Science is definitely the new Rock 'n' Roll

Nowhere Men #1

We've been waiting for this bad boy pretty much since it's announcement, why? Not only does it combine 3 of my ultimate favourite things - Art, Comics AND Science, but writer Eric Stephenson has really dominated my comic world this year with all the Ah-mazing releases comin straight outta Image Comics (Saga, Mind the Gap...). But also, the artist- Nate Bellegarde is a comic art babe.

So what the hell is 'Nowhere Men'? As it stands, it is the story of 4 scientists - Simon Grimshaw, Emerson Strange, Dade Allis and Thomas Walker, who are the nations most well regarded sweethearts.They band together to create the ultimate science alliance - World Corp. Whilst this has created some amazing changes, there have definitely been some negative effects.

Simple, unassuming, yet awesome.

In the first half of the story Stephenson and Bellegarde waste no time presenting you with the 4 main characters younger and at the height of their fame, and they work well to present each of their personalities through a simple head shot and some very clever wording. Any more info is displayed perfectly in the first double spread as a faux newspaper article and after that we know pretty much everything we need to know about who these men are on the surface - Simon: the stone cold businessman, Emerson: the calm, chillaxed intellectual, Dade: the uptight but artistic do-gooder, and Simon: the troubled genius stoner.

Fast forward a few years, the guys are older and it's obvious that somewhere down the line it all went wrong and the early pages are just fantastic. Bellegardes work says everything it needs to and these pages work brilliantly without the dialogue.

The second half of the story presents further troubles on the horizon - with the random and un-explainable illness of a team of crew members. Again, I pretty much loved these pages. Seriously, Stephenson is really good at illustrating a persons personality and potential role within the bigger picture in only a few words, but yet retains the perfect element of mystery.

And just went you thought that was over, the final section returns to the faux newspaper article style, but this time it covers an interview with only one of the scientists - Thomas Walker, who we now know has departed from the group, although we're not really sure when and why, all we know is that he's pretty nuts.

None of these sections really seem to make sense yet in regards to how they will fit together. But I feel like all the wheels have been set in motion and that its only a matter of time before all their paths cross and we can start to build the full story. Whatever it is, we're pretty sure it's gonna be awesome, and we're definitely sticking along for the ride

What would doom do?
He'd cower in the corner ruing the day he ever called himself a real scientist with these geeked up Beatles running around. It's time he sat back to see how it's really done.

Thunderbolts #1: More like a light drizzle

Now this is a series that i've been wanting to read since it was announced. The Thunderbolts - a team of (mismatched) 'reformed' heroes/villians looking to deal their own brand of justice. So whilst the premise is always good, sadly enough this issue was not.

General Thaddeus Ross is back and setting up the new Thunderbolts, traveling the world to recruit his new team - now comprised of Punisher, Deadpool, Elektra, Venom and sooner or later Mercy.

Unfortunately I felt that the issue fell a little flat on Way's side, all the ground work was there, but it just didn't seem to rise to much. It was pretty anti-climatic and predictable and to be honest I don't think that Steve Dillion's work is doing it any favours. I don't think that he's able to capture the 'epicness' of the Hulk or Venom, which I think will really become an issue as the series goes on; especially when it boils down to the big action sequences.

It's probably worth sticking with to see if Way can make it work, if not just to see the next gen. of Thunderbolts.

What would doom do?

He'd kick back and really, there's definitely no worry of Way's latest set of vigilantes turned hero trekking their way to his back yard. But it wouldn't hurt to keep his ear to the ground

Doom's guide to Deadpool

Ok, lets keep this short and simple. I am loving this new series of Deadpool. Our Merc with a mouth is on a quest to kill resurrected dead Presidents, followed by his new pal; the ghost of Ben Franklin.

Brian Posehn & Gerry Duggan are the perfect duo for this project, with a good amount of violence, humor and awesome one-liners. Anyone who can make the likes Dr Strange hilarious definitely have my vote - and who knew that Ben Franklin stole his woman!

Only 3 issues in and Deadpool is shooting and slashing his way through POTIS's galore in stunning fashion. Tony Moore's work is perfect. It's slapstick, gore-filled and just hilarious. Wade has been sliced and diced in every fashion...i've never seen so many way's to keep impaling a man! (the elephant was a perfect touch).

My only gripe with this is amount of times they've shown Wade without the mask. Of course we're no stranger to how he looks without it, but I feel like the element of mystery has been taken away.

But nevertheless this is a great series so far and a nice interval between the more intense/serious issues of Marvel NOW that are currently out.

What would doom do?
Fish out his finest Latverian dollar, hire himself a certain Merc with a mouth and get this monkey to keep on dancing.

I Kill Giants

The story of Barbara; a young high school girl who is struggling to accept a tragedy in her family.

Barbara is sarcastic, bombastic, headstrong, hates school, loves D&D, isn’t interested in friends or dumb people, and oh yeh, she’s obsessed with giants – finding them, hunting them and killing them.

Saying that what writer Joe Kelly has produced is a work of genius probably doesn’t give IKG enough credit, but if you’re anything like me and have suffered a personal loss at a young age then this book definitely is as good as it gets. I bought the whole volume so I feel like I was lucky enough to take this in all at once and ‘feel the emotion’ all in one sitting – as opposed to waiting each month.

From the opening pages, Kelly sets the scene – a busy town, people going about their day to day life, and right in the middle of them, amongst them there’s Barb. Right from the get go with the manga-esque style, Barb’s appearance and the sci-fi-ish title it’s so easy to fall into the “this is just another fantasy book” trap - but IKG definitely isn’t that. This is a story about the real world, and real people. IKG wears a similar deceptive mask to those that are grieving or in pain.

This is a story about grief and loss. Kelly tells the story of Barbara and her relationships in such a deep and beautiful way that I was so thrown. It had such a strong impact on me as I felt I could identify with Barbara, and if you’ve ever been in a similar position, you know how comforting and helpful these mental retreats can be. Kelly brings so much emotion to this story as Barb battles her own demons. Her fear and turmoil slowly creeps through the pages and it culminates in an outlandish fantasy sequence in the penultimate chapter where she faces off with a Titan. It pretty much gets blurry at that point on account of all my sobbing.

Kelly manages to tell a difficult story that provides a simple but beautiful message about courage, hope and facing your fears. Even till the very end there’s no clear explanation as to whether these giants exists or not, and whilst it appears that they don’t, the penultimate chapter suggests otherwise. But when it comes to fear and adversity, don’t we all face our own giants?

Kelly’s work is only made more amazing by the pencils of Ken Niimura. What can I say about Niirmura’s work - it’s swift, graceful, beautiful and emotive. Some of the most perfect scenes of IKG are definitely the faces of the characters. The scenes which depict Barb finally confronting ‘the room’ are both heart-breaking and terrifying.

Niimura says everything he needs to in black and white. Even the small details such as Barb and her bunny ears mean so much. They are so random yet so her. The fact that on-one mentions a thing about them further displays her ‘oddness’ and that these have become the norm. Either that or maybe no-one really is paying attention.

I Kill Giants is amazing. Kelly and Niimura tell a heart-wrenching story through a metaphor of fantasy and art that transcends mere entertainment and displays the complexities of such raw emotion. It really goes on to fully illustrate Kelly’s words:

“To those fighting their own giants, you're stronger than you think”.

It definitely holds a strong place in my heart.

IDW Borderlands Origins! Its Borderlands! In a Comic!

Now, some of you may be aware of a craze sweeping the nations of the world, something all the cool kids are doing. Even I've starting having a go. It's Borderlands! The awesomely fantastimazing loot and shoot game that is so amazing it requires the use of the made up word fantastimazing. For those of you who are fans of the game, both the original and the recently released Borderlands 2 you know that it is filled to the brim with excellently crafted characters and some truly stunning locations, and guns, lots and lots for guns. All of which lends itself wonderfully to story telling. So it was only a matter of time before it was picked up for a comic book series. And luckily it was IDW that picked it up, a publisher than is known for its handling of established franchises and bringing out there true potential in a comic book format.

Which brings me to the main point of this post, IDW's new offering 'Borderlands: Origins' telling the tale of how that mismatched bunch of misfits got on the bus in the beginning of the first game. With the first issue telling the story of Roland, an ex-military badass.

And IDW are off to a fantastic start, thanks to writer Mikey Neumann and artist Augustin Padilla. What we have been given is Borderlands as a comic book, pure and simple, no messing about, no trying new things, its Borderlands but on paper. And I thoroughly recommend it to any fan of the games. Due in large to the artwork from Padilla  and Esther Sanz, who together have beautifully brought life to pages in a style that fits right in with the style of the game, taking life, and adding just enough cartoon to make it fantastical without going over board. It really is a pleasure to look at and blends in seamlessly with the already established visual style which makes it all the more enjoyable. 

Then of course we have the writing, and thank you Mikey Neumann, you have done justice to the world of Borderlands. Not only has he taken on the role of writing for a character that has already been established but also writing an entire comic that already had a style or writing before pen hit paper. But it has been done very well, taking the same off sense of humour and level of action and running with it. With the end result being a comic that is not only well written, but also easy to read and doesn't take you out of the world but only helps to submerge you in it. I can honestly say I can't wait for the next issue, to see how the other characters are managed will be awesome! This is definitely one of my new favourites, due mostly to the excellent way an existing love of mine, he Borderlands games, have been handling and given a new dimension. I hope to see more of this.

What Would Doom Do?

He would read this so hard he would accidentally obliterate it from reality forcing him to go buy more. And then dig out that old time machine of his so he can travel forward in time to get the next issue so he doesn't have to wait. And then reverse time so he can read it again for the first time, again, for the joy. And then travel forward in time to read the next issue again, and so on and so forth.

READ IT!!!!!!

FF #1: Future Foundation FTW

Well what can I say, Marvel NOW has done it again...and this time I was at the mercy of Matt Fraction and Michael Allred. FF #1 pretty much delivers everything you want in a #1, and what it lacks in action, it makes up for in strong, witty dialogue, FANTASTIC artwork, and just general hilarity.

This first issue establish the new line up for the FF team, who have been tasked to become the earth's great defenders for 4 minutes whilst Richards and the family go on 'holiday' (no spoilers here my friend). This new team of consists of Ant-Man (Scott Lang), She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters), Medusa and Ms Thing (Darla Deering), with each hero being scouted by an existing member of the FF squad.


Throughout this little jingle jangle of rallying the troops, are a series of clips of the younger members Future Foundation talking to Lang about what the FF is and what it means to them. I LOVE these little clips - especially the opening scene with Franklin and Valeria. They really provide some extra character to this issue, and kinda gives you a handle on things - cause if we're honest it can get a little complicated.

I must say, initially, Scott Lang was the main draw for me; not only is he grade A awesome as Ant-Man (I adore Pym and O'Grady, but no-one can own the ant like Lang), I really wanted to see how they'd develop his story since his reanimation and the Cassie's death. (Avengers: The Childrens Crusade).

But in the end it was Allred who's the star of the show. His work is cool, slick, bloody cool and comic pop art at its finest - and Laura Allred's colours don't do it any harm either.
With Allred's work, I really feel like i'm watching an adventure unfold, and I really reallllyyy hope that Fraction can maintain the high standard that he has set with this first issues.

What would doom do?
Grab his finest set of colouring pencils, draw himself a little doom doodle self portrait, and march it across these badass pages of FF. We all know that it's only a matter of time before it'll actually be the real thing.