This series, a collision of comedy, sex, and violence, follows the misadventures of America’s most dysfunctional family as they go head-to-severed head with an Oprah-loving ax murderer, a cult-crazy soap opera star, and a neo-Nazi prison gang.
First issue: Todd wants desperately to make friends, but every kid he approaches winds up decapitated. Or worse. Meanwhile, Todd’s mother is on a mission to get even with her husband who she believes is having an affair.

Todd, The Ugliest Kid On Earth is a new four issue series with a story by M.K. Perker and Ken Kristensen. The issue is written by Kristensen with art and letters from Perker. Cemal Soyleyen joins the duo by providing colors. Todd is an odd new book, but is it worth checking out?

A new family is moving into their new home when Todd, the ugliest kid on Earth, comes over to try and make friends with the nice little Korean girl. Todd frightens most other children his age because he walks around with a giant paper bag covering his face. But Todd is a nice, sweet kid who just wants to make a friend. That’s hard to do when Mike, the neighborhood bully, and his gang roll up on the scene to harass Todd and cause him to get into trouble. Mike is the little devil that bullies everyone but uses his silver tongue to talk his way into the good graces of the adults. Back at home Todd has to deal with his drunken father and inattentive mother. While watching the news, the family learns of an axe murderer on the loose who targets children. While the news report tells parents to keep their children inside, Todd’s mom wants him to take out the trash…in the rain…with an axe murderer in the area. You might be able to guess what happens. That sets off the comedy of misunderstanding that ensues.

Perker and Kristensen have a truly unique story on their hands. This odd, politically incorrect, and wacky story features a cast of messed up characters and humor that should hook any reader. While it’s hard to say there’s anything quite like Todd, the nearest compression would be something along the lines of The Maxx and The Oblongs. The art is absolutely amazing. Perker along with Soyleyen’s colors make a beautiful book. I mean this as a huge compliment, but it looks similar to what you would see in a children’s book. You have some cartoony looking art with bright and vivid colors. The backgrounds are fantastic and the characters are slightly exaggerated in their face, size, and features.

Bottom Line: Todd, the Ugliest Kid on Earth is a fantastic book like no other. This oddball story features slightly risqué humor with fantastic art. Perker and Kristense have a lot to live up to with the remaining three issues. If it’s anything like the first issue, we’re in for a great ride 5/5

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Advance Review: Todd, The Ugliest Kid On Earth #1

• It’s off to Jotunheim, the land of the Frost Giants as Bruce Banner and his lab team embark on an all-new secret mission for S.H.I.E.L.D! Caught trespassing by the local natives, they’re going to need the help of the mighty Avenger, Thor!

Waid is excited to get Simonson on the book and having the legendary artist draw Thor again. While Thor will be showing up, the question should be which Thor is showing up? Waid makes an interesting  statement about the Thor we’ll be seeing:

Why on Earth would you have the amazing Walt Simonson aboard and NOT ask him to draw Thor? The teasing question is–which Thor will we be seeing? Banner and his team of assistants build a portal to Jotunheim, land of the Frost Giants, in order to obtain a rare metal there–but in doing so, they may have accomplished something totally unforeseen!

While we’ll have to wait and see exactly what Waid means, Simonson touched on revisiting the world of Thor and how he goes about tackling the Hulk:

It’s been interesting drawing Thor and not writing him. (laughs) I like what Mark’s been asking me to draw a lot, and he has kindly allowed me to kibitz a little. My earliest work on Thor was done pretty much the same way when I did layouts for Len Wein to write on the Thor title in the 70s. I also got to draw Thor in some of the Brian Bendis Avengers recently. I’ve found it’s been a lot of fun for me to go back and revisit the old boy again.

Regarding the drawing the Hulk and Thor, there’s an essential difference in their natures I try to reflect in the figure work.
I’ve approached drawing the Hulk with a certain ‘wildness’, since he is essentially a ‘monster’ who is the unfettered version of a mortal. The shapes that make up his figure as well as the actual lines used to define those shapes can be far less restrained that they might otherwise be for a more ordinary character. In other words, the drawing technique itself is meant to suggest the limitless quality of the Hulk’s fury and power. And because of his ‘monstrous’ nature, the Hulk’s figure and face don’t require the kind of symmetry that a character like Thor needs in order to be handsome within the context of the comic. I’m also inspired by the earliest versions of the Hulk by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko where there seems to me to have been a nod to the Karloff Frankenstein monster of the early Universal horror films. All of which means I can pack a lot into my drawings to try to capture some reflection of the Hulk’s wild nature.

If you want to check out the full interview with Waid and Simonson click here. It will be exciting to see Simonson taking on Thor again. The artist did some incredibly work with the thunder god back in the day, so having him return to draw again mixed in with it being a Hulk book makes this a must get. What do you think about Simonson’s return? From what Mark Waid said do you think we’ll get a big twist with the Thor story?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Waid And Simonson Talk Indestructible Hulk

Time for the new 52 to enter the multiverse.  With Earth 2, we have the first big look into another universe in the DC multiverse.  If only I could say that our first trip to Earth 2 was better.

Earth 2 #1 is really one big fight.  It might not focus much on the heroes of this book, but it does lay the groundwork for the rest of the series.  James Robinson gives the big fight an epic feel, which makes the rest of the issue hit that much harder.  But where most of these characters (spoilers) don’t survive the issue, most of the issue seems like a moot point.  The fight would have worked better if it didn’t take up two-thirds of the issue.  Another idea would have been to keep the fact that these characters were going to die.  Robinson does a good job of making these characters similar to their Earth 1 counterparts, but differentiates them enough to warrant this book.  The few small changes add up to make the reader want to read more of these characters.  Another bad decision was having two of the most interesting characters fly off to another book.  It’s never good to say “See their adventure in (insert title)!”  It really puts the reader off and seems like a cheap way to gain more money.

Robinson has his work cut out for him for next month.  The book sets up one hero, but that is really it.  To see most of the people who appear in this book, you have to go to World’s Finest #1.  The purpose of a #1 is to bring new readers in and keep them here.  Dial H did that well, and most of the new 52 did that well.  So what happened here?  This issue will work great in the long run, as it’s just one step in a long walkway of a story.  Jay, the one hero who is shown, is sympathetic, and one of the reasons that most readers will be back for #2 next month.  This book has a lot of press behind it, so it will no doubt sell a lot of copies.  But if Robinson want’s this book to be a hit to both the critics and fans, he needs to improve the pacing of the story.

One shining point of the issue though is Nicola Scott.  Her pencils are beautiful.  And while the fight lasts way to long, it does give Scott plenty of panel space to pencil a huge fight.  The action scenes help sell the epic feel that Robinson is going for.  It’s clear in the character’s eyes that they know they won’t be surviving the battle.  While Jim Lee designed the costumes, Scott pencils them nice.  When doing alternate reality stories, it’s always best to change the costumes slightly.  If you change them to much, it sours the story to a degree.  Because the costume represents the character, and if the costume is wildly different, the reader thinks the character is wildly different.  But these strike the nice balance of new, but also similar

Earth 2 #1 could have been a hell of a lot better, but it also could have been worse.  It’s a book to watch in the future, to see if it’s quality improves.

Earth 2 #1 gets 3/5.

MrComicBook, Earth 2 #1 Review

Upon its debut as a webcomic in December of 2009, Axe Copwas instantly hailed by the entertainment press as a hit.

“The new Axe Cop miniseries President of the World is a follow-up to Bad Guy Earth. It picks up right where Bad Guy Earth leaves off, when Axe Cop is made the president of all presidents,”

said Ethan.

Axe Cop has been appointed president of the whole world! But what will Axe Cop and his friends do in a world with no bad guys? Look to defeat the bad guys from outer space, of course! Axe Cop is commander in chief of hilarious adventures as only a kid could imagine.

“This miniseries, much like Bad Guy Earth, was created during a monthlong visit with Malachai. It includes a lot of new characters, good and bad. It’s apocalyptic and charming just like a good Axe Cop comic should be. Obviously, way back when we wrote Bad Guy Earth we did not plan for an Axe Cop comic about his presidency to come out right in the middle of the elections, but that is what happened. Perfect timing,”

Ethan explained.

“I think anyone who loves Axe Cop will love this one. I really tried to make it a continuation from the last miniseries and not a ‘sequel’ that tries to top the last one. Malachai and I had a blast making it.”

Praise for Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth:

“So engaging that you can’t help but read this book all in one sitting.”—IGN.com

Axe Cop: President of the World #1 is on sale July 25, 2012!

wolverinept, Axe Cop For President 2012!

Who will Batman kill to save his own daughter? Right out of the gate that should tell you we’re dealing with a different kind of Dark Knight here. More ruthless, dangerous…the costume is familiar and yeah, there is a Wayne under the mask, but we’re looking at a man desperate to save the only family he has left. EARTH 2 is about to become a very bad place to be a bad guy.

And of course, what is Batman without Robin. Earth 2 writer James Robinson and World’s Finest editor Wil Moss speak on this particular Robin:

Helena Wayne has been taught how to be the perfect Robin. Assured as a detective, fighter, scientist, pilot and all around crime-fighter she’s been groomed by Batman to be the perfect caped manhunter (or should we say manHuntress) when she grows up.

Before coming to the main DCU Earth and taking up the mantle of Huntress, Helena Wayne fought crime alongside her father as the Robin to his Batman on Earth-2! But how did she come to be on this Earth? And why did she decide to become Huntress? You’ll get some clues in next week’s HUNTRESS #6, but for the real scoop, pick up WORLDS’ FINEST #1!”

Also featured will be Supergirl and Wonder Woman. Supergirl’s story will feature on her true motives and an incident that prompts her to take on the identity of Power Girl. Wonder Woman is teased as the last of the Amazons due to the events opening Earth 2 and she is out for revenge at any cost. We delve into the mystery about how she became the last Amazon.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, DC Earth 2 Character Sketches And Info

We’ve also got word that Spider-Man will have some back-up in the form of The Avengers. Earth’s Mightiest will be their to offer support to their teammate as he faces off against the Sinister Six.

The next big Spider-Man epic begins in Amazing Spider-Man #682, part one of Ends Of The Earth, by Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli! The Sinister Six, led by the vengeful Doctor Octopus, is back and they’re looking for revenge! Can Spider-Man & Earth’s Mightiest save the world before Doc Ock’s explosive endgame is revealed? Find in Amazing Spider-Man #682 hitting comic shops and the Marvel Comics app this March!”

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Spider-Man Is In A World Of Hurt In Five New Ends Of The Earth Teasers

The next big Spider-Man epic begins in Amazing Spider-Man #682, part one of Ends Of The Earth, by Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli! The Sinister Six, led by the vengeful Doctor Octopus, is back and they’re looking for revenge! Can Spider-Man & Earth’s Mightiest save the world before Doc Ock’s explosive endgame is revealed? Find in Amazing Spider-Man #682 hitting comic shops and the Marvel Comics app this March!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #682
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #682 DELLOTTO VARIANT
Written by DAN SLOTT
Pencils & Cover by STEFANO CASELLI
Variant Cover by GABRIELE DELL’OTTO
Colors by FRANK MARTIN JR.

Johnathan Smith, Spider-Man Battles It Out With Doc Ock In The Latest Teaser For ENDS OF THE EARTH

Thanks to Modern Mythology Press’s Eric M. Esquivel and the gang at Tucson’s sensational comic book store chain, Heroes and Villains, we have compiled five of the greatest comic book romances of all time. Here We go!!

SUPERMAN AND LOIS LANE

Of course I had to talk about this lovely couple…

Supes and Lois! The Man of Steel and Metropolis’s own news scoop chasin’ sweetheart… Life, secret identities revealed, death, resurrection! marriage!! KIDS!! This couple has seen it all… From the earlier days when Clark Kent first strode into the Daily Planet, aced his interview and totally OWNED the Daily Planet’s(if not, the ENTIRE Earth’s) title record for fastest typist for a reporter gig, Lois still saw Kent as nothing more than a small town boy fish-out of-water and stern competition for the big scoops.. As his alter/true blue boy ego starts making waves across town and the world, Lois gets hungry for the exclusive story on him and ends getting more than she bargained for… Adventure with a hero she falls for (and him for her) that plays into a tangled web of conflicts and battles with everyone from Lex Luthor, to Livewire, Darkseid and more…all the while growing closer to each other. Yes folks! It is an obvious pick but one of necessity! Com’on..them not getting a mention is like Hawkman or Hawkgirl without wings….

- DocBBanner

——-

Which leads into our next entry….

HAWKMAN AND HAWKGIRL

There’s no shortage of stellar romances in comics, but my personal favorite has to be  Hawkman and Hawkwoman.  Hands down.

They’re a pair of cursed souls, damned to be reborn time and time again–only to die violently at the hands of their immortal foe Hath-Set before they can grow old together.

It may seem macabre at first, but the beautiful thing about the books is that Prince Khufu and Princess Chay-Ara don’t waste all of their waking hours lamenting their fate.  They take the bad with the good, and they recognize that the promise of impermanence only makes the time they share more precious.

That’s life.  That’s love.

- Eric M. Esquivel

——-

YORICK and AGENT 355, Y: THE LAST MAN

I’m going to have to take the non-superhero route on this one and go with Yorick and Agent 355 from Y: The Last Man.  The last guy on earth and his body guard and of course, how could they not fall in love? 

355 travels across the world with him, helps save his monkey, talks him out of suicide, knits him a scarf, and then falls for him.  It was created and worked at through an understanding of eachother and their inner demons, desires, hopes, and dreams.  It’s not fairytale, it’s real life.  So thats a happy ending, right?

Wrong.

They realize their feelings and tell eachother just in time for 355 be sniped in the head–A reminder for us never to stuff our feelings down, we should embrace them because the next second or hour or day that someone could be gone.  The fear of rejection or it not being the right time should never be so paralyzing that nothing is ever said.

- Matt Warnstedt

——

BATMAN AND CATWOMAN

Batman & Catwoman…because, duh, Catwoman!!!

But yes, all joking aside, it’s the classic opposites attract scenario…and I myself being married to an opposite, I can see the connection, and the amazing nature of that connection, quite easily. For all his calculated tendencies, Catwoman makes no sense for Bruce, and he makes no sense for her need for out of control adventure, but their love allows them to fulfill a need that they themselves cannot.

- Mike Camp

——-

SPIDERMAN, PETER PARKER AND GWEN STACY

Here’s what I see as the greatest love in comics:  Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy.

This is a love that has not only stood the test of time, but, also stood the test of marriage. Before Marvel did their reboot of Spider-Man and made him single (essentially divorcing him from Mary-Jane Watson), I always believed that he had one true love.

Yes, he was married to Mary-Jane, but I know that there was one love for Peter. One that even MJ had to understand. Nothing stays with you like your first love, and no one will ever resonate in Peter the way Gwen Stacy did or has.

- Robert Acosta

As Eric said, that is life…  that is love.  In the comics..

See you all next time!!

DocBBanner, Top 5 All Time Best Comic Book Romances!

#1 in Sci-Fi

#1 in Fantasy

#1 in Historical Fantasy

#7 in Hot New Releases

#41 of ALL ITEMS in the kindle store

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 24, 2012

$14.95 print; $7.99 digital; AmazonEncore

 

SYNOPSIS

The author Arwen Dayton

Five thousand years ago, the Kinley built a ship capable of traveling faster than light. It carried a group of scientists to the distant planet Earth with a single mission: peaceful observation. But when the ship was destroyed, the crew found themselves stranded in Egypt during the reign of the pharaohs. With no way home, they buried their technology deep beneath the desert and sent a last desperate message into the stars…

 

Today the Kinley homeworld hovers on the brink of extinction. An enemy that nearly obliterated their race has risen again—now with the ability to destroy them for good. A lone Kinley soldier named Pruit is sent on a desperate mission:  she must follow the ancient beacon back to Earth and recover the secrets to faster-than-light travel.

 

 

Spanning five millennia and vast reaches of space, Resurrection transports readers on an astonishing quest that will forever alter the fate of two extraordinary worlds.

 

Agent Burgos, RESURRECTION By Arwen Dayton Its #1 On AMAZON!

The story switches back and forth between two narratives: Tony battling his way through a series of challenges on a prison planet and Quibit and Modeus on a mission to find Tony. As the two parties are drawn together we learn more about Tony’s powers and the obsession Modeus has for him.

My favorite part of this book is all the battles and strange alien creatures. Tony quickly gets his focus back and assembles a team of intergalactic nasties. While the appearance of Quibit gives Tony the one thing that doesn’t bode well for Earth: a way home.

I’ve always enjoyed Krause’s work on this series, but the art team really excels this issue. Each level of Tony’s journey is populated with alien terrain and creatures. The art adapts to each level and the strange creatures wonderfully. Visually entertaining with a great script. Love this series!

Yogikai, REVIEW: Irredeemable vol. 7 by Mark Waid & Peter Krause

Leading into the next big story arc for each member of Earth’s Mightiest, no fan can miss these emotionally charged issues that will change these heroes forever. Shattered Heroes starts here!

• FEAR ITSELF #7.1 (SEP110497)
• Written by ED BRUBAKER
• Pencils & Cover by BUTCH GUICE
• FOC – 10/10/11, ON SALE – 11/2/11

• FEAR ITSELF #7.2 (SEP110499)
• Written by MATT FRACTION
• Pencils & Cover by ADAM KUBERT
• FOC – 10/17/11, ON SALE – 11/9/11

• FEAR ITSELF #7.3 (SEP110501)
• Written by MATT FRACTION
• Pencils & Cover by SALVADOR LARROCA
• FOC – 10/24/11, ON SALE – 11/16/11

Comic Book Therapy, Marvel Reveals Big Changes After Fear Itself; Teases Shattered Heroes!