2017
http://blacknerdproblems.com/stain-seas-scarlet-preview/
Writer: Ryan K Lindsay / Artists: Alex Cormack, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
If you ask me what this comic, Stain The Seas Scarlet, is about I might say it’s about fighting in space, betrayal, badassery, and the will to get it done. Get what done you ask? Freedom, maybe. Sticking it to the oppressor in place, maybe. Proving a point, maybe. Perhaps all of that and more in a blazing one-shot set in intergalactic space with one last pitch by the resistance. Billed as “a sci-fi revenge one-shot about resistance, shitty robots + spacesuit noir” this thing of beauty is brought to us by the fantastic mind of Ryan K. Lindsay, who wrote and co-created one of the best comics of 2017, Beautiful Canvas. It is illustrated by Alex Cormack who is perhaps best known by his series SINK at ComixTribe and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou who you may or may not know from the verily awesome Strip Panel Naked series on Youtube.
In the comic, Yelena, an alien resistance leader, is trying to do the absolute most. She’s been trying to stop an army full of androids from terraforming and razing her home planet — they have been doing so at a speed that would make Captain Planet villains proud. She’s running on E. On Fumes. She’s given what everyone thinks is her own and this is her last card (Yeaaaaah, we don’t say Trump Card anymore for oblivious reasons cause the country is literally on fire right now). This is Yelena’s last play before all is lost.
This is a 22-page full-color comic. It’s bleak and beautiful. It’s a breath of fresh air and it is damning. It’s lettered, inked, and colored to near perfection. Pages of Yelena out in space ready to end it all are vivid, stark, and all kinds of eye candy. Panels of her on her home planet arm up, gun out, leading her people and watching the tragedy unfold, are pages you can’t look away from. Otsmane-Elhaou proves he is a true asset as the letterer here: making the act of placing text and sound effects into a puzzle with each piece placed perfectly. Perhaps my favorite example of his work is Yelena’s conversation with her adversary towards the end: it all pops and adds to the overall atmosphere of the book. Lastly to Lindsay’s credit as writer, this reads as a labor of love. This comic reads as an idea that has finally been realized, that is finally out in the world like a dying star. Too big, too brilliant, and too much to look away from.
STSS is a tale of desperation, of sudden violence and the will to stick it out for the cause. It touches upon the fleeting feeling of invincibility and finding your purpose… of being aligned to what you were meant to do in life. It is brutal. It is self-contained. It is clever. It is something you need to be reading.
8.2 “Bringing The Ruckus in 90 Minutes or So” out of 10If this comic has caught your fancy, it is being brought to the public via a Kickstarter campaign, launching today! Stain the Seas Scarlet will be available as soon as the Kickstarter campaign officially ends: be sure to follow Lindsay and the rest of the creative team on social media to stay up to date.
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The post Stain The Seas Scarlet Preview appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Writer: Ryan K Lindsay / Artists: Alex Cormack, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
If you ask me what this comic, Stain The Seas Scarlet, is about I might say it’s about fighting in space, betrayal, badassery, and the will to get it done. Get what done you ask? Freedom, maybe. Sticking it to the oppressor in place, maybe. Proving a point, maybe. Perhaps all of that and more in a blazing one-shot set in intergalactic space with one last pitch by the resistance. Billed as “a sci-fi revenge one-shot about resistance, shitty robots + spacesuit noir” this thing of beauty is brought to us by the fantastic mind of Ryan K. Lindsay, who wrote and co-created one of the best comics of 2017, Beautiful Canvas. It is illustrated by Alex Cormack who is perhaps best known by his series SINK at ComixTribe and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou who you may or may not know from the verily awesome Strip Panel Naked series on Youtube.
In the comic, Yelena, an alien resistance leader, is trying to do the absolute most. She’s been trying to stop an army full of androids from terraforming and razing her home planet — they have been doing so at a speed that would make Captain Planet villains proud. She’s running on E. On Fumes. She’s given what everyone thinks is her own and this is her last card (Yeaaaaah, we don’t say Trump Card anymore for oblivious reasons cause the country is literally on fire right now). This is Yelena’s last play before all is lost.
This is a 22-page full-color comic. It’s bleak and beautiful. It’s a breath of fresh air and it is damning. It’s lettered, inked, and colored to near perfection. Pages of Yelena out in space ready to end it all are vivid, stark, and all kinds of eye candy. Panels of her on her home planet arm up, gun out, leading her people and watching the tragedy unfold, are pages you can’t look away from. Otsmane-Elhaou proves he is a true asset as the letterer here: making the act of placing text and sound effects into a puzzle with each piece placed perfectly. Perhaps my favorite example of his work is Yelena’s conversation with her adversary towards the end: it all pops and adds to the overall atmosphere of the book. Lastly to Lindsay’s credit as writer, this reads as a labor of love. This comic reads as an idea that has finally been realized, that is finally out in the world like a dying star. Too big, too brilliant, and too much to look away from.
STSS is a tale of desperation, of sudden violence and the will to stick it out for the cause. It touches upon the fleeting feeling of invincibility and finding your purpose… of being aligned to what you were meant to do in life. It is brutal. It is self-contained. It is clever. It is something you need to be reading.
8.2 “Bringing The Ruckus in 90 Minutes or So” out of 10If this comic has caught your fancy, it is being brought to the public via a Kickstarter campaign, launching today! Stain the Seas Scarlet will be available as soon as the Kickstarter campaign officially ends: be sure to follow Lindsay and the rest of the creative team on social media to stay up to date.
Are you following Black Nerd Problems on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or Google+?
The post Stain The Seas Scarlet Preview appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Writer: Ricardo Mo / Artists: Tony Gregori, Claudia Aguirre, Ryan Ferrier / Vault Comics
When I first read about Deuce of Hearts on Twitter earlier in October I thought to myself “This looks like good fun” coupled with “This looks like it makes no senses whatsoever”. I was eager to get my hands on it the first issue and find out what the deal was. Vault Comics has some great titles under it’s banner so I wanted to give it a go. This interest was furthered when the artist Tony Gregori tweeted out a description of the book: “ADULT THEMED FANTASY & FUN, W/ A CUTE DOG SIDEKICK! DOGS!!”. *SOLD!*
In this comic we learn that “Love is a commodity. Trade up.” through the adventures of one Sullivan Husk. He’s a man with one life to live who has the biggest heart of them all. He has so much love to give and just not enough time. The beginning of this comic starts with him on a romantic date with what I assumed was his significant other, a lovely lady to whom he gives something special. (NOT THAT SPECIAL. NOT A RING, FAM.) During a restroom break, he runs into the husband of the lady he’s been spending time with. WUT? So begins this wacky but hilarious romp of a story in which Sullivan navigates the world he lives in being a casanova and trading in his lovers for the next power-up, the next best thing to get him out of the scrape he’s gotten himself into. It’s a riot.
What really works is just how ridiculous this story is: it is super entertaining without coming off as pretentious. Our-not-quite-hero performs super amazing feats, drops great one liners and has a canine companion that knows more than he lets on. There’s a string of interesting characters that we’re introduced to. Story wise this Heartbreakr™ app and the notion “that love is just another tradeable commodity” must be hella fun to explore for writer Mo. It’s hella fun to read on my end.
On the art side there are a lot of wicked chase and action scenes–and as much as I love how Gregori has illustrated the scruffy dog–there has to be something said for all the characters that start popping up toward the end of the book. Magic is involved here so if the cover is any indication of a preview of who, OR what is to come there is much to look forward to. I’ve been reading comics forever but it is only in recent years that I’ve come to study and truly appreciate work put in by colorists and letterers, what many consider “invisible jobs”. I’m really fond of Aguirre’s work towards the end when Sully goes to a bar: she really helps gives the bar character via her coloring. This is legit because there are some big interactions that happen there and it all looks great pulled together. Ferrier’s lettering really shines all over but especially in the chase scenes where the sound effects blur the line of magical interference and Ferrier showing off.
With a cliff-hanger that is as gripping as it is comedic, Deuce of Hearts has captured my attention and I’d definitely like to read more. Here’s to a new mini series worth adding to your pull list. Be sure to check it out!
8 Not Laying Off The Sauce Tonight out of 10
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