CD Giveaway - 33Miles, "One Life"
Ends Aug 4, 2010
The country-pop sound established in their eponymous debut is a mainstay for this album as well, and even adds a little more southern flavor.
CD Giveaway - Phil Wickham, "Cannons"
Ends Aug 3, 2010
With an opening shot that hits the sonic pinnacle, this collection of spiritual Brit pop/rock is heavily influenced by Keane, Travis, Coldplay, and U2.
When news of Michael Chabon's "Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" reached the ears of comic book fans, they rushed to pick up the extremely hefty and extremely well-written novel of the fictitious life of two comic book creators in the heyday of the Golden Age. And when Chabon won the Pulitzer for the novel, it resounded as a vindication of comics--or, at least, writing about comics.
That it took this long for someone to bring the Escapist--the heroic brainchild of Chabon's protagonists--out of fiction and into the real world of comicdom, is incredible. In fact, it could be argued that the iron is no longer hot for striking; after all, Chabon has already had time to crank out yet another novel in intervening time. But nonetheless, Dark Horse--ever the innovator of the Big Four publishers--has produced this compilation of Escapist adventures.
The only story actually written by Chabon in this anthology is the first one--"The Passing Of The Key"--and is nothing new to those who already know the secret origin of the Master of Elusion. However, artist Eric Wight has fully captured the penciling style of the Golden Age, making the story truly appear as though it could have been done in the early 40s.
The second story features another of the comic characters taken from Chabon's fictional comics, Luna Moth. Continuing with the false documentation (the comic includes text detailing the publication history of the Escapist's adventures), we are made to believe that this Luna Moth story was done by Jim Starlin (it was) during the mid-70s, during Starlin's phenomenal run on Captain Marvel. The pencils are fantastic, but the story is a bit thin. Nearly wordless until the end, the story involves a young girl standing at her mother's graveside. Luna Moth takes the girl into the realm of Death and fights for an opportunity for a brief reunion.
Kevin McCarthy writes the next Escapist adventure, putting the masked marvel into something he cannot escape--jury duty. Drawn by Kyle Baker, "Sequestered" lends itself more to spoof, evoking the humor and style of E-Man or Cracked.
"Are YOu Now Or Have You Ever Been..." is Howard Chaykin's piece. A Joseph McCarthy-esque character is forming an inquisiton to... well, it's not really explained, but it's enough to get the Escapist's attention. Of course, being a Chaykin piece, the story gets a little kinkier than your typical superhero fare. Okay, a lot kinkier. Leather, diapers, blackmail, and attempted murder ensue.
The "Escapegoat" is a two-page filler in the vein of "Casey The Cop." It's semi-cute, but what else can I say about it?
Finally, we're up to "Prison Break," another Kevin McCarthy piece (he wrote and drew the "Escapegoat" piece above), this time joined by Steve Lieber, as they engineer a "reverse escape" for our hero. This time he has to break into prison, to find out what happened to an undercover agent for the Golden Key. It's certainly the work of the Iron Chain... but will the Escapist find another enemy behind bars as well?
It's 80 pages. It's got a colorful stiff cover, square bound. The price is a bit steep--$8.95 at cover--and there are more issues promised. As an introductory issue, I can see this, but if there's to be a successful series, there's going to have to be a change in the price.
When news of Michael Chabon's "Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" reached the ears of comic book fans, they rushed to pick up the extremely hefty and extremely well-written novel of the fictitious life of two comic book creators in the heyday of the Golden Age. And when Chabon won the Pulitzer for the novel, it resounded as a vindication of comics--or, at least, writing about comics.
It's 80 pages. It's got a colorful stiff cover, square bound. The price is a bit steep--$8.95 at cover--and there are more issues promised. As an introductory issue, I can see this, but if there's to be a successful series, there's going to have to be a change in the price.
