Marvel comics S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 Launch Party

Deadpool has a long history of working with, and killing, various members of SHIELD.

Hello faithful followers and Marvel fanatics. Looks like the fine folks over at Marvel are actually sending out some information that isn’t cryptic or a reboot. High tech stuff, Deadpool, and it looks like and a half-dozen variant covers are just some of the information from Marvel with their S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 launch party too. Damn, I really hate acronyms, especially ones that long. I’m not a fan personally of SHIELD, their television or their role in the Marvel universe, but that doesn’t mean I won’t share the information with my greedy readers. And hey, There’s Deadpool.

So, in addition to some sweet images and actual information, Marvel is having retailers throw some parties to celebrate the #1 of the previous typed out acronym from Marvel. Eisner Award winner Mark Waid is writing the new series with a rotating cast of incredible artists with some serious gravitas in their backgrounds. Man, I love using Latin in my articles. Anyway, let us know what you think of the new SHIELD launch, and share our site with your friends. Without much more ado, here’s the Marvel information you’re waiting for below. Look out for the artwork attached as well.

 

Marvel Welcomes You to Level 8 For The S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 Launch Party!
Your Local Comic Shop is Your Place to Be on New Year’s Eve!

 

A large cast of characters is sure to be included in the new SHIELD launch. Yes, I am refusing to use SHIELD as an acronym typie thingie.

End the calendar year with a bang this New Year’s Eve as high-tech weapons, high-stakes missions and high-octane adventure come to a comic shop near you with S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 – the debut issue of one of the most highly anticipated titles of the year! In addition to being among the first to purchase and read this exciting first issue, fans will also be able to receive special items exclusive to these launch parties.

 

Along with All-New Miracleman Annual #1, S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 stands as one of only two Marvel comics being released on 12/31 and Marvel making sure comic book stores nationwide are armed and ready to close out 2014 with a bang when these two books explode onto stands!

 

Written by Eisner-award winning writer Mark Waid and drawn by a rotating crew of top-flight including Carlos Pacheco, Humberto Ramos, Alan Davis and more – each issue of S.H.I.E.L.D. teams Special Agent Phil Coulson and his team with the best and brightest the Marvel Universe has to offer. From Thor to Ms. Marvel to Captain America to Howard the Duck. If you’ve got the skills – S.H.I.E.L.D. has a mission for you!

To ensure these parties are a success, each retailer opting in to the event will receive a S.H.I.E.L.D. Party Kit from Marvel, containing exclusive promotional materials. Check your Marvel Mailer for more information on how to opt-in to ensure your store has these exclusive promotional items including two-sided S.H.I.E.L.D. trading cards and Skottie Young lithographs.

But that’s not all! Don’t miss out on your chance to snag some exciting variant covers to S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 featuring your favorite Marvel characters! S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 Launch Parties are the best place to get your hands on one-of-a kind variant covers including John Tyler Christopher’s highly collectible Deadpool Party Variant, a photo variant featuring Agent Coulson and Agent May from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and a set of 6 variant covers from Marvel’s rising star artists, the All-New Young Guns!

S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (OCT140813)
S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 LAUNCH PARTY OPT-IN (OCT140820)
Written by MARK WAID
Art by CARLOS PACHECO
Cover by JULIAN TOTINO TEDESCO

Deadpool Party Variant by JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER (OCT140816)
Set of 6 All-New Young Guns Variants by MAHMUD ASRAR,

STEVE MCNIVEN, DAVE MARQUEZ, SARA PICHELLI, VALERIO SCHITI

& RYAN STEGMAN (OCT140817)

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Photo Variant Also Available (OCT140818)
Variant Covers by  SKOTTIE YOUNG (OCT140815) & MIKE DEODATO (OCT140814)

Blank Variant Also Available

FOC – 11/10/14, On-Sale 12/31/14

 

For more on Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D., please visit www.marvel.com. Join the conversation on Twitter and don’t forget to follow us at @Marvel [www.twitter.com/Marvel]!

 

Deadpool in B&W n almost as cool as deadpool in just red. And anything with Deadpool makes anything with SHIELD better.

To find a comic shop near you, visit www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook.

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Boom! Box announces its first trade paperback ‘The Midas Flesh’ part 1

We’re always keen to see anything new from Boom! Studios, especially our writer Hank Van Hawkins. We’re even more excited to see something from the Boom! off-shoot Boom! Box. The cover for Midas Flesh is gorgeous, and the creative collective of Ryan North, Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb have crafted what looks to be an indie darling and cult hit. I’m personally brushing up on the series myself before the trade drops. Read on below for more details, and keep up with our blog to receive up-to-date indie news, especially Boom! Studios content.

Gorgeous and haunting Illustration by Emily Partridge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BOOM! Box, an Imprint of BOOM! Studios, Announces Its First Collected Trade Paperback with ‘The Midas Flesh’ Vol. 1
The Midas Flesh Vol. 1 TP Cover by Emily Partridge

November 5,  2014 – Los Angeles, CA – Nearly one year ago, award-winning publisher BOOM! Studios announced their newest imprint BOOM! Box, a home for comics “made for the love of it.” The publisher is now pleased to announce the collected first volume of the imprint’s inaugural series, The Midas Flesh. Created by the longtime creative team behind the Adventure Time comics, writer Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics) and artists Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb, The Midas Flesh is an edge-of-your-seat, save-the-universe adventure with two butt-kickin’ ladies and a dinosaur in a spacesuit. The first volume collects issues #1-4 of this quirky space epic and features a casewrap covered in striking gold fingerprints.

“When you create an imprint that’s intended to encourage weird, experimental, and eclectic comics, you have to start off with a series that really embodies that mission,” said BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon. “The Midas Flesh is just that for BOOM! Box. Ryan, Shelli, and Braden have already proven themselves to be some of the best storytellers in comics with their run on Adventure Time, and they’ve outdone themselves with The Midas Flesh. Plus: dinosaur on a spaceship. Hard to beat that.”

About The Midas Flesh: We’ve all heard of the Midas Touch. You know, the Greek myth about the man who did a number on himself by wishing for everything he touched to turn to gold? Well, you haven’t heard everything. Joey and her space crew have decided to return to Earth—a planet completely sectioned off, abandoned, and covered in gold—to find out exactly what happened to this once thriving planet and see if they can use that knowledge against the evil empire that’s tracking them down. As luck would have it, they just landed the most powerful weapon in the universe: some ancient dead guy’s body.

The Midas Flesh Vol. 1 trade paperback arrives in comic shops on December 3rd with a cover price of $14.99 under Diamond order code OCT141163. The cover is illustrated by Emily Partridge (Adventure Time). The Final Order Cutoff deadline for retailers is November 10th. Not sure where to find your nearest comic retailer? Use comicshoplocator.com or findacomicshop.com to find one! It’s also available for order directly from boom-studios.com.

 

ABOUT BOOM! STUDIOS

Founded by Ross Richie in 2005, Diamond Gem Award-winning “Best Publisher” BOOM! Studios (boom-studios.com) generates a constellation of best-selling Eisner and Harvey Award-winning original and licensed comic books and graphic novels with the industry’s top talent. BOOM! Studios is comprised of four distinct imprints. The original Studios imprint is home to Mike Carey’s Suicide Risk; James Tynion IV’s The Woods; Mark Waid’s Irredeemable; Sons of Anarchy; and Big Trouble in Little China. Steven Grant’s graphic novel 2 Guns was released as a feature film from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg. BOOM!’s all-ages imprint KaBOOM! publishes Charles Schulz’ Peanuts; Jim Davis’ Garfield; Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time, Regular Show, The Amazing World of Gumball, and Steven Universe; Mike Kunkel’s Herobear and the Kid; and Natasha Allegri’s Bee and PuppyCat. BOOM!’s experimental imprint BOOM! Box publishes The Midas Flesh and Lumberjanes. In June 2013, BOOM! acquired Archaia Entertainment (archaia.com). Archaia is the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning graphic novel publisher of Mouse Guard, Cow Boy, Gunnerkrigg Court, Rust, and Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand. In October 2013, BOOM! Studios entered into a unique first-look relationship with 20th Century Fox, giving the studio access to its library of titles and giving the publisher access to Fox’s vast catalog of films. In August 2014, BOOM! Studios began a similar first-look relationship with 20th Century Fox TV to develop properties for the small screen.

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‘The Collector’ by Sergio Toppi review

The hardcover cover art for The collector by Sergio Toppi

By Hank Van Hawkins

  As soon as I signed into Boom! comics with my fresh sparkling new press pass, I saw a lot of titles that piqued my interest. But, the one that drew me in right away more so than any of the others initially was The Collector. Despite the fact it is an entire graphic novel, I know I could have started off by choosing a few single issues of something else first but I had to sink my teeth into this one right upon seeing it.  It is a translated work by Italian artist Sergio Toppi.  With the basic plot and cover art it was speaking to my personal tastes, so I dove right in. The premise of the character alone is enough to get my imagination in gear.  The art work has a surreal undertone, almost immediately exposing the artist’s love for impressionism.  It is bare bones drawing at it’s most poignant. If anything, his art organically inspires the artist in all of us to not worry about coloring outside the lines or worrying about every little mark having to be exactly perfect. Honestly, the art is transcendental.

I usually take in the art work before diving into the writing as a matter of fact. I didn’t get too far before my curiosity couldn’t hold it’s rabid thirst for The Collector’s story, and believe you me, there is a lot of depth to the tale. It obviously speaks out about the collector in every collector out there, somehow leading to this guy as one of the original purveyors of a practice that is all too common in this day and age whether it is comics, cards, games or antiquities for that matter. There isn’t alot out there that isn’t collected in some capacity. 

 He is a well rounded and well financed eclectic eccentric with his hand in many creative business ventures.  He is a worldly gentlemen whose interests push through to many facets of the finer things in life. And in turn, keep him on the move to the next piece of his “collection.”  In order to collect, one must have monetary means to feed the habit so to speak. Of course, I love westerns and any story seemingly set in anywhere in the 1800’s. So it is an easy and interesting read and again, the art work is very eye pleasing and the story line plays up the primitive look of the drawing as well. He has a vigilante streak to his persona that comes in handy when he finds many characters as obstacles that are in the way of his pursuit. He is a gentlemen about his rogue means. His power of persuasion is pervasive as he uses his manners to ask many a stranger for his next clue to the object of his current affection. 

 I really love how he comes across famous historical figures and heads to historical places, all while on the hunt. It is at the least a page from the “who’s who” of tribal chiefs and Native Americans during the first arc. An entertaining tale with its roots in reality. Anytime you can have Crazy Horse as one of the characters, of course I am going to buy this book ! It holds up tremendously well considering it was first released in the sixties. His drawing style is actually very similar to Jack Jackson, a famous illustrator of many underground comics from the 60’s . He is one of R. Crumb‘s peers. Jack himself drew and wrote many historical stories about outlaws and lawmen from the roots of The Republic of Texas and it’s as if both of these guys prayed at the same art altar at one time or another. 

 Anytime archaeology and artifacts are woven into a story line it seems to appeal to history buffs, lit freaks as well as comic book readers. This is a all round great read.  It portrays the rough hewn grit of the old west as the Collector moves on from artifact to artifact which keeps each arc in the story stirring enough to keep your attention.  He is part Jonah Hex and part Indiana Jones . A great culmination which I only wish there was more to read. It also reminds me of the french comic hero Blueberry, but with the added angle of the search for each artifact and its back story, all the while shifting nicely into the current pursuit of the next piece. He lives on the edge during each of his crusades where he constantly flirts with disaster during each of his pursuits. He extinguishes any one who happens to stand in his way. Nothing nor anyone stands in his way. A relentless collector.

If you have never read a graphic novel before and the form is new to you, there would be no better place to start than the collector.

Please read on for a preview of ‘The Collector’ by Sergio Toppi

Have you read the collector? How about any of Hank’s references in the article? Leave a comment and discuss.

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Guardians of the Galaxy #21 preview: Planet of the Symbiotes

Ok, I can buy into this issue with the symbiotes. I REALLY hope Groot catches one.

Forgive me for making symbiotes a proper noun in my title, because I think it should be. I’m a lover of most things symbiote and think a good battle on their home planet is just what Guardians of the Galaxy need. I’m not a fan however of the guardians, but they have their fanbase.

Ok, so here is a sneak preview of their new comic book and we are fortunate here at Fear and Gaming to be one of the first people to post about it on the world wide web of internets and stuff. Read and look on in anxious awe. Marvel’s full press release, information as well as the comic preview pages are below.

 

“Planet of the Symbiotes” Begins in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #21!

This November, the Guardians of the Galaxy face their worst nightmare as the new “Planet of the Symbiotes” arc kicks off in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #21! Comic book superstar Brian Michael Bendis and Marvel Young Gun artist Valerio Schiti venture where no heroes have ever gone before – to the home planet of the deadly alien symbiotes! Ever since the Venom symbiote bonded with Flash Thompson, he has wielded it as a force for good, hoping to make the Earth a safer place. Only the far reaches of space are a little out of his depth! And with the Venom costume finally reunited with its own species – where will it’s allegiances lie? Trapped on a world full of hostile alien parasites, the Guardians of the Galaxy may begin to regret letting Flash Thompson join their team. Be there when the Guardians face a new horror in deep space as “Planet of the Symbiotes” kicks off in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #21!

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #21 (SEP140871)
Art by VALERIO SCHITI
Cover by NICK BRADSHAW
Rocket Raccoon & Groot Variant by DUSTIN NGUYEN (SEP140872)
FOC – 10/27/14, On-Sale – 11/19/14

 

Return to the House of M

House of M 2015.

I received this mysterious email yesterday, with no information, except for Summer 2015. Is Marvel rebooting one of the most impactful series in its history? I wrote Marvel for more information and will update you as soon as I hear more. I’m a day late posting, I just wasn’t up to posting yesterday. Sorry for that. In the meantime, enjoy this artwork.

Crack the Code with Justin Jordan’s First Original Series with BOOM! Studios, ‘Deep State’

Just got this delicious tidbit of news from Boom! Studios, one of my favorite comic book companies. They have a huge and diverse selection of comics that includes Clive Barker’s Bestiary, which is in the 3rd issue of 6. Go by and have a look at their comics if you haven’t already. We’re looking forward to getting some reviews and some samples up real soon. So, no more jabbering-here’s the news!

For Immediate Release Crack the Code with Justin Jordan’s First Original Series with BOOM! Studios, ‘Deep State’   Deep State #1 Main Cover by Matt Taylor Deep State #1 Retailer Incentive Cover by Artyom Trakhanov October 16, 2014 – Los Angeles, CA – Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory. Whether you want to believe it or debunk it, stories of the faked moon landing, government-sanctioned assassinations, and brainwashing have been around for generations. This November, award-winning publisher BOOM! Studios asks: What if those conspiracy theories were planted to cover up an even darker truth? Discover the conspiracy behind the conspiracies with Deep State, a new ongoing series that kicks off the first of three original series from one of the emerging voices behind hard-hitting and intelligent stories, Justin Jordan (Spread, The Strange Talent of Luther StrodeJustin Jordan (), and talented artist Ariela Kristantina (Death of Wolverine). “Justin is a writer we’ve been dying to work with,” said BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon. “His stories are visceral, smart, and they just bleed cool. With Deep State, Justin is setting up a little patch of land for himself at BOOM! and we’re excited to have him. Ariela Kristantina is teaming up with Justin and turning in some spectacular artwork on this series—she’s definitely an artist on the rise. Get ready for them to introduce you to John Harrow in November.” In Deep State, John Harrow doesn’t exist, and his job is to make sure that other things don’t exist, too. At any given time, the government is running dozens of black book operations, experiments that aren’t on any official record and are never acknowledged to exist. Some of these are innocuous. Some of them are monstrous beyond reason. And most of the time, they go as expected and the public is never the wiser. Most of the time. John Harrow’s job is to handle them when things go wrong, and do anything to make sure the government’s secrets stay just that—secret. If you’re interested in conspiracy theory stories from comics like Planetary and Sleeper to films like Enemy of the State and Three Days of the Condor, you’ll be gripped by Deep State! Deep State #1 arrives in comic book shops on November 12th with a main cover by Mondo print illustrator Matt Taylor and a retailer incentive cover by Artyom Trakhanov (Undertow), with a cover price of $3.99 under Diamond order code SEP141117. The Final Order Cutoff Date for retailers is October 20th. Not sure where to find your nearest comic retailer? Use comicshoplocator.com or findacomicshop.com to find one! It’s also available for pre-order directly from boom-studios.com. ABOUT BOOM! STUDIOS Founded by Ross Richie in 2005, Diamond Gem Award-winning “Best Publisher” BOOM! Studios (boom-studios.com) generates a constellation of best-selling Eisner and Harvey Award-winning original and licensed comic books and graphic novels with the industry’s top talent. BOOM! Studios is comprised of four distinct imprints. The original Studios imprint is home to Mike Carey’s Suicide Risk; James Tynion IV’s The Woods; Mark Waid’s Irredeemable; Sons of Anarchy; and Big Trouble in Little China. Steven Grant’s graphic novel 2 Guns was released as a feature film from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg. BOOM!’s all-ages imprint KaBOOM! publishes Charles Schulz’ Peanuts; Jim Davis’ Garfield; Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time, Regular Show, The Amazing World of Gumball, and Steven Universe; Mike Kunkel’s Herobear and the Kid; and Natasha Allegri’s Bee and PuppyCat. BOOM!’s experimental imprint BOOM! Box publishes The Midas Flesh and Lumberjanes. In June 2013, BOOM! acquired Archaia Entertainment (archaia.com). Archaia is the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning graphic novel publisher of Mouse Guard, Cow Boy, Gunnerkrigg Court, Rust, and Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand. In October 2013, BOOM! Studios entered into a unique first-look relationship with 20th Century Fox, giving the studio access to its library of titles and giving the publisher access to Fox’s vast catalog of films. In August 2014, BOOM! Studios began a similar first-look relationship with 20th Century Fox TV to develop properties for the small screen. Name(required) Email(required) Website Comment(required) Submit Δ