Extra Sequential

Extra Sequential Becomes Arcana

extrasequential — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 10:38:55 +0000

So after 3 issues of Extra Sequential, which you can see on Issuu or Scribd, we’ve been blessed with a wonderful opportunity that has gladly taken up the last few months of our lives. Dave and myself (Kris) are on board in creating Arcana, a new full colour, print, quarterly magazine in conjunction with Canada’s Arcana Comics. It’s a lot of hard work amongst our day jobs, but extremely satisfying. Our first issue is released on January 27, 2010 and is 96 pages long. The press release is here. The first issue features Luke Skywalker on the cover to go with our feature interview with Tom Taylor (writer of Dark Horse’s Star Wars: Invasion series) as well as interviews with artists David Mack, Josh Medors and Mike Capprotti, writers Marv Wolfman and Edmund Shern, and BOOM! Studios’ PR guy Chip Mosher. There’s also heaps of gorgeous art, previews of upcoming series and reviews plus a look at comic book terms, a glimpse at the Death of Superman event and more. This is a dream come true for the both of us, and we’re very thankful for the opportunity.

For more updates check the mag’s blog or my own blog and thanks so much to everyone who’s read Extra Sequential. It’s been a great journey and we look forward to putting the spotlight on some astounding comics and creators with Arcana!

Extra Sequential #3!

extrasequential — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:20:17 +0000

Our farewell, or “see you later” issue, before we move to print in January has finally landed. It’s 40 pages of goodness including the obligatory perty pages and reviews. There’s also interviews with sci-fi author Robin Parrish, Brian Cronin fromcomicbookresources on his new book, Was Superman A Spy? and Wolfgang Bylsma from very successful indie publisher, Gestalt. Check it out below or here.

View this document on Scribd

Extra Sequential Rising

extrasequential — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:47:06 +0000

Well, this makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Our first two issues of Extra Sequential appeared on Scribd’s Hot List recently thanks to our growing popularity. We’re also doing pretty well on Issuu, with just under 57 000 page views. It’s remarkable what you can find on the net for free. Issuu and Scribd are great websites for those who want to show their wares off, in mag, book or arty journal form. Once you’ve created a PDF, whack it on-line for the world to see.

Our third issue of ES is dangerously close to being complete, and features interviews with novelist Robin Parrish, Brain Cronin from comicbookresources.com on his new book on Comic Book Urban Legends, as well as an interview with Wolfgang Bylsma from indie Perth publisher Gestalt. Of course, there’s also heaps of eye candy inside too and a very special announcement from yours truly about the future of Extra Sequential. (It’s good news.)

Issue #3 On The Way

extrasequential — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:43:40 +0000

Yep, you guessed it. We’re slightly behind schedule on our third issue. It should be out early June. It will also be our LAST ISSUE. Fear not, however, as it’s actually quite good news. It’s all rather hush-hush at the moment, but it looks like we’ll be making the bold leap from the monitor to the page. Yes, exciting times are ahead for Dave and I and our ES plans. Further details will be unveiled in our third, and final, issue, but in the meantime may I also direct you to my humble blog – Comic Book Jesus. I’ll be posting here less regularly (you’ve probably noticed I already have), in order to cut down my increasing workload.

Extra Sequential #3 will have a few farewell goodies in it, such as interviews with the man behind the critically acclaimed Gestalt Comics, as well as novelist Robin Parrish and also with Brian Cronin about his new book on comic book urban legends. As usual, there’ll also be some gorgeous artwork and reviews. Stay tuned. It’s a good time to be an ES reader and we thank you so much for your patience and support.

The New Batman

extrasequential — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:11:32 +0000

So, Dick Grayson is the new Batman, and Bruce Wayne’s son, Damian is the new Robin. Though you couldn’t really tell from reading this week’s Battle for the Cowl conclusion. The current Robin, Tim Drake and former (dead) Robin Jason Todd were running around in different Batman costumes while various classic Batman foes watched as Gotham descended into more hellish chaos. And just so you know Batman, AKA Bruce Wayne is not exactly dead. Rather he was sent way back in time thanks to Darkseid’s Omega Sanction eye beams. You can read all about it in Final Crisis if you don’t mind a migraine. However, as a sum up, here’s my latest Broken Frontier article, The Battle for Batman.

There’s also an interview at Newsarama with the writer/artist of the 3 ish mini, Battle for the Cowl, Tony Daniel. For those who are unsure as to the precise identity of the new cowl wearer, as it is rather ambiguous in the final pages of BOC #3, this excerpt from the interview should make it clear.

NRAMA: What can you tell us about how these last couple pages were designed? Why didn’t the readers see the face of the person putting on the cowl? The words from Dick make it pretty clear he is wearing the cowl, so does the lack of a face have another meaning? And anything you want to share about the design of the pages? They’re pretty cool-looking…

TD: Thanks – well, I wanted us to view what Dick was viewing, be Dick, for that moment. Going through the mansion, down to the cave. Putting up the cowl. Yes, his hair is shorter. But it’s been Dick’s captions all the way through issue #3, so I thought it was pretty self-explanatory.

Okay then. Here’s a few pages from Cowl #3 for your perusal.

David Wohl Gets Radical

extrasequential — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:28:38 +0000

This is exciting news. Possibly spurred on by the success of fan fave writer Mark Waid’s appointment to Editor In Chief of BOOM! Studios all those months ago, long-time Top Cow creator and President David Wohl is now the EIC of Radical Publishing. I’m actually quite curious about what this means. Radical have had a lot of critical praise, and deservedly so, but have yet to truly break through into the hearts and minds of fanboys and girls. However, they’re only just over a year old and have already showed their daring mission with each new project. Stay tuned for further Radical greatness, I’d reckon. Press release below.

In a bold new shift in direction, Radical Comics has brought on former Top Cow President and Editor-In-Chief David Wohl as their new Editor-In-Chief. Wohl replaces former Radical Editor-In-Chief Dave Elliott, who will continue at Radical in the new position of Special Projects Editor.

With over twenty years of experience in the industry, David Wohl was responsible for bringing numerous fan-favorite Top Cow titles to the shelves, co-creating and writing The Darkness, Aphrodite IX as well as the critically acclaimed Witchblade franchise, even serving as the producer of the Witchblade television series. “Ever since Radical burst on the scene, I was instantly impressed by their talent roster, the consistent high level of quality and their commitment to putting out great comics. When the opportunity arose to come onboard, I didn’t even need to give it a second thought. From top to bottom, Radical Publishing is the class of the industry, and I’m proud to be part of the team.” stated Wohl.

Wohl’s enthusiasm for joining the Radical family was echoed by the company’s President and Publisher Barry Levine. “David brings a wealth of experience in the industry to our relatively new company and everyone here is very excited to have him on board,” remarked Levine. “With our recent Gem Award for ‘Best New Publisher’ and a lineup of upcoming titles featuring the likes of Rick Remender, David Hine and Nick Simmons for the year, David is the guy to help take Radical to that next level.”

As Wohl helps to continue Radical’s success by assuming the responsibilities of Editor-In-Chief, former Radical Editor-In-Chief Dave Elliott will be taking on the new position of Radical’s Special Projects editor. This integral new position will have Elliott applying his vast publishing experience and love of comics to both finding and developing new projects for Radical while working closely with existing key talent on current projects such as Steve Niles’ follow-up to City of Dust and the second chapter of Sam Sarkar’s Caliber.

“With Radical growing in leaps and bounds, I just couldn’t continue doing the job from New York any longer. We needed our man in Havana and I’m really happy it’s David,” says Elliott. “My focus will be to continue to bring in the best talent out there while also allowing me to get back to my creative roots. I’ll be co-writing CALIBER and the next PHILIP KHROME story with Sam Sarkar and Steve Niles. These are two worlds that I have gotten to know very well and am extremely happy to be allowed to further contribute to them.”

Marvel This Week

extrasequential — Mon, 18 May 2009 14:41:25 +0000

As always, there’s a bunch of new comics coming out from the House of Ideas on Wednesday (in America at least). Here’s a look at but some of them. The ones with the prettiest covers of course. For the full list of releases, see the link below.

Comics On-Sale:

AGENTS OF ATLAS #5 (DR)

AGENTS OF ATLAS #5 MCGUINNESS VARIANT (DR)

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #594

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #6

CAPTAIN AMERICA #50

DARK REIGN: FANTASTIC FOUR #3 (DR)

FANTASTIC FORCE #2

FANTASTIC FOUR #566

HULK #12

HULK #12 MCGUINNESS VARIANT

HULK #12 ADAMS WRAPAROUND VARIANT

MARVEL ADVENTURES THE AVENGERS #36

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS 70TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS 70TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL MARTIN VARIANT

MARVEL TRIPLE ACTION #2

PLANET SKAAR PROLOGUE ONE-SHOT

PUNISHER #5 (DR)

PUNISHER 5 MCKONE (DR)

SAVAGE SHE-HULK #1 2ND PRINTING VARIANT (DR)

SKRULL KILL KREW #2 (DR)

SKRULL KILL KREW #2 KIRKHAM VARIANT (DR)

SOLEIL: YTHAQ – NO ESCAPE #2

TERROR, INC. – APOCALYPSE SOON #2

THUNDERBOLTS #132 (DR)

TIMESTORM 2009/2099 #2

UNCANNY X-MEN #510

UNCANNY X-MEN #510 CAMPBELL VARIANT

WOLVERINE NOIR #2

WOLVERINE NOIR #2 CALERO VARIANT

WOLVERINE WEAPON X #2

WOLVERINE WEAPON X #2 DJURDJEVIC COVER

X-MEN FOREVER ALPHA #1

X-MEN FOREVER ALPHA #1 VARIANT COVER

Collections On-Sale:

MOON KNIGHT VOL. 4: DEATH OF MARC SPECTOR TPB

NYX: NO WAY HOME PREMIERE HC

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL VOL. 5: SECRET INVASION TPB

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL VOL. 5: SECRET INVASION TPB (DM ONLY)

THOR VISIONARIES: WALTER SIMONSON VOL. 2 TPB (NEW PRINTING)

ULTIMATE GALACTUS TRILOGY TPB

WAR OF KINGS: ROAD TO WAR OF KINGS TPB

YOUNG X-MEN VOL. 2: BOOK OF REVELATIONS TPB

*DR= Dark Reign tie-in

*MW= Messiah War tie-in

*WOK= War of Kings tie-in

Artist Opportunity

extrasequential — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:09:50 +0000

Consider this a community service announcement to all you budding artists out there. Jaran Studios, the company behind Dawn of the Dread Force (who featured on pages 26-31 of Extra Sequential #2) are looking for an artist for a potential new web comic. It doesn’t even have to be mech-related. Details are below and more info can be found at the Dread Force website. This is a great opportunity for artists looking for a break.

We’re currently looking for a talented penciller for a potentially upcoming DREAD FORCE web comic, so if you’ve got too much spare time on your hands and are looking for a very low-paying, but rewarding, job working with us, drop us a link to your sequential samples, and we’ll be in touch. Thanks in advance!

The Unwritten Stuff

extrasequential — Sat, 16 May 2009 05:41:39 +0000

This new series from the Lucifer team of Mike Carey and Peter Gross is different in a number of ways. Firstly it stands out from the other “Un” series launching this month (Unknown and Unthinkable from BOOM! Studios) by being bigger. Not bigger in format, but bigger in its story and by its very approach to the concept of storytelling. This debut issue has extra story pages, so you can feel a little heft when picking it up from the shelf. It’s also only $1! Thanks Vertigo/DC. They’ve had success with similar cheap launches, such as the After Watchmen…What’s Next? series of re-prints. This is a wise marketing move, and will only help give this series the attention it deserves.

So ,what’s it all about then? Imagine Harry Potter was real. That’s the basic premise. Of course, it’s not as straightforward as that, but basically Tom Taylor is a grown man trying to live away from the shadow of the fictional boy wizard Tommy Taylor, the hero of a series of much loved books by Tom’s father, who has been missing for a decade. It’s a very well constructed first issue and barrels along at a nice pace. It takes itself seriously but isn’t melodramatic about it. With clever use of web-site comments, news casts and journal excerpts it becomes obvious that this creative duo have thought long and hard about the story they’re building. There’s an insightful interview with the creators at Broken Frontier and you can also find Carey’s commentary on the issue at the same site.

If you’re looking for something fresh, with just enough nods to pop culture to make you feel smart, then pick up this ish.

The Gallery: War of Kings #4

extrasequential — Thu, 14 May 2009 10:55:27 +0000

If you haven’t been reading Marvel’s War of Kings mini-series, you can catch up here. It’s a well written space opera, which is surprisingly easy to follow. The 4th issue, of 6, is out on June 3 and is scripted by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, otherwise known as DnA, with art by Paul Pelletier. Below you can see some text-free pages, with stunning covers from Brandon Peterson and Jae Lee.