ZOT!

Art & Story: Scott McCloud

Publisher: HarperCollins

What’s it about?
Originally published through Eclipse Comics, Zot! was the comic debut of cartoonist Scott McCloud which started in 1984 and then ran for 36 issues.

After getting a job at DC Comics, and following the advice of comic book master Will Eisner to follow his own path rather than imitating the DC/Marvel school of superheroes, Scott McCloud was able to launch a fun, original, and lighthearted tale in a gritty comic book scene in the middle of the 1980s.

Somewhat inspired by some of his old childhood favorite, such as classics like the Golden Age Superman and the manga Astro Boy, Zot! follows the adventures of Zachary T. Paleozogt aka the self-proclaimed Zot! But in an usual twist for the superhero genre, the stories are told from the perspective of Jenny Weaver, a young "normal" girl from our world who ends up in the retro-futuristic science-fiction paradise that is the world of Zot!

A little update

Hi all.

There has been a distinct lack of posting from me recently, for this I must apologise.  My life has got really busy recently.  I've started training for a 10k race and despite how fit I thought I was before, it's pretty tiring.  It's good fun, but man oh man do I get wiped out by some of the sessions.  If you're interested in the detail, I write reports on each training session on my other blog, and you can read them here. Anyway this has left me with less time and more importantly, energy, to blog.

The other thing which is taking up some of my time, is I have joined the Radio Bamf team.  Radio Bamf is a weekly comics podcast where 5 of us record each Sunday and talk about comics news, reviews and odd points of view.  I'm having an absolute blast doing it but it does take time to prepare for it and record.  Because of me and my particular passions I do tend to say if books are kid friendly, or new reader friendly.  We cover all sorts of stuff but mainly superheroes and indies.

You can listen in various places, but I'd say start with the host website, We Are Arcade.  There are links to youtube, itunes and the podomatic host sites too.  While you're on there you might want to check out the anime and gaming podcasts too.

Bringing the conversation back to this site, I don't want the posts to dry up and this blog to die a death, so to accommodate my changing energy levels I think I'll be writing shorter less in-depth reviews.  Posts may be just a few sentences long, or a few paragraphs, and they'll probably have less art, but I just can't manage full reviews right now.

Of course, I am still accepting guest reviews and am always happy to get new regular bloggers.  If you are interested in this please leave a comment, email me on paicomics at yahoo dot co uk, or tweet me @saranagacomics.

Seen the movie? Read the comic: Captain America

I was recently re-watching the film Captain America: The First Avenger.  This led to me thinking about what comics would make a good read following the film.  So without further ado, here are some suggestions.

Batgirl and Robin: Year One

Writers: Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon
Pencillers: Marcos Martin and Javier Pulido
Inkers: Robert Campanella and Alvaro Lopez
Colorists: Lee Loughridge and Javier Rodriguez
Letterers: Sean Konot and Willie Schubert
Publisher: DC Comics

What’s it about? 
This book collects the first year of adventures of the first Batgirl and Robin.

Robin is Dick Grayson, 13 year old (ish) ward of Bruce Wayne.  As Robin he is the Batman’s partner, bringing fear and justice to criminals across Gotham.  Robin views Batman as a father and is determined to win his love and approval.  When an encounter with Two-Face goes wrong, Batman reconsiders whether Robin has a place in his mission.

 

Batgirl is Barbara Gordon, aged about 18, the daughter of Gotham’s Police Commissioner Jim Gordon.  This story is set a few years after Robin’s.  Barbara works as a librarian, excels at her studies, and wants to be a copper - but everyone tells her she can’t.  Not one to accept other people’s opinions, she attends a costume party in a homemade batsuit, mostly to irritate her Dad, and finds herself stopping a heist.  Thus begins her crimefighting career.

Each story was originally published separately, but the Batgirl one was unavailable for a number of years.

Stumptown

Writer: Greg Rucka
Illustrations: Matthew Southworth
Colours: Lee Loughridge, Rico Renzi and Matthew Southworth
Design: Keith Wood
Publisher: Oni Press

What's it about?

There's a female Private Investigator called Dex Parios.  She's broke because she gambles, so she's forced to take on a case to wipe out her debt.

What's the case?  The boss of the Wind Coast casino, Sue-Lynne, has a granddaughter who's gone missing.  Sue-Lynne fears her granddaughter is mixing with unsavoury characters and wants her home.   Feeling dubious, Dex takes on the case.  What follows is mystery; intrigue; a fair few punches; some guns; family revelations; and a very annoyed Dex.

There's a lot of swearing and violence so I'd say it's intended for mature readers. 

Captain Marvel: In Pursuit of Flight

 

Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Art: Dexter Soy (issues 1 and 2), Dexter Soy, Rich Elson, Wil Quintana, Karl Kesel, Javier Rodriguez (issue 3), Dexter Soy, Al Barrioneuvo (issue 4)
Colours: Will Quintana (issue 4)
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel

What’s it about?

Captain Marvel is a relaunch of a 45 year old character (in reality, not in continuity) known as Ms Marvel, or Carol Danvers.  Carol is an air force pilot who was caught in an alien explosion, granting her superhuman powers – flight, super strength, invulnerability, and energy beams that she can shoot from her hands.  She’s a powerhouse, probably on a par with Superman.  This relaunch updated her costume from a swimsuit-and-sash style to a full body uniform that has in more in common with the early 2000’s X-Men films, and it changed her name to Captain Marvel, more in fitting with her military background.

In this story she meets with an old friend and is catapulted back through time to the 1940s, to meet a group of Women Airforce Service Pilots fighting on a Japanese occupied island.  On her journey back to the present day she is bumped through various different years, meets her childhood heroes, and gets to fly planes with some of the most talented women of the 20th century.

Superman sale on Comixology

In honour of the new Superman movie - Man of Steel - Comixology are once again doing one of their legendary sales, so once again we'll give you a guide to what's available.  The sale is on until 11pm, Thursday 20th June and most titles are just 99 cents each - that's about 60p in UK money.  It's an incredibly comprehensive sale, covering the important, and best, Superman stories of the last 80 years.

More information after the cut.