If you grew up during the ’80s and early ’90s (you know — before it was cool to be a geek), you probably remember hearing that video games (and rap, and metal, and Dungeons & Dragons) were all tools of the devil. But what if there were some truth to those rumors? What if those old school cartridge games really were, literally, portals to hell, capable of unleashing a zombie apocalypse? Then you might end up with something like Underbelly’s upcoming comic Nerds Girls Guns & Ghouls, described as “Retro gaming meets the grindhouse” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. Evil Dead.”

Underbelly, for readers who don’t know, is a South Jersey-based review and skit comedy crew who draw their inspiration from video games, comic books, the Internet and all aspects of geek culture. Underbelly has enjoyed huge success, garnering over 25,000 YouTube subscribers, a legion of Facebook fans and weekly video posts that have accumulated over 1.3 million total views. Sounds like Underbelly’s onto something here — and what better to celebrate than with a comic book?

Nerds Girls Guns & Ghouls is an homage to the geek culture Underbelly loves: Despite rumors that an old ’80s game, Castle Quest, has the ability to open a portal to hell, the Underbelly team plays the cartridge they mysteriously receive in the mail, unleashing a zombie apocalypse that can be stopped only with guns and scantily-clad women. (Don’t worry, ladies; this is a “wink, wink, nudge, nudge” kind of deal. I think.) With punchy dialogue and gorgeous artwork — a mix of standard comic art, manga and 8 bit graphics — Nerds Girls Guns & Ghouls looks to be a blast. Unholy video games and geeks with shotguns slaying zombies — what more could you want?

To scope out some of the artwork, visit the comic’s official Facebook page. We can’t wait to get our hands on this!

This week I review and dissect the first issue if the newest Image series Alpha Girl, the latest addition to the world of Captain America, Winter Soldier and a preview of the beginning of the Star Wars universe in Star Wars – Dawn of the Jedi. All in this week’s Comic Roundup!

Alpha Girl #1
By Jeff Roenning and Robert Love

As the year goes on, I’m starting to realize that if you want a diverse, fun line up of titles month in and month out, Image is the place to be. From The Walking Dead to The Strange Talent of Luther Strode to the resurrection of the Extreme Universe, Image literally has a book for anybody. It continues this month with the launch of Alpha Girl, a different look at the apocalypse. (more…)

On this month’s episode of the Geekadelphia Podcast Jo and Dan tackle some Oscar nominations, and sit down with Tony Trov and Johnny Zito of South Fellini.

For a direct download of the podcast, right click and save as this file.

The 2012 Oscars:
oscar.go.com

South Fellini:
www.southfellini.com
www.twitter.com/SOUTHfellini
alphagirlsmovie.tumblr.com

Reel 9 Productions:
www.reel9productions.com

Theme Music by Chipocrite:
www.chipocrite.com

Follow Jo Pincushion: @jopincushion
Follow Dan: @danthefan

It seems that over the last year, one of the key themes in comics has been diversity. Whether it is more female creators in comics or the cancellation of titles featuring non-white, non-male characters, fandom wants a more diverse superhero universe.

Unfortunately, they seem to be shouting into a vacuum as nothing really appears to be changing. Thankfully, there are organizations such as the Asian Arts Initiative to show us where we have been in regard to ethnic characterizations in comics and the possibilities of where we are going.

Starting Feb. 3rd and running through March 23rd, they will be presenting the exhibition Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986. In it they will be showcasing how Asian-Americans have been portrayed over the last four decades in comics and graphic novels.

Highlighting the good and the bad, Gayle Isa, executive director of the Asian Arts Initiative, says “Marvels & Monsters illustrates how images of Asian-Americans have influenced contemporary culture. It’s exciting for the Asian Arts Initiative to bring this show to Philadelphia, as an opportunity for our community to reflect on the stories we want to tell and consider ways we can affect future perceptions.”

In addition, the show will also showcase work be Asian-American creators working in the medium today. It will include work by Larry Hama, David Henry Hwang, Naomi Hirahara, Genny Lim, Greg Pak and many more. The idea is to demonstrate how the representation of Asian-Americans in comics has changed and evolved over time.

So if this sounds like something that would interest you (and why wouldn’t it), check out the website for more information and get ready to learn why every superhero doesn’t need to look like Superman.

The Asian Arts Initiative
1219 Vine St., Philadelphia
www.asianartsinitiative.org

Mark L. Miller might not be a name you’re familiar with yet, but this March that will all change as he and Zenescope Entertainment bring us the latest Grimm Fairy Tales miniseries, The Jungle Book. Mark was nice enough to answer a few questions about himself, what fans can expect from his take on The Jungle Book and what it’s like to be the new kid on the block at Philly’s own Zenescope Entertainment.

Tell us a bit about yourself. You’re an editor at Ain’t It Cool News, correct?

Yes, I still do edit and occasionally still review on Ain’t It Cool as Ambush Bug and have been providing horror and comic book related content for them for over ten years on my weekly AICN COMICS and AICN HORROR columns. I don’t plan on leaving any time soon either, just possibly shifting my role more to editing than reviewing as the demands on writing increase.

I also practice expressive therapy at a residential home for boys and girls in Northern Chicago and have been doing that for about a decade. And then I teach expressive therapy in the grad program at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago as well. Over the last few years, I’ve written some comics; LUNA: ORDER OF THE WEREWOLF for Famous Monsters Magazine and VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS and NANNY & HANK for Bluewater (which was just optioned to be made into a film for 2013).

What is it like to join the ranks of Zenescope as their newest writer?

Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco and Raven Gregory have been great to work with. They are extremely supportive of my writing and have encouraged me to do my best (which I hope I’m doing). They have built a really fun company and so far, it’s been nothing but great as far as my collaboration with them on THE JUNGLE BOOK. (more…)

Ever since 2007, Zenescope and writer Raven Gregory have been taking readers down the rabbit hole to visit Wonderland, easily one of the most disturbing titles of their Grimm Fairy Tales Universe. Up until now we have seen this place through the eyes of Alice’s daughter Calie and the other inhabitants of Wonderland, always returning scared out of our minds and a little worse for wear.

But now Zenescope is finally going back to the beginning and showing us how the story began in the new Alice in Wonderland miniseries. Gregory again returns as writer and brings with him Robert Gill on art. Together they finally show us what led Alice down the rabbit hole in the first place, why she stayed and what happened there that scarred her for life like it did.

It is pretty much a given that if Zenescope is going to publish something with Wonderland in the title, Raven Gregory is going to be writing it. In Alice in Wonderland #1, he somehow manages to show us Wonderland through a new set of eyes and make the place seem original and fresh. We already know what will happen to Alice, but you get caught up in the story and want to see what will happen next, even though you just know it won’t be anything good. It’s like watching a really scary movie; you watch through your fingers because you can’t look away. Alice in Wonderland will give you that same feeling.

On the original Wonderland trilogy, Gregory worked with artist Daniel Leister, who through his amazing work defined what Wonderland and its inhabitants should look like and gave the place it’s creepy as hell vibe. For Alice in Wonderland, Robert Gill steps into these massive shoes and somehow knocks it out of the park. If you need proof, just wait until you see Gill’s version of the Cheshire Cat. It is ferocious, intimidating and looks just a little bit like the Disney version everyone knows so well. His Alice is sexy yet strong and he uses some really unique panel layouts that fit a book like Wonderland like a glove.

Alice in Wonderland has been a long time coming. I guess it was inevitable that Zenescope would return to the beginning at some point to tell how the story began; I just didn’t think it would be this good. Join Alice down the rabbit hole and get scared again for the first time.

Zenescope has given us not only a copy of Alice in Wonderland #1 to give away to one lucky Geekadelphia reader, but a copy of the Return to Wonderland trade paperback that started it all as well. Leave a comment and we’ll pick a random winner at the end of next week. Please make sure to leave an e-mail address with your comment and books can only be sent to addresses in the United States and Canada.

This week in the Roundup I review the latest issue of Captain America & Bucky, the return of Nancy in Hell from Image and the second half of IDW’s new era of Transformers comics in Transformers: Robots in Disguise.

Captain America & Bucky #626
By James Asmus, Ed Brubaker and Francesco Francavilla

With all the attention firmly on Ed Brubaker’s new Captain America title, it’s easy to forget that the renamed Captain America & Bucky has continued the original numbering and has been presenting some pretty good Cap and Bucky stories of its own. With the addition of Francavilla on the art and Asmus as co-writer, the book went from just good to outright awesome. (more…)

For this week’s Roundup we read and review the new issues of the Avengers and Uncanny X-Men from Marvel and Red Hood & the Outlaws from DC. Sit back and enjoy the show.

Red Hood & the Outlaws #5
By Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort

One of the few “second tier” New 52 titles I’m still reading, Red Hood & the Outlaws thus far has been an entertaining, if somewhat shallow, book. Lobdell seems to be taking his time setting up what this series is going to be about and has given no clues in the first 4 issues. My love for the Red Hood and Rocafort’s amazing art is what has kept me around this long, but with issue #5 I might finally be getting the payoff. (more…)

Most of the time when I’m trying to dodge actually doing any real work during the day you can find me buried in any number of webcomics.

One local Philadelphian has been penning the fantastic Guilded Age every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for a while now, and I had the chance to catch up with him after hearing that his book had been featured in Previews.

For those who aren’t acquainted with you and your work, who is Phil Kahn?

A guy trying to become a career weirdo. A careerdo, if you will. I’m from Silver Spring, Maryland, but I moved here to attend Temple for Film & Media Arts. After I graduated, I decided to try and make it in Philly with no real career prospects or any sort of a plan after college besides “get a job that hopefully resembles my degree in the vaguest sense.”

I did want to do both film and comics for a while, but the honest truth is that the actual process of shooting a movie is too involved for me. Too many cooks in the kitchen, too many hands on deck, too many schedules to manage and just… blagh. I liked writing and editing most of all, so I decided to say screw it and pursue comics exclusively. I’ve been doing webcomics for eight years now, and I’ve been doing good webcomics for two.

Right, Guilded Age. Bring us up to speed, what’s GA all about?

Guilded Age is the saga of the working class adventurer. Most fantasy fiction is about heroes of destiny who are chosen by something this one time by a bunch of guys to do a thing that saves everyone from some other thing. I wanted to take a hard look at what it’s like to be any other adventurer in that universe: a regular working joe with personal ambitions in addition to world-saving ones.

Arkerra is a land where war approaches and industry grows, and the area of opportunity for our sword-wielding independent contractors gets narrower. So they get on the crown’s payroll, and become the Peace-Makers of Gastonia, dishing out diplomacy and justice in equal amounts. But over time, the gang has been starting to wonder just whose side they ought to be fighting for.

We’ve got a brilliant cast of characters and have sought out to embrace the best tropes while weeding out the worst, giving our story a unique, quirky flavor that gets you wanting to know more.

Very cool. I’m sure it’s not a solo effort; tell me about the rest of the team behind Guilded Age.

I’ve been co-writing with T Campbell of Faans and Penny and Aggie since day one, and we have a pretty good system going where we’re able to tear each others’ work apart viciously and still remain great friends. Erica Henderson was our original artist, and did the illustration for our first volume.

She left us for greener pastures developing Facebook games, and she has our blessing forevermore. John Waltrip was then tapped to jump on board, and has since been owning it with his mastery of action and detail. Having a staff of three is pretty damn handy, because you can always call in the third guy to settle an argument that won’t end.

Word on the street is you’ve got a book?

The book is out and available on our website, but we just made it into Previews catalog which is kind of a big deal for us, and causing my fingernails to be devoured on a daily basis. It’s my first real break, big or small, and I’m hoping a whole bunch of people go to their local comic shop and tell them “we want Guilded Age!”

What’s that process like for a webcomic creator? How tough is it to make the jump to being published like that?

The only difficulty that comes in being a webcomic creator is not giving up. If you’re new to the scene and you’re not already God-tier talent, you’re going to have work really hard for a long time before you start to get noticed, gain an audience and make a business out of it. And we’ve been very, very lucky to have great friends and fans who help spread the word about our little yarn.

“Being published” is getting more vague in definition, because self-publishing is more viable than it’s ever been. We had our own book printed and sell it at cons and the website. Last year at our “home con,” Intervention, we were extremely fortunate for one of the staff members to approach us and say “Give me a copy of your book so I can put it in stores everywhere.”

So yeah, it’s one part luck and one part hard work. But you won’t get the good luck if you haven’t been working hard.

So, when you’re not working on Guilded Age where else can we find you?

Karaoke Tuesdays at National Mechanics, on the road for a convention, or nestled up in my fortress of solitude bashing zombies in Dead Rising 2. Sometimes you can find me in WoW on the Steamwheedle Cartel server as Fnip. Yes, we have a Guilded Age Guild, and anyone’s welcome.

There are very few comic books that I will go to the trouble and expense of owning both the individual issues and the trade paperback. Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol is one and Death: The High Cost of Living is another. And now I can add Raven Gregory’s Fly to that very small, exclusive list.

As most readers are aware, I loved Fly when it came out. It was even my pick for Best New Title of 2011. But what I didn’t expect was to enjoy the book so much more as a trade paperback. Being able to read the whole story in one sitting makes Fly go from a really, really great comic to a truly outstanding story.

For those that don’t know, Fly is the story of Eddie Patron and the drug that gives him the ability to soar among the clouds and, in turn, ruins his life. Gregory tells the story in both the past and the present as we see the beginnings of Eddie’s relationship with the love of his life Danielle and also the tragic end. We meet Francis, who first turns Eddie on to the drug Fly and the mysterious man looking for revenge.

The amazing thing about Fly is how by the end of the book, you really care about the cast and what they’re going through. You feel emotionally invested in them and their situation. This is because Gregory is writing Fly from personal experience as he uses memories from some of the darkest times of his life to give the book a real world feeling. Take the drug Fly out and substitute any other narcotic and the story would still have the same power and raw emotion. (more…)

This week marks the 50th installment of this little review column I like to call the Comic Roundup. To celebrate, I review the new Michael Bay’s Transformers and Scarlet Spider series and the return of Rob Liefeld’s Prophet. Plus, next week we reboot with a brand new #1 (just kidding)! Enjoy!

The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #1
By James Roberts and Nick Roche

After 125 issues of IDW’s Transformers (if you add up all the miniseries and monthlies), this month sees the franchise heading off in new directions with two new ongoing series and new creative teams. The first book out of the gate is The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye and it is not what you would expect. (more…)

One of the best looking and most entertaining new webcomics to hit the net in the last few months has been Ace Kilroy. It follows the escapades of the title character as he lives a life of mystery and adventure in the early part of the 20th century.

Created, written and drawn by friends Rob Kelly and Dan O’Connor (both local guys), Rob was kind enough to answer a few questions about the comic, themselves and whether Ace will ever make it to Philadelphia.

How do the two of you know each other?

Dan and I attended the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art (located in Dover, NJ) together. At the time, it was the only school that specialized in teaching the art of comic book illustration. Dan and I were in adjoining rooms in one of the houses the school had available for students. As soon as I saw his work, I knew I had a lot of catching up to do, in terms of pure drawing talent, especially when it came to drawing for comic books. I remember being so jealous, and I still am!

Where did the idea for a character like Ace Kilroy come from? What influences went into his creation?

After losing touch for a few years, Dan and I ran into each other at the 2010 New York Comic Con. Since going to school, we both maintained careers as artists, but each of us doing work other than strict comic book stuff. Dan’s art had only gotten better, and I was really horrified that he had so many horror stories to tell me (clients cheating him out of money, not treating his work with any respect, etc.), so on the way home I started thinking of a project that he and I could collaborate on that we’d both enjoy on a creative level. And if we somehow found a way to make it profitable, that would be all the better.

We’re both big fans of the classic newspaper adventure strips of the mid-20th Century (stuff like Steve Canyon, Dick Tracy, Secret Agent X-9, Terry and The Pirates), so I thought doing that kind of strip would be fun for me to write and fun for Dan to draw. I pitched the idea to him as, basically, “FDR hires Steve Canyon to fight the Universal Monsters” and he took to that immediately.

I figured we could work in those newspaper character influences, plus classic monster movies, as well as indulge in our mutual passion for 1930s and 1940s Americana. It’s basically the kind of strip we’d like to read, so we created it ourselves. (more…)