There’s less than two weeks until Wizard World takes over the convention center and the event’s organizers want to let you in for free…if you’ll winning to prove just how nerdy you are.

Starting last Friday, fans wanting free passes can submit pictures of themselves dressed up as their favorite sci-fi/TV/comics/movie character at the Wizard World Philly Facebook Contest Page. If the Book of Faces isn’t your bag, you can also tweet @wizardworld with the hash tag #wizardpic to have your pals retweet your entry. Wizard Entertainment will take the five most popular Facebook pics and the five most popular twitpics and then choose three folks who will win:

- Grand Prize:  A VIP pass to the Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con (includes celebrity autograph of the winner’s choice), the ability to bypass all the lines at the convention — trust me, this will come in handy — and five free tickets to Snow White and the Huntsman.

- Second Prize: An autographed photo of the winner’s favorite celebrity who is appearing at the con, as well as three free tickets to see the upcoming Charlize Theron film that isn’t Prometheus, Snow White and the Huntsman.

- Third Prize: Two free tickets to, you guessed it, Snow White and the Huntsmen.

These winners will also be placed in the running for a national contest for round-trip airfare for two to any 2013 Wizard World event with VIP tickets and a two-night hotel stay. Not too shabby. (Full contest details can be found here).

So get out your cameras and get cracking. And be sure to check back for Geekadelphia’s complete Wizard World Philly coverage in a few weeks!

The trade collects issues 8 through 11 of the series, again written by Raven Gregory. Here he takes the story of the Little Mermaid, which Grimm Fairy Tales has already visited in issues 25 and 26 of that series (both included in this collection) and takes it to the next level. We meet Erica, a young girl who knows nothing about her past and has lots of questions. When she falls into a pool at her 18th birthday and is transformed into a mermaid, a chain of events are put into motion that will involve The Dark One, Esmeralda the Sea Witch and the future of the Grimm Universe itself.

Gregory is still one of the best, if not the best, writer Zenescope currently has working for them. He can take something like The Little Mermaid and give it a completely new spin that you just don’t see coming. The book is tightly plotted and provides a ton of background on some of the more important characters in the Grimm Universe, especially The Sea Witch. Gregory does a lot to make her more sympathetic in the eyes of the reader, but still maintain that bitchy exterior Zenescope readers know so well. It’s a tough balancing act that Gregory somehow makes work.

As for the art, much like other Zenescope books, it is handled by a group of Zenescope regulars, each very talented and with their own strengths. The best of the bunch by far though is Matt Triano; his style is perfect for a book like this that features the ocean and underwater creatures. I would have loved to see him draw the entire story arc and I think this might be something Zenescope might want to look at. I understand having different artists for each issue provides variety, but a single artist on an arc gives a book a sense of continuity and flow that using a different artist each issue just doesn’t. Just a thought.

Myths & Legends vol.2 is another well done, entertaining book that gives the reader a glimpse into possible future events in the Grimm Universe. If you’re a fan, I don’t need to tell you how good it is. But if you are looking for something new and different, Myths & Legends could be right up your alley.

Lucky for you, Zenescope was nice enough to provide us a copy of Grimm Fairy Tales: Myths & Legends Volume 2 to give away to one Geekadelphia reader! Just leave a comment about which Zenescope title is you favorite 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 Comic Roundup I review Nightwing, which this month ties into the Night of the Owls event, the return of Youngblood, the title that launched Image, and a comic book that is all about the fighting, AvX Versus.

Nightwing #9
By Kyle Higgins, Eddy Barrows and Andres Guinaldo

When the titles in the New 52 were announced and it was revealed that Dick Grayson would be returning to his Nightwing persona after a time as Batman, I was thrilled. He is one of the more fully fleshed out heroes in comics and I was glad the spotlight was going to be fully on Nightwing again. But I had no clue when the Court of Owls storyline began that it was going to elevate Nightwing to almost equal status with The Batman, which has been a long time coming.

See, in the Court of Owls, storyline, it has been revealed that the Grayson family has long taken the role of the Court’s lethal assassins, the Talons. Dick Grayson was supposed to be one of them, but fate stepped in and changed the plan. Now, in this Night of the Owls tie-in issue, Dick has to fight his great grandfather to save the Mayor of Gotham. Over the course of these events, Higgins and Batman writer Scott Snyder have made Dick Grayson a character with equal weight to Bruce Wayne, something that writers have been struggling to do for decades. He has officially stepped out from under Batman’s cape and become a stronger, more prominent hero in his own right. The icing on the cake is the art by Barrows and Guinaldo, who do some great work and make the revelations of the issue all the more powerful.

If you haven’t been reading Nightwing, start. Now.

Youngblood #71
By John McLaughlin, Jon Malin and Rob Liefeld

You all knew the review was coming, didn’t you?

How could I not review the return of the title that launched Image 20 years ago? And after the success of the other Extreme books, I had high hopes that Youngblood could come roaring back and be the comic book I always thought it could be. The concept always had so much potential that was never capitalized on, maybe this time it would be different. Turns out, not so much…

While McLaughlin does a lot to try and tackle the demons of the title (the ridiculous, pin-up poses in the artwork, Youngblood never being taken seriously), it unfortunately reads like a relic of the times that spawned it. While the other Extreme books have forged new paths and reinvented themselves, for Youngblood it’s the same old, same old. Even the artwork has an old fashioned style that just looks silly next to the art on a book like Glory or Bloodstrike. Now, maybe McLaughlin and Liefeld have a master plan somewhere and this is all leading to some greater story, but if not, damn, what a waste.

I really had high hopes for Youngblood. I have always wanted the title to succeed. Unfortunately, I must be the only one.

AvX Versus #2 (of 6)
By Various

Marvel knows that what fans want to see in Avengers vs. X-Men is the fights; Avengers and X-Men kicking the snot out of each other and they have launched AvX Versus as the place to show just that. While the main book follows the story of Hope and the coming of the Phoenix Force, here you get no plot or story whatsoever and just page after page of super heroes beating each other to a pulp.

And for what it is, it’s not all that bad. We get to see Captain America and Gambit go at it with some great Steve McNiven artwork and Spider-Man face off against Colossus drawn by the always incredible Salvador Larroca. And make no mistake, in this miniseries it’s all about the art. There literally is no story to speak of and the word balloons just take up valuable space.

Now, $4 an issue is an awful lot to ask for a series like this and if you don’t read it you won’t miss anything of the Avengers vs. X-Men event, so I can’t really recommend it. However, if you like awesome artwork, seeing superheroes beating the living crap out of each other and you have an extra 5 dollar bill burning a hole in your pocket, this is the book for you.

This week the Roundup gives everyone the lowdown on the Night of the Owls in the pages of Batman as well as the debut of John Byrne’s new series Trio and the arrival of Rob Liefeld on Deathstroke.

Batman #9
By Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo

Every month for nine months now, Batman has been the comic I most look forward to reading each and every month. Snyder and Capullo have captured magic in the pages of this book, each issue topping the last and never once letting the reader stop to breathe. This month the Court of Owls storyline that has been running in Batman since issue #1 spills out into the rest of the Bat-family of titles, but Batman still manages to steal the show.

The Court of Owl’s assassins, the Talons, have been let loose in Gotham with a long list of people to kill. While the rest of the Bat-family tries to stop them, Batman himself has to deal with the Talons that have invaded Wayne Manor and come to terms with the fate of an ally.

Snyder has pushed the volume up to 11 as he begins to bring the saga of the Court of Owls to a conclusion. This is wonderful example of textbook tight plotting and pitch perfect dialogue. Capullo’s artwork moves the story at a breakneck pace, as each panel flawlessly conveys the story to the reader. In more than one place, I was heavily reminded of Frank Miller and his version of Batman (once you see the Bat Armor Batman wears, you’ll see what I mean) and I can think of no better compliment than that.

Batman continues to be a “must read” title for anyone who loves comic books. Honestly, they just don’t get any better than this.

Trio #1
By John Byrne

For those that may not remember, there was a time John Byrne was bigger than Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar and Grant Morrison combined. Some consider him the first comic book superstar and with good reason; his name on a comic guaranteed a best seller. Hell, of all the writers in comics, DC gave him the job of rebooting Superman after Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Byrne has been working with IDW for a few years now and his latest title is Trio, a return to the superhero comics he is best known for. The book is classic Byrne from cover to cover; three heroes with mysterious backgrounds, a couple tantalizing subplots and that iconic Byrne artwork. Reading this and you will immediately be brought back to his work on Fantastic Four and West Coast Avengers. To younger comic book readers, his style may seem a bit dated or even old fashioned, but to fans like me, this is how comics used to be and we love every page of it.

Trio is a throwback to the comics of yore and a welcome one at that. I’m glad to see Byrne return to the super hero comics he does so well and hope he stays for a good long while.

Deathstroke #9
By Rob Liefeld

To me, Deathstroke the Terminator is one of the coolest characters ever to come out of DC. He is a complete badass that lives by his own rules and, visually, no one had a more awesome costume. DC tried to turn him into an anti-hero in the 90’s (ala Wolverine and the Punisher) and the character suffered for it, but I still remember loving Slade Wilson and the issues of The New Teen Titans he appeared in.

Now Rob Liefeld, who seems to be everywhere these days, takes over writing and drawing the adventures of Deathstroke with issue #9. Unfortunately, the results are pretty disappointing. Liefeld begins his run by having Deathstroke take on a contract to capture Lobo, who is making his first New 52 appearance. Most of the issue is one long fight that really doesn’t have a purpose other to explain who and what Deathstroke is. The dialogue is awkward, the art is clunky and Liefeld puts Deathstroke in huge shoulder pads that make him look like an idiot. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Now I guess we know why the Extreme relaunch is doing so well; Liefeld is no where near the credits on any of them. I give this till issue #12 at best, and then DC will probably pull the plug. (Shoulder pads? Really?)

This reimagining of the story of Oz by Angelo Tirotto and Richard Jordan has intrigued me like few comics manage to these days. And a big part of the reason for that is the artwork of Jordan. His style is unique in comics today and mixes equal part creepy visuals with solid, straight forward storytelling. He was nice enough to answer a few questions via email about No Place Like Home and his artistic process.

How did you become involved in working on No Place Like Home?

It seems like a long time ago now. Back in July 2010 I had put some sequentials of Catwoman up on the comic art forum Penciljack, I got a decent response from people wanting to collaborate. Out of the offers Angelo’s ideas struck a chord with me most and he came across as more experienced and professional.

We pitched a WW2 vampire idea to Image initially and then almost as an after thought he asked if I would like to pitch NPLH too. As I started working on it I realized that NPLH was the book I wanted to work on. Fortunately Image saw both pitches and decided they wanted us to do NPLH first. Score.

Does Angelo Tirotto (the writer) have a long range plan for the book and do you think you will be working on it for the long haul?

I hope so on both counts. Angelo definitely has a plan but he is keeping it close to his chest. I hope I will be working with Angelo for a fair while yet, we have similar tastes and expectations for our comic.

Will No Place Like Home be a series of miniseries with new 1st issues or a continuous series?

They will be an ongoing series with a break between story arcs. So issue 6 will be the start of the next NPLH adventure, whether that be set in Oz, the past or Kansas.

I read that No Place Like Home #1 was your first comic work. What type of art did you work on before that?

Issue 1 of NPLH took me six months off and on. When I finished it I liked two of the pages out of 23. Issue 3 took a month and I dislike a few panels – it’s a fast but massive learning curve. Or maybe my standards dropped.

I work as concept artist full time too – I did a load of concept and matte paintings for the Doctor Who adventure series (PC game) and worked on a few Sega titles.

What’s your process like when working on a comic page? Do you work with traditional tools or have you gone digital?

My process got sorted out really quickly out of necessity, I do rough sketches on the computer using the Cintiq tablet and if there are complex backgrounds I build or cobble together something in sketchup and match the angles from my sketches. I print them out as blue lines to do the pencils (mostly just construction lines) then I ink it mostly with a brush a bit of pen here and there. Then I tidy up and do corrections on the computer again.

With so many new Image titles hitting the stands and the company getting so much attention, how does it feel to be a part of that?

It’s ace. I hope we can stick around and do some great books with Image.

Do you have anything else in the pipeline we should be on the lookout for?

In my immediate future is a short break to recharge the batteries. Then season 2 of NPLH. I would also like to do some bitesize projects. I have been a 2000AD reader for many a year and would love to get to draw Nemesis or Rogue Trooper.

The first three issues of No Place Like Home are in stores now.

No Place Like Home
www.noonemournsthewicked.com

Richard Jordan’s Website
drorinnoconclusions.blogspot.com

I hope everyone had a great Free Comic Book Day and enjoyed all the freebies up for grabs at comic shops across the country. This week I review two of the DC Comics New 52 Second Wave of books, Earth 2 and Dial H as well as the return of Valiant Comics with X-O Manowar.

Earth 2 #1
By James Robinson and Nicola Scott

I was always a fan of DC’s Earth 2 concept. I liked the idea of a parallel earth where older versions of Superman, Batman and their children lived and fought crime as the Justice Society of America. When it came to an end in the pages of Crisis on Infinite Earths, I missed it, but thought the idea had probably run its course. Now DC has revived the idea for the Second Wave of the New 52 and, wow, I really wish all comic books were like this.

On the new Earth 2, an interdimensional war has ravaged the planet and cost it the lives of all its heroes. Now, 5 years later, a new crisis has emerged and a new generation of heroes must stand and fight. But that barely covers what goes on in this first issue. Robinson is taking the idea of “world building” to another level and creating a whole new mythology, one that may be a bit more familiar to fans of the pre-Flashpoint DC Universe. And Scott, who previously was only known for work on books like Secret Six and Birds of Prey, may give Bryan Hitch and George Perez some competition in the widescreen, epic art department. Her work here is just off the scale and makes you wonder why she isn’t drawing Justice League.

Earth 2 is epic in every sense of the word. Start reading now and watch an entire world come to life a page at a time. A definite must-read.

X-O Manowar #1
By Robert Venditti and Cary Nord

As DC attempts to revive Earth 2, Valiant attempts to revive an entire universe. If you were reading comics in the 90’s, then you remember Valiant, one of the few companies that gave Marvel and DC a run for their money before they went under. Now they’re back and the first offering is the return of X-O Manowar.

Thankfully, they aren’t messing with what works. X-O Manowar is still the story of a barbarian from the age of the Roman Empire and the suit of alien armor that fuses itself to him. Venditti isn’t changing much about the origin and that’s a really good thing as it was pretty first-rate to begin with. The main plus here is the art of Nord, which has an understated, timeless feel to it that helps move the story along but also makes it stand apart from the Valiant comics of old, specifically the work of Bob Layton, who worked on the original X-O Manowar series.

All in all, X-O Manowar #1 is a pretty good comic. I was never a huge Valiant fan back in the day, but this was enjoyable enough that I would pick up the next issue and try out Harbinger when that premiers next month. Guess you can’t ask for more than that.

Dial H #1
By China Mieville and Mateus Santolouco

And now for something completely different…

That is the best way to describe Dial H, another of DC’s Second Wave of New 52 titles. They story of a phone booth (?) that gives a person different super powers every time they dial H-E-R-O hasn’t been seen since 2003 and, honestly, I haven’t read a comic this off the beaten path since Vertigo’s Doom Patrol.

I had never heard of China Mieville before reading this comic, but from all indications he must be the love child of Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman. Dial H has a touch of the whimsy and poetic style that Sandman had mixed with the brash and bizarre approach of The Doom Patrol. It really is an odd fusion that shouldn’t work, but under the watchful eye of master editor Karen Berger, it grabs you and doesn’t let go. Then you throw in Santolouco’s stylized art (everyone need to see Boy Chimney for themselves) and you have a Vertigo book hiding in plain sight as a DC comic.

Dial H is a one of a kind comic in a sea of superhero and Batman books and is well worth checking out. But be warned; books like this never seem to last so if you like it, spread the word and let people know how good it is. I know I plan to.

Photo via The Mark News

Over the last year or so, Philly’s own Zenescope Entertainment has gone from being a small, boutique publisher to becoming a force to be reckoned with in the world of comic books. Part of the reason for this is the innovative ideas that get peoples attention, all spearheaded by Editor-in-Chief Ralph Tedesco.

The latest is Comic Company, a web series documenting life at Zenescope offices. It is a funny, informative behind the scenes look at what goes on at Zenescope that the public rarely gets to see. Mr. Tedesco was nice enough to answer a few questions about Comic Company, the Grimm Fairy Tales Kickstarter and what’s coming up for Zenescope.

What was the genesis of your new web series Comic Company?

The idea just sort of popped into my head while I was watching an episode of The Office one night. I love that show (especially the earlier seasons) and I started thinking that I’d love to do something similar to that with a documentary style feel. But I didn’t want to imitate The Office because that would be a bad move. Then the idea of integrating characters from our books into our office came to me and I knew it had to be done.

The key was that we needed to make sure the series was entertaining and fun. I’ve always been a writer and I feel I have a decent feel for comedy and I’ve been acting for 15 years and always loved it so that felt natural but I’d never directed anything before and I knew that would be the biggest challenge in doing this. But I’ve been really happy with the results and we have an amazing team involved.

Is Red Riding Hood and Alice enjoying their time in the spotlight?

Of course. Those two characters are meant to be in the spotlight.

Zenescope has always taken a different approach than other comic publishers, like with Comic Company and the Kickstarter campaign for example. Has that always been your plan?

Joe and I have always felt it was important to think outside the box as a company. In my opinion, doing what everyone else expects or trying to simply imitate someone else’s success is a bit lazy and it’s definitely boring.

When you open yourself up to new ideas it allows for so much more growth. Sometimes it works out and pays off, and of course other times you strike out. It’s riskier but more fun and you just hope that the successes outweigh the strike outs.

Speaking of the Kickstarter, at the time of writing this, you have 7 days to go. How are things looking?

We’re at about $100,000 in pledges as we discuss this so to me that’s already pretty incredible. We are pretty confident that we can get to our goal of 175K. We’ve gotten so much exposure from this so either way we feel this has been a success. People have taken notice and we have a lot of incredible talent participating so we are feeling like this will get done one way or another.

You have the Wonderland monthly launching soon as well as the Oz project later in the year. Care to share what fans can expect from these two books?

Awesomeness… pure awesomeness. Wonderland is going to be really dark and really cool. Raven’s been chomping at the bit to write Calie and her now teenage daughter, Violet, for some time. It’s a cool story and Calie is such a beloved, strong character for us we can’t wait to create more stories with her.

OZ is going to blow people away. It’s something we’ve been planning and putting together for some time now and we’re going to flip the whole thing on its ear and our fans should really dig it.

What else can readers expect from Zenescope in the future?

That isn’t enough for you? Just kidding. We have some surprises. Stay tuned!

Zenescope
www.zenescope.com

The Grimm Fairy Tales Kickstarter
www.kickstarter.com/projects/212378023/grimm-fairy-tales-animated-series

Let’s play a game. I’ll say a word, and you respond with the first thing that comes to your mind, mkay?

LARP.

How might you respond? If you’re like my friends, whom I polled in a completely scientific way, your thoughts ran the gamut from “Huh?” to “Goofy!” to the more knowledgeable “Hit points” and “boffers!”

LARPing, or Live Action Role Playing, involves taking your favorite sci-fi or fantasy characters, dressing up like them, and then acting out scenarios in those roles. Have you ever imagined yourself storming a castle or surviving the zombie apocalypse? Sure you have. LARPers act out their fantasies, in the process inviting the derision of the hipper-than-thou crowd and dyed-in-the wool “grown-ups,” who sneer or scratch their heads at folks dressing up and running around the woods “slaying orcs.”

Lizzie Stark takes an axe to LARP misconceptions in her debut book Leaving Mundania. Lizzie, a journalist, immersed herself in the LARPing scene (Lizzie uses the lower case term, “larp”) as research. She played an interdimensional detective from an alternative 1920s universe and produced a medieval newspaper in the Pennsylvania woods.

And Lizzie spoke with a lot of LARPers, all of whom are much like you and I: Geeks who are passionate about something. Normal people. Fathers, sons, mothers and daughters. Folks who just want to escape reality for a while.

Each chapter of Leaving Mundania introduces the reader to a new aspect of LARP: The first chapter brings the reader along as Lizzie heads down the rabbit hole, and the second humanizes LARPers whom I (yes, I admit it) might otherwise have scorned. A later chapter talks about in-game economics and racism. Lizzie writes with clear prose and an observant eye, and she opens up to the reader worlds about which he or she never knew. Anyone with an interest in gaming, pop-culture or even sociology will be fascinated by Leaving Mundania.

I had the good fortune to speak with Lizzie about her book and her experiences writing it. A few nuggets from our conversation:

What do you say to readers skeptical about LARPing?

Larp is misunderstood. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. We’re living in the era of the geek—everybody is a geek.

What advice might you give to people who are considering trying LARP for the first time?

It takes time. You have to learn what sort of gamer you are and look at all the different games that are out there. You have to figure out what sort of game you enjoy. Nordic games emphasize powerful emotions, while others stress physicality. Don’t get discouraged; just try something different.

You spent a lot of time in Scandinavia as part of your research. What differences are there between the Scandinavian and US LARP scene?

Larping is more mainstream in the Nordic countries. It’s more homogenous there, and it’s a smaller scene. Larp is another medium for entertainment. It stresses emotion and less plotting. In Denmark, games are more free form. In Helsinki, they debate theory. In the US, there’s still shame or stigma attached to larping. It’s a bigger place and there’s less community. Games here are more table top and investigative; they stress plot and adventure.

For more information on Lizzie and her book, visit her official website.

Usually when it comes to G.I. Joe, I’m old school or nothing. I was a huge fan of the original Marvel series and generally felt that unless the book was written by Larry Hama, it wasn’t worth my time. So when IDW got the license to publish new G.I. Joe comics and announced that they were creating a whole new continuity, I shrugged my shoulders and went and reread the old Marvel books.

Turns out I didn’t know what I was missing.

IDW’s G.I. Joe is a fast paced, espionage thrill ride in the vein of Tom Clancy and Call of Duty, yet still has that G.I. Joe flavor that makes it unique. And nowhere is this more evident than the G.I. Joe: Cobra vol. 2 trade paperback that collects the second half of the title’s part of the Cobra Civil War storyline.

Collecting issues #5-8 by the creative team of Mike Costa and Werther Dell’Edera (with an assist from Antonio Fuso); it tells the story of Black-Out, a Cobra sleeper agent trying to infiltrate G.I. Joe while the competition to find a new Cobra Commander rages on. All the while he’s playing a game of cat and mouse with Chameleon, an ex-Cobra agent trying to become a member of the Joes. It is an intense, fast paced story that takes no prisoners and leaves you guessing until the end you never see coming.

A large part of the credit for how well the book works in Costa, who has been writing the Cobra spin-off book since IDW took over the license. Writing a good comic about the bad guys is never easy, but he manages to make the book read like a Jason Bourne thriller with twists and turns that seem to come out of left field, but make perfect sense. In addition, all his characters read like fully realized people, with back stories and motivations that help give the reader a complete picture of who they are.

When you first see it, the art by Dell’Edera and Fuso seems like an odd choice for a G.I. Joe comic, but that is part of what makes it so good. The book stands apart from the other two titles in the line up (that being G.I. Joe and Snake Eyes) and their styles fit the tension and mood Costa is going for flawlessly. The final fight that closes the book moves breathlessly from panel to panel and tells the story with little dialogue. That is the sign of an artist that knows what he is doing.

G.I. Joe: Cobra vol.2 closes out this part of the Cobra Civil War plotline in grand fashion. Costa, Dell’Edera and Fuso do some really great work and have me eagerly waiting for volume 3.

Want to see for yourself how good the book is? Great! Because IDW has given us one copy of G.I. Joe: Cobra vol. 2 to give away to a Geekadelphia reader. Leave a comment letting us know who your favorite Joe or Cobra is 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 we’re going to try something a bit different. In addition to new issues of Uncanny X-Men and The Flash, I’m going to review the trade paperback Hack/Slash: My First Maniac. Since so many fans read comics these days via trade only, I thought this would be a good way to put the spotlight on some books that deserve it.

Uncanny X-Men #11
By Kieron Gillen and Greg Land

One of my pet peeves with Marvel events is that many times, the main miniseries turns out to be nothing but fluff, with most of the important story elements taking place in the crossovers. I had the same fear when I went to read Uncanny X-Men #11, the first tie-in to Avengers vs. X-Men for the series. Shockingly, I think Marvel may have finally gotten it right.

In the issue, Gillen takes the opportunity to flesh out some of the battles from the first two issues of AvX. We see the Colossus/Red Hulk fight in all its brutal glory and the Hope/Wolverine confrontation from Hope’s point of view. It works as the perfect compliment to the main AvX miniseries, but doesn’t overshadow or contradict it. Land’s art is still incredible in all its photo referenced glory. Ironically, some of the best art in the issue is the underwater fight between Red Hulk and Colossus, where I would imagine reference material would have been hard to come by.

I really hope all the tie-ins for the series follow this example. It would be nice to read the 12 issues of AvX and not feel like I missed a huge part of the story because I didn’t read Avengers Academy or New Mutants.

Hack/Slash: My First Maniac TPB
By Tim Seeley and Daniel Leister

Hack/Slash has long been an underground hit with fans of horror comics since its debut as part of Devil’s Due Publishing. With its move to Image in 2010, more and more people have discovered the story of Cassie Hack and her mission to stop the murderous unkillable psychopaths called Slashers. My First Maniac served as the title’s debut with Image and Cassie origin story, which is really, really @!#$ed up.

My First Maniac collects the entire four issue miniseries and recounts Cassie’s first case against the killer Grinface. Seeley writes like he has watched nothing but slasher flicks his entire life. The pacing and characterization are perfect for a horror comic but also just ridiculously funny in places too. Cassie Hack is without doubt one of my favorite characters to come down the pike in a while, just the type of bad-ass you want to see go up against Jason or Freddy. The art by Leister is some of the best I have seen from him. I mean, his work on Wonderland was good, but the art here just puts it to shame. Somehow he can make a girl look sexy even when she is covered in blood; no easy task, let me tell you.

Hack/Slash: My First Maniac is a great jumping on point for the series and a ton of fun to read to boot. Well worth your time and money.

The Flash #8
By Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato

I have never been a Barry Allen fan. For as long as I have been reading DC Comics, Wally West has been the Flash and I just never warmed to Barry as the Scarlet Speedster. I hoped that might change with The New 52, as everyone was given a fresh starting point and maybe I could enjoy reading The Flash again. Unfortunately, no such luck.

It’s not that The Flash #8 is a bad comic. In it Manapul and Buccellato give us a new take on the Speed Force, a new character in Turbine and the debut of the New 52 Grodd. The explanation of the new Speed Force might give some a headache, but hey, we all lived through Hypertime. Even Manapul’s art has improved since the last Flash series and has a much more organic and less rigid feeling. I think it just might be me; I don’t like Barry Allen. To me he is boring, dull and lacks all the traits I loved so much in Wally West and made him such a great character.

Like I said, The Flash #8 is a pretty good comic book. Unless you are a diehard Wally West fan, you will probably find a lot to enjoy. For the rest of us, well, there are always back issues…