HOPE… FOR THE FUTURE – STARBURST Magazine

HOPE… FOR THE FUTURE – STARBURST Magazine

HOPE… FOR THE FUTURE – STARBURST Magazine

If you’ve seen the 1991 film Cast a Deadly Spell, then the premise of Guy Adams’ and Jimmy Broxton’s new graphic novel Hope…For the Future might not seem as unique to those unfamiliar with the Martin Campbell-directed movie. They both take place in a post-World War 2 Los Angeles, and feature a hard-boiled, noirish plot … Continued

Source: www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/hope-for-the-future

Vinyl Review: The Architects — Border Wars

Vinyl Review: The Architects — Border Wars

Combining two EPs into an LP is a risky proposition. Depending on how far apart in time they were recorded, and the attending differences in lyrical, musical, or thematic content, you could end up with a 12-inch which has two uncomfortably different sides. Even when packaged as one collection of two separate records, you can end up with something like Courtney Barnett’s The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas, where the year and a half between the first disc, I’ve Got a Friend Called Emily Ferris, and the second, How to Carve a Carrot Into a Rose, show a distinct turn.Â

Source: modern-vinyl.com/2017/09/18/vinyl-review-the-architects-border-wars/

Q&A with Water Tower Music’s Peter Axelrad at Starburst Magazine

DC80Anniversary2016_v01_r05.indd

After a lengthy hiatus, fans of film and television scores now have a second volume in the very excellent Music of DC Comics series released by Water Tower Music. Encompassing everything from the very recent, with Junkie-XL and Hans Zimmer’s work on Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, and the very nearly antique Columbia Pictures serial Batman and Robin from 1949, there’s something which will appeal to DC Comics fans the world over.

As the press release states, this is ‘a collection for DC Comics fans, created by a DC Comics fan.’ Executive album producer Peter Axelrad produced both this album and The Music of DC Comics: 75th Anniversary Collection, released in 2009. He was kind enough to answer some questions about the two compilations and their varied musical selections.

Read the Q&A with Peter Axelrad at Starburst Magazine. Published 8/1/16

Celebrity Art Party with Jim Mahfood

Celebrity Art Party is a semi-occurring feature, wherein the artists we enjoy interpret their favorite song. This installment features one of our favorite artists, Jim Mahfood (aka Food One), who will descend upon Lawrence this weekend for a variety of activities surrounding The Free State Festival. Mahfood’s work has paired him with everyone from Colt 45 to Ziggy Marley. Given his deep involvement with music, we’re proud to have him for this series.

Jim Mahfood - Beastie Boys 'B-Boy Bouillabaisse' web

Artist: Beastie Boys

Song: “B-Boy Bouillabaisse”

Version of song (live, album, remix, etc.): Paul’s Boutique LP
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Revisiting “The Snakepit Book” ten years on

book cover - snakepit bookRevisiting Ben Snakepit‘s The Snake Pit Book a full ten years after its original publication means you get to not only consider how Ben sees it at a remove, but also how you as the reader respond to his daily journal comics.

In his closing afterword, Ben makes the point that while at the time, he saw his life as being “the most wild and free,” but now realizes that this was “a horrible time,” where he was “depressed and lonely, heavily self-medicating and desperately seeking the companionship of whoever was around.”

The inner covers do a pretty good job of summing them up visually — the inner front is 16 panels of some variation on “going to work,” and the inner back is 16 of “bong hits” or “getting drunk.” And that’s really sort of the point of journal comics: you get what is, essentially, familiarity through repetition, which then itself makes the really interesting stuff stand out.
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Gallery: Planet Comicon 2013

This year’s Planet Comicon was absurdly huge. Having moved from its longtime home at the Overland Park International Trade Center to Kansas City’s Bartle Hall allowed for huge halls in which to fit even bigger guests than before. Wil Wheaton, George Takei, Adam Badlwin, and Nicholas Brendon were just a few of the names that have taken Kansas City’s convention from something which you went to because, “well, it’s in KC” to an actual event to which pop culture obsessives could freak over the course of the year.

Lines moved quickly, people were friendly, and I enjoyed myself something ridiculous. Were it not for the fact that it feel on the same weekend as the equally-wonderful Middle of the Map festival, I could’ve easily spent my entire weekend popping from panel to panel. As it was, Sunday provided ample opportunity to run into friends and chat with some of my favorite writers and artists.

Next year, I’m collecting pictures of every incarnation of Doctor Who and/or Adventure Time characters.

Writer Jai Nitz on the art of selling one’s self, convention-style

jai nitzWriter Jai Nitz‘s biography describes his work thusly: “Jai Nitz is an American comic book writer who has written for Marvel, DC, Image, Disney, Dynamite, and other publishers. He won the prestigious Xeric Foundation grant in 2003 for his self-published anthology, Paper Museum. He won the Bram Stoker Award in 2004 for excellence in illustrated narrative for Heaven’s Devils from Image Comics. He is currently writing Green Hornet at Dynamite Entertainment.”

We here became aware of Nitz because he’s a regular at Astrokitty Comics, as well as a lecturer at the University of Kansas. He’s a super-funny guy, as well as being immenently approachable, so you should go see him when he appears at this weekend’s Planet Comicon. However, if you can’t, or you need extra convicing, Nitz was kind enough to speak with us and answer a few questions.
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Ben Templesmith on comic conventions and really big books

templesmithArtist and writer Ben Templesmith is perhaps best known for his work on the vampire comic 30 Days of Night with Steve Niles, but his work on such creator-owned projects as Choker and Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse have also generated their fair share of (justifiable) acclaim. As of late, Templesmith has been concentrating on his work with 44FLOOD, a group of like-minded artists and creators. Being as how he’s appearing at this weekend’s Planet Comicon at Kansas City’s Bartle Hall, we figured it was the perfect opportunity to e-mail him a slew of needlessly detailed questions. Templesmith was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to answer them for us.
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“Li’l Depressed Boy” writer Struble on tour

ldb road trip
The writer of Image Comics’ The Li’l Depressed Boy, S. Steven Struble, is coming to your town this weekend.

Well, if you live in Kansas. Specifically, if you live in Lawrence or Wichita. He’ll be doing two long-term hangs on Friday and Saturday. Friday, March 22, he’ll be at Astrokitty Comics in Lawrence from 11:00am to 6:00pm, and on Saturday, March 23, he’ll be at Prairie Dog Comics in Wichita. Details for the Lawrence event can be found at its Facebook event page, and the same goes for the Wichita event.
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The weirdest comic about a reincarnated Morrissey you’ll ever read

zine-cover-there-is-a-lightThere Is A Light is a self-published comic from Geoffrey D. Wessel and John Keogh that I picked up while waiting to talk with Tom Brazelton at C2E2. These guys had the booth directly to the left of his, and I chatted with them while Tom was working on a sketch for someone. They convinced me to drop the $2 the photocopied and stapled comic cost, so I bought a copy and stuck it in my bag, and promptly forgot about it.

As I was cleaning up the basement this weekend, I rediscovered There Is A Light and gave it a read-through. It’s the weirdest comic about a reincarnated Morrissey you’ll ever read. Probably the only comic about a reincarnated Morrissey you’ll ever read, but still … weird. My copy’s the second printing, meaning it’s doing pretty well. Not sure how you’d go about getting a copy, but Wessel can be found on Twitter @gdwessel, so you could probably do that. It’s a fun little read, and keeping it on your coffee table will certainly get a conversation going.