Since pretty much every DC comic has become irrelevant thanks to the September reboot, expect a lot more Marvel and independent books for the next couple weeks in the Comic Roundup. Not that that is a bad thing.

Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #1
By Rob Williams and Simone Bianchi

So far, the Fear Itself tie-in books have been a mixed bag. Some, like Iron Man 2.0 and Heroes for Hire, have been the kind of crap you wish you could return to the store. Others, like Journey Into Mystery and Thunderbolts, have been great reads that serve as integral parts of the larger story. But X-Force could easily be the best Fear Itself tie-in series yet. (more…)

Print by Doug Larocca of the Autumn Society

Art is a funny thing. Where one person can see one thing, another might see something completely different. Take the ocean, for example. Some might just see water. Others might see life. Still someone else might see the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Art is all about interpretation and this July Philly will get to see over 40 artists take on the subject of the ocean and water all for a good cause at the From Whence We Came art show.

Running from July 8th to August 10th at Benna’s Café with a reception on Friday July 8, artists from across the country will use a variety of media to make the ocean their own. The show is in support of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Oceana, two charities which are all about protecting the world’s oceans and they will be receiving all the proceeds from the event.

You can find out more on their Facebook page and then you can go check out some great art for a great cause.

Benna’s Cafe
1236 South 8th Street (19147)
(215) 334-1502
www.bennascafe.com

This week in the Roundup we check in on the Dream Eater Saga in the pages of the Neverland one shot, celebrate the return of Magdalena to the comic racks and see how the Secret Avengers are doing at staying a secret.

Magdalena #7
By Ron Marz and Keu Cha

With Top Cow’s attention firmly on Artifacts and Witchblade, Magdalena has kind of slipped through the cracks. The book has been shipping late for a while now and most readers seemed to have forgotten about the title and the character, myself included. Thankfully, this month’s issue is a perfect way to get reacquainted with the Church’s main enforcer. (more…)

As everyone knows, we are in the middle of one of the worst recessions in history right now. Jobs are disappearing at an alarming rate and most businesses are trying to figure out how to cope. One of the few fields that has seen only a minor bump has been the video game industry. For the most part sales have remained strong and developers are still hiring game designers and artists to work on their next big project.

That is why it is so important (and cool) that Pennsylvania Senator Daylin Leach has introduced a video game tax credit bill in the Senate. If passed, it would create a 25% tax credit for video game companies that are based right here in PA and it would be an important first step toward bringing new jobs and video game developers to the city of Philadelphia. Plus it would be a great help to allow game existing studios already in Philly to expand and grow.

So how can you help this become a reality? First, spread the word. For this to work it has to go beyond just the geek culture and enter the mainstream. Second, contact the representative for your area and let them know you want this bill passed. You can find out how to accomplish this here.

This will go a long way toward making this a reality and making Philly the next “it” place to develop and create video games. Wouldn’t it be awesome to say that the next Halo or Gears of War was made right here in Philadelphia?

VGI Philadelphia
www.vgiphilly.com

Friend of Geekadelphia Britt Miller has long been a staple of the Philadelphia art scene.

Her amazing work can be found around the city on almost any First Friday and now can be seen on her brand new website. There you can check out a full gallery of her remarkable works, read her blog and find out where her work is going to be exhibited next.

It should be your first stop to get the complete story on one of Philadelphia’s premier local artists.

Britt Miller
www.brittmillerart.com

This week in the Roundup, The Death of Spider-Man concludes, the new id Software game Rage gets a prequel comic and Image brings us the best book of the week, All Nighter.

All Nighter #1
By David Hahn

I am a huge fan of slice of life stories. Books like Strangers in Paradise or The New York Four are a great way to break up the monotony of reading so many super hero comics week after week. The problem is that many of them read the same because they all use similar stereotypes that can become tiresome after awhile. But then comes a book like All Nighter that makes the whole genre look new again.

The book is the story of Kit Bradley and the diner she and her friends call the All Nighter. In Kit, Hahn has created a character that is pretty far removed from most of the female leads I have seen in comics like this. First, she is a small time criminal who thinks it is okay to lie and second, she may or may not have killed her mother. Hahn writes a completely convincing character here that you could run into on any given night in the city. His art is done in a simple style that fits the mood of the book perfectly.

Image has been on quite a tear lately of producing great titles that offer a respite from the world of men in tights. All Nighter can head to the top of the list and is a “must read” as far as I’m concerned. (more…)

While Wizard World Philadelphia is now known as a place where you can meet your favorite pop culture icons and the stars of the latest sci-fi television shows, it wasn’t always that way. Way back when, Wizard World used to be all about the comic books.

DC, Marvel, Image and all the bigger comic book companies would have huge, lavish booths where they would give away swag, writers and artists would do signings, and they would sell variant covers to the latest titles. I remember one year where the Crossgen booth was a wonder to behold.

Unfortunately, Marvel, DC and most other publishers have since abandoned Wizard World, deciding to spend their time and money elsewhere. The result it that the convention has become something of a spotlight for small press and indie companies and that the dealers area is now a mass of ½ price trade paperbacks and $1 and 50 cent comic boxes.

What surprised me this year was that the $1 comic boxes seemed to have much better stuff in them than in years past. I can remember spending hours going through tables of longboxes to only find titles like U.S.1, Sleepwalker and Fate, loads of books from Valiant, and the thousands of unsold issues of Warriors of Plasm. But this year I found loot like the three part Return to New York storyline from volume 1 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jim Lee’s first X-Men work in Uncanny X-Men # 256 and 257 and early issues from Grant Morrison’s run on Doom Patrol. Not exactly what you would normally call dollar bin material.

I really think this speaks to the fact that the days when back issues were actually worth something is coming to an end. Pretty much anything published after 1980 is now available in trade paperbacks and the individual issues just aren’t worth that much. Why pay sky high prices for an issue of Avengers when you can just buy the trade? And it is only going to get worse as more comics become available digitally.

What does this mean? In a nutshell, if you are looking to complete that run of Green Arrow or need only 5 issues to have every comic book with West Coast Avengers in the title, Wizard World was the place to do it this year. I know I found some great stuff and can’t wait to see what next year brings.

New Hope, PA!

With social media becoming a huge part of people’s lives, it was only a matter of time until someone came up with a way to make a game of it. Social games, as they are called, have become the latest trend used by companies and organizations to involve their target audiences and make them feel like they are part of the action.

And now the Bucks County Tourism Office is joining the fun with their new social game Unforgetaways.

Running through Labor Day, Unforgetaways is a social game using platforms such as Twitter and Foursquare to engage with visitors to the area. People who want to participate just set out to finish certain tasks and then they can win prizes.

Some tasks are as simple as using Foursquare to check in at Peddler’s Village in Lahaska and post a photo online. You can then win an iPod Touch, overnight stays in the Bucks County area or tickets to Sesame Place. Not bad for doing something a lot of us were doing already.

The promotion is a first for the region and a very forward thinking idea. It’s nice to know that not only are there so many things to do right in our backyard, but that we can use our social media skills to win free stuff at the same time.

Visit Bucks County’s website for more information.

For this week’s Roundup, there was precious little that came out that was worth reading, much less spending money on (other than a new Walking Dead trade) so with that in mind I give you the first “What to avoid this week” Comic Roundup!

Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #1
By Adam Glass and Rodney Buchemi

I know, I know. Last week in my review of Emperor Aquaman, I said how reading anything to do with Flashpoint seemed like a waste of time given the impending September DC reboot.

But I always loved the old “Super Friends” cartoon so any book with Legion of Doom in the title I will automatically give a look. How I wish that wasn’t the case.

Unfortunately, the only thing this book has to do with the Legion of Doom in the distinct looking, mushroom shaped headquarters, which serves as a prison in the Flashpoint universe. Other than the fact that Glass ripped the idea off from Kingdom Come, there is so much else wrong with this comic I don’t know where to begin.

(more…)

Raven Gregory is best known as one of the lead writers and Executive Editor of Zenescope’s ever expanding line of horror comics. This summer he is writing the company’s first line wide crossover, The Dream Eater Saga as well as finishing the first arc of the new series Grimm Fairy Tales: Myths and Legends. So it is truly incredible that with all of that going on, he also found the time to launch his newest creator owned series, Fly.

Fly is the story of three teenagers and their addiction to a new drug that gives them superpowers. And if you are thinking this is some set-up for a new hero in tights series, think again. Gregory is using his own experiences to tell a powerful story about drug addiction and what it can cost you.

(more…)

This week in the Comic Roundup we review the new Image series Screamland, the Kilowog Green Lantern movie prequel and the Flashpoint tie-in book Emperor Aquaman.

Screamland #1
By Harold Sipe, Christopher Sebela and Lee Leslie

Imagine if every movie monster was real. The Wolfman, Frankenstein, the Blob, all living, breathing people. Now imagine they are all out of work due to the advance of green screen special effects and CGI. What would become of them?

They would all be living in Los Angeles, eeking out a living on the sci-fi convention circuit and doing porn. That is the… interesting premise behind the new series Screamland from Image Comics.

Screamland opens with the death of the one time big screen monster Devil Fish and the discovery of a secret sex tape that promises to rock the world of those involved. Carl, a wolfman, and Travis, a c-level movie star, set out to stop the airing of the tape and it ruining their careers, such as they are. (more…)

In this age of YouTube and the internet, pretty much anyone can put together a show and release it to the masses. It is part of what has given so many people an outlet for their creative energy that normally wouldn’t have one. One of the funniest I have seen in a while is Underbelly which, as writer Newt Wallen says “we try to make it nerdy but also keep the comedy high”.

Underbelly is part sketch comedy, part infotainment, all geeky. When I asked about how the group comes up with ideas Wallen replied “Episodes are more or less based on our conversations while watching movies or sitting at a diner. Each of us writes what we know.”

Subjects range from the top sexual Pokemon, the biggest nerd letdowns and reports from places like Wizard World and the My Little Pony Fair. And as a bonus, most episodes are filled in the Philly/South Jersey area since “We know actors and locations so we can get people to come along with us on these dumb adventures”.

Underbelly is some seriously funny stuff. You can watch all the episodes on their YouTube channel and follow them at all the usual social media places.

Underbelly
www.youtube.com/underbellyshow