Happy birthday, Patrick Stewart! "Set a course…for love!"
Jul 13One of my all-time favorite sketches. This whole episode was genius. “She urinates through her skin like a shark!”
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Velocity #1
Jul 01[Note: A review copy of Velocity #1 was provided by the publisher.]
I can’t tell you five meaningful things about Cyberforce. Maybe not even three.
I don’t tell you this as a slight against Image Comics or Top Cow or Marc Silvestri, but to establish that I don’t know anything meaningful about a superhero franchise that has been around for nearly 20 years now. I have a gap in my comics knowledge shaped almost exactly like the O5-era Image books.
The good news is that Velocity doesn’t require that you to carry any of that baggage. It would bog you down, anyway, and Velocity, just like its title character, is all about going fast.
Speed is inherent in Ron Marz’s mandate here, as the book gracefully caroms from action scene to action scene, slowing down to offer up exposition, but never stopping. Carin Taylor’s origin, powers and teammates are all explained without the book grinding to a halt. The reader also sees Carin’s personality in action – youthful, heroic, in love with her powers but a little maudlin about their cost. There are also killer robots and a race-against-the-clock plot that set a tone of kinetic superhero action.
Also shouldering the credit for Velocity‘s success is Kenneth Rocafort. Rocafort – who’s probably best known for his work on Paul Dini’s Madame Mirage – uses every tool at his disposal to keep the book moving along quickly and his trademark sketchy style is perfectly suited to a title character that moves at Mach 3. He draws Carin like a runner with a runner’s body, makes her costume feel like the superheroine version of a roller derby uniform and (without aping it) reminds me of Karl Kerschl’s work on The Flash, which epitomizes fast, loose, kinetic storytelling for me.
If this is a light week for you, and you’re looking for a short-term comics romance, this is the comic out this week that I’d recommend to you. It’s the first of four issues, has a minimum of baggage and a surplus of action and speed, and is more accessible than most recent mainstream first issues.
Grok #6: Avatar
Jun 30Summer again! Comic-Con countdown time! Ridiculous rerun-watching time! Exclamation point overuse time!
And also…time for a new Grok.
If you’ll recall, this is our PDF zine you can read on your computer screen or print out and tote wherever you desire. Within, you will find fiction, essays, and other general hilarity dedicated to geek culture and the nerd experience, all centered around a delightful theme. This time ’round, we’re all about…Avatar. Not the movie. The thing.
No, seriously. Not the movie.
In this issue…
An Open Letter to the Total Stranger Who Scolded Me About Political Awareness on Facebook, by Caroline Pruett: Sarcastic Facebook comments: you leave ’em and go back to watching 30 Rock and that’s it, right? Right?! Well…no. Not when there are Total Strangers lurking about, all too ready to engage you in social media-fueled “conversation.”
My Xbox Avatar Choices Become Too Life-Like, by Ivan Sian: Fourteen hours later, it totally looks just like me!
Strong at the Broken Places, by Anika Milik: Anika is Carol Danvers and Olivia Dunham and Ro Laren. And here, she explains why.
Monkeyshines79, by David Accampo: Julia — 30, single, and prone to LLOL (literally laughing out loud)-worthy disasters — is about to break one of her most dearly-held personal principles. Thou shalt not date on the internet. Sounds like a recipe for major double-u tee eff.
Alien, by Matt Springer: Tor-Kar just wants to enjoy the free Days Inn breakfast buffet in peace. Earthers, is that too much to ask?
Noble and Grand #0, by Jeff Stolarcyk, Matt Springer, and Joe Mulvey: Get a sneak peek at Alert Nerd Press’ first foray into comics! Superheroes! Terror Bears! I.T. experts! It’s crazy-amazing or amazing-crazy or whatever.
Avatars, Cultural Appropriation, and Chris Claremont’s GeNext, by Jennifer Smith: Jennifer looks at the real meaning of “avatar” as it applies to Claremont’s work. When we say “real meaning,” we don’t mean “blue people” or “that sweet animated Jacob-from-Twilight .gif you just uploaded to Livejournal.”
There Was an Old Woman…, by Daniel R. Faust: Brother Ofwynn has lost his way…but his journey’s just beginning.
With Violet Light, by Sarah Kuhn: Julie’s boyfriend is a total Star Sapphire. Julie’s best girlfriend won’t shut up about Sex and the City. Julie herself can’t seem to channel her own pink, girly side without cursing a few billion times…or can she? Find out in this sequel to One Con Glory!
Plus: Rejected Sims Expansion Packs! Hilarious graphics! And much, much more!
