and I was seriously impressed. The artwork was great, and the story looks really promising. But the final test is in this very issue. Since Valiant is determined to put this book out bi-weekly, something had to be done to help out Sears. The solution is to have him alternate with another artist. My main fear about this is that it would ruin the "feel" of the story arcs, jumping from one artistic expression to another, let alone overall style. We all hate it when a guest artist takes over a book on a fave title, how would we feel to see it happen every other issue? Well, Andy Smith's first issue is out, and although he's no Bart Sears, it's acceptable. He mimmicks the overall tone that Sears set up in previous issues so that you don't feel a change in the "mood" of the story. While I don't feel his artwork measures up to Sear's work, it is not so far away that I'll complain. I'd prefer Sears to do the book bi-weekly. If I can't have that, I'd gladly accept having the book be a monthly title done by Sears alone. But if they simply must have the book bi-weekly, and Sears can only product one book a month, Smith is a suitable alternate. Now, on to the story. Yipes! Marz is really shaking up the world of this barbarian! His corporation has been invaded, his friends tortured and his girl-friend slaughtered. Do you think Aric is going to take this kind of abuse? I didn't think so! This tale is really heating up, and is sure to change the life of everyone's favorite armored visigoth forever! If you haven't picked up X-O in a while, NOW is the time to come on back!! Bill Hughes!! Email Address: william.hughes@p3.f744.n109.z1.fidonet.org. __________________________________________________________________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- /--[-4-]--/ CSNsider /-------------------------------------------------/ CSNsider by David Leblanc This is the CSNsider from CSN #411, which will be in shops on 5/3/95. It is reproduced in its entirety with the expressed permission of COMIC SHOP NEWS! James Robinson fans will be thrilled to hear that a trade paperback of the acclaimed miniseries The Golden Age by Robinson and Paul Smith is on DC's schedule for July release... At least one Marvel hero will die in the Black September Marvel/Malibu crossover... A new GI Joe comic series is in the works; and this one will feature the classic 1980's Joes, not the Sgt. Savage line that was such a flop in toy shops... The first James Bond collectible card game series will be GoldenEye, based on the upcoming James Bond film... Marvel plans to hone its line to seventy or eighty titles over the next several months in response to fans who complained that they couldn't afford to keep up with all their favorites... In light of the excitement that X-Files has inspired, is it possible that the Challengers of the Unknown are preparing to begin investigating unusual phenomena over at DC?... Word has it that when Wizards of the Coast issues their Magic: The Gathering Fourth Edition series, there will be no land in the booster packs, making starter sets a necessity for beginning players... And speaking of trading card series, Marvel and Fleer plan to unveil Marvel OverPower, the Marvel Universe collectible card game, in August; the series will feature original illustrations, all computer colored and packed in 55-card starter decks and ten card booster packs... Warner Books has reported that Batman: The Ultimate Evil, the Andrew Vachhs Batman novel first slated for summer release, has been pushed back to the fall... Pulp Fiction comes to pulp paper: is it possible that acclaimed director, writer, and actor Quentin Tarrantino may venture into the comics world in the foreseeable future, either licensing his own creations or writing something original for the medium?... Fox is monkeying around with plans for a Planet of the Apes animated series... Malibu has an unusual pin-up book in the works that will feature full-page illustrations of Malibu heroes standing side-by-side with the creations of a variety of independent artists; look for it in July... Fleer's next X-Men trading card series will be an all-chromium set drawn by the Adam, Andy, and Joe Kubert; look for 'em in October... Taboo is making its return from Kitchen Sink in May, although it'll no longer serve as the home for Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell tales... Is the Silver Surfer set to join the X-Men, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and Iron Man as an animation star? Could be!... Marvel has scheduled a no-Marvel-Comics skip week for the first week of June as they fine-tune their plans to begin self-distribution in July; according to Marvel, this skip week will enable Marvel to maintain their weekly release schedule from then on... Warrior Nun Areala sold out so quickly that many fans missed the hit Ben Dunn series from Antarctic; and that's why Antarctic is releasing a Warrior Nun Areala Trade Paperback in mid-June, complete with an affordable $9.95 price tag... Fleer hopes to make waves with its Fleer Ultra Waterworld Trading Cards, a 150-card set scheduled for July release; the cards are priced at $2 per pack... CSN #411 features a cover feature on Sovereign Seven from DC, as well as more news and the May Hot Picks. The only way to get Comic Shop News is to visit a shop that carries CSN. The publication costs the shops just $.10 each and is generally free to customers. If you shop doesn't carry CSN, nag 'em until they do. 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