They can run, but they can't hide from the Fox News legal team...

What has come before: Doesn’t matter. It’s all gone now.

In this book, writer/artist Bob Fingerman imagines a nuclear holocaust where he and his wife, Michele are among the few survivors. As they wander the irradiated wasteland that was once New York City, they run into many of the character archetypes that you would expect in a post-apocalyptic setting: mutants, zombies, cannibals and demagogues. What makes this story different from most dystopian tales is that the Apocalypse is played for laughs. And more often than not, it succeeds as a comedy.

Refreshingly, Fingerman avoids turning himself and Michele into Mary Sues. He depicts himself as a bit of a jerk from page one, but is somewhat redeemed in the reader’s eyes by his unwavering love for Michele. The more impressive trick may be how he keeps from filtering Michele through love’s lens and depicts her as a three-dimensional character with positive qualities as well as flaws.

Artist:  OK Go

OK Go's latest album

Album:  Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky

If nothing else OK Go will be know as the band that did that treadmill video.  Admittedly I downloaded the single for that song, ‘Here We Go,’ and left it at that.  Then at the end of last year Amazon listed the whole album ‘Oh No’ for five dollars and after listening to previews I decided to go ahead and download it.  I was pleasantly surprised at how catchy the album was.

When this album was released I had some download credits to burn.  Apparently ‘Oh No’ made enough of an impression on me as I downloaded this one with no hesitation and no prior information.

Review following the break.

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Mysterio! The Gauntlet! Dan Slott! Oh my!

After not reading comics for almost two months, I finally went and picked up all of the comics I hadn’t bought and in this monstrous stack was Amazing Spider-Man #618. Penned by Dan Slott with art by Marcos Martin, this was the issue I have been looking forward to for months (since I heard word of it back in August) that was apart of Spider-Man’s “The Gauntlet.”

In case you haven’t been keeping up with Amazing Spider-Man, what’s been happening is this: all of Spidey’s old villains have been coming back… with a vengeance. The thing is, they’re not coming back to get Spider-Man, but they’re coming back to do what they do best: do selfish things. So far, we’ve had Electro, Sandman, Rhino (2.0) and this weeks baddy–Mysterio.

It’s been all very good so far, but this week’s issue… I wasn’t feeling it so much, which is a huge surprise since I have an absolute love for Dan Slott’s Spider-Man. But let’s talk more after the break.

*some minor spoilery after the break*

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All snark aside: This cover is absolutely gorgeous.

What has come before: technically nothing, since this is a prequel.

The folks at Top Cow have been doing a lot to try to lure new readers and lapsed fans back into the fold. They have been tying up dangling subplots in their comics in preparation for fans jumping (back) on board. They have been offering trade paperbacks at the introductory price of $9.99.Finally, they have been releasing the occasional one-shot like this one, a tale of one of the previous bearers of the Darkness in the late 19th century.

There’s a very mild spoiler in this review, so let’s meet up again after the break.
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More info on what’s reviewed after the jump!
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Artist:  Vampire Weekend
Album:  Contra

Vampire Weekend’s self-titled first release was hailed by many as an original, ground breaking album and a fresh sound.  It was critically acclaimed by many reviewers.  It came in at number 5 on Time’s best albums of 2008 and peaked on Billboard at 17.  At decades end it came in at 56 on Rolling Stone’s top 100 albums of the decade.  Clearly the New York band was on to something.

I didn’t pickup on the album until early 2009 and the first time I heard it I found it to be underwhelming at best and outright unlistenable.  That must have been a bad day for me personally.  I revisited the album a couple of months later and immediately fell in love with it.  The sound was at once familiar and at the same time refreshing.  It stood out in the indie field where many albums seemed to be chasing the same ‘indie’ sound.

Fast forward to 2010 and Vampire Weekend’s second release ‘Contra.’  The band had released the song ‘Horchata’ for free late in 2009 and I immediately downloaded and loved it.  It had the same quirky feel and African pop beats and felt like it would blend in just fine on their first album.  Now the question was whether or not the rest of the album would live up to expectation.

Review after the break.

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More info on what’s reviewed after the jump!
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Just got this in our e-mail over here:

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Mohawk Media

PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release: Thursday 3 December 2009

PUBLISHER PUTS OUT CALL TO COMIC ARTISTS

Mohawk Media launches talent search

Publisher Mohawk Media has today announced that it is in search of artists for upcoming comic book and graphic novel projects.

Having had success with its Mr. T graphic novels, the publisher is readying to get new projects underway in 2010.

To help spearhead this search, Mr. T author, Christopher Bunting, has been appointed as Editor-In-Chief.

Bunting says: “As a freelance writer, one in the early stages of his career, I know just how tough it is to break into comic books.”

“I’ve often heard aspiring artists say there are no openings. I’m therefore proud to be part of this Mohawk Media initiative to give artists the opportunity to become published, and be involved in some of the coolest titles of 2010!”

The publisher recommends the following:

• A brief email about yourself and any published experience, accompanied by a minimum of 5 sequential pages
• Story pages only (no pinups, paintings or portraits)
• Your strongest – and preferably, recent – work
• A variety of genres if possible
• Samples in jpeg or PDF format only. Links will not be opened
• All submissions to chris@mohawkmedia.co.uk

Bunting continues: “Remember, comics are a storytelling medium. Those are the skills that you need to demonstrate.”

“We’re excited to see what comes in. Good luck!”

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The irony of this book being released in time for Thanksgiving is not lost on me...

Premise: Tony Chu is a detective who gets psychic impressions from almost anything he eats. As an agent for the FDA (which has grown into a powerful agency in the wake of a devastating case of bird flu), he gets involved in cases that are even weirder than his psychic powers.

I tried describing this book to my girlfriend and she was revolted, so I’ll tell you up front that this book is not for everyone. However, if you are a fan of black humor, surrealism, and procedurals, this is a book that you cannot miss. Writer John Layman economically establishes a rich setting with a minimum of exposition (vital information is usually delivered with brief, Pushing Daisies-style flashbacks).

The most important characters are well-rounded and fully realized, and the cliche characters (such as Chu’s antagonistic superior officer) still manage to be entertaining. Plus, he is as deft with moments of side-splitting humor as he is moments of jaw-dropping horror.

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Supergod #1 Cover

So as many of you long time readers of DTC (and you fellow writers) know, it’s been a long time since I’ve done a review. A really long time. Honestly, I’ve been busy, but I’m sorry. I wasn’t really even planning on writing a review today. But then I read this issue. About 4 pages into this issue, I had made the decision that I had to write a review of this soon. By the end, I knew that I had to stop reading comics tonight and push this thing out NOW. And by the end of the review, you’ll hopefully know why.

So, I’m a pretty big Warren Ellis fan. I pick up pretty much every Avatar title that he writes (and there are a lot). Most of them are pretty good. Some are really excellent. So naturally, I picked up Supergod #1. I didn’t really know what to expect from this book, but when I went to the comic book shop today, the owner, Kirby, specifically said “oh, this is really good”. Now, a little back story on Kirby. He’s a great comic book shop owner and a good guy, but I’m pretty sure he has never told me that he liked a comic. Actually, up until today, I wasn’t even sure if he still read current comics. So I immediately knew that this book had to be at the top of my read stack this week. And boy, was he right about it being really good.

I’ll go into depth about why it is so good after the break.

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