Mine to Avenge: The Book of Layla # 1 review

Previously…

I’m going to let everyone in on a secret, I love the Cyberpunk genre, having been first introduced to it in college I voraciously read as many Cyberpunk novels as I could. Unfortunately, since we live in the future that most of the books are set in, and still can’t graft retractable razors into our hands, the genre all but died. So when I saw Mine to Avenge on Kickstarter I thought, hmm, black folk and Cyberpunk, might give this a whirl. Truth be told I’m glad I did.

Situation

Our story starts in New Orleans, Louisiana circa 1863. We meet a young girl named Leah, who is running down an alley while being chased by someone or something otherworldly only to be saved by a priest who lies on her behalf, throwing her pursuer who happens to be her owner off her trail. Flash forward to Tunguska, Russia in the year 2154 where we meet our protagonists Prya and Travis, two members of an organization known as the Retribution Cabal. The duo is on a mission to save a young girl who went missing on a post-college backpacking trip. From here our story takes a decidedly spooky turn.

Story

When I finished my initial read through this comic, I thought one thing, ‘Damn, it’s over already?’ Writer Robert Jeffery II does a great job of introducing the characters of Prya and Travis who have a relationship laced with witty banter and playful needling. Such is the case when Prya finds out that Travis’ ship AI is named Sade and takes her sweet time making fun of him using song titles from the AI’s namesake. Jeffery breaks right into the action with a scene like something out of ‘The Ritual’ as the duo carve a bloody path through the girl’s kidnappers, a group of cultists so weird looking they’d make Lovecraft smile. I also appreciate Travis’ responses to the cult leaders racially charged remarks, both verbally and physically.

Pictures

The art in this book is extremely crisp, with a production value rivaling any “mainstream” book out there. Artists Mateo Illuminati and Loris Ravina do a great job of bringing this world to life, especially during the fight scenes. The action is depicted as very straightforward but far from boring and the character designs are sleek yet rugged when the moment calls for it. The design of the cultist’s leader looks equal parts horrifying and ridiculous but fits the scene perfectly. The locale designs give me a funky ‘Blade Runner’ meets Wakanda vibe and that fits perfectly in this cyberpunk, dark fantasy world.

Real
I genuinely enjoyed this first issue, however, I do have some problems with certain aspects of it.
The story isn’t as focused as I’m used to, yes Prya and Travis are dope, but I don’t know why they do what they do. What is Retribution Cabals to Leah? What does the return of the Lalaurie’s mean? How did the RC form? And what have they been doing before the return of this family? These are a few of the questions I would have liked touched upon a least a little in the first issue. Other than these things I enjoyed this first outing and hope that this is an ongoing series and not just a mini, so we can get into the history of the world and characters, as well as how they shape the current story.

Rating: ⅘

You can purchase a copy of Mine to Avenge: The Book of Layla issue# 1 from Gumroad and Peepgamecomix

NSFW Review: Boob-Girl: Tit-Fall

Previously…

For those who don’t know, I co-write an erotic superhero comic called “Lawful Evil” and while looking for artists to do some NSFW (Not Safe for Work) pin-ups I became acquainted with Joker216, and his erotic superhero comic Boob-Girl. Boob-Girl is the story of the thick and busty heroine Super-Nova, earth’s greatest hero, however, due to her well-endowed chest, her enemies…and allies refer to her as Boob-Girl much to her chagrin. So I decided to pick up the first issue of the series title Boob-Girl: Tit Fall.

Situation

We’re introduced to a busty raven-haired young woman who sets out to save a young man being sexually assaulted by an alien invader named Dom. The young man is Jojo, an ally of Boob-Girl aka Super-Nova, who has demonic powers and femboi leanings. Our heroine leaps to the rescue only to be flattened by Dom with no effort at all. It is at this point we learn that this is not Super-Nova, but Fan-girl, heroines biggest fan, and impersonator. She becomes Dom’s next victim as he attempts to lure out Super-Nova and he takes his time showing her what his name means. 

Story

Most Porn comics have little to no actual story and focus more on the sexual content and while this issue of Boob-Girl doesn’t offer a whole lot in the way of storytelling it does offer a lot in the way of world-building and establishing the status quo of the universe. We know that Boob-Girl has a following and is known throughout the universe or at least the galaxy, based on Dom’s attack on earth just to draw her out. 

Pictures

 Joker216’s art style is scintillating, to say the least and while Fan-Girl isn’t her idol, she is drawn just as stacked and just as fearsome. Something that I wanted to draw attention to was the work, which Joker put into coloring this issue, from Fan-Girl’s raven hair to Jojo’s dark brown hue, to Dom’s jovian orange skin, the colors are extremely vivid and the first thing that pops out at you…besides the sex. 

Real

Boob-Girl got something for everyone, and while male on male sexual situations and femboi’s aren’t my thing, It’s cool that Joker didn’t shy away from what he wanted to do. Fan-Girl’s scene with Dom is the highlight of this book for me. Sometimes the act of sex in an illustrated format is better than viewing it in the flesh and Boob-Girl is one of those times. I do wish the issue was longer than it turned out to be and the ending felt rushed and unfinished even as far as cliff hangers go. I was none the less entertained and do look forward to Issue # 2.

Rating 3.5/5 

Boob-Girl: Tit-Fall is available on Gumroad

"Is’nana: The Balads of Rawhead and John Henry review

Previously…
Welcome back to the Experience. I’ve been gone for a bit and while I was away a slew of dope new indie comics have come out. So I’ve decided to come out of retirement and give folks the real on what’s been happening in the indie comics scene. Today we have a treat for you all, a modern-day folk tale that was written by Greg Anderson Elysée. The enigmatic Is’nana in, the Ballads of Rawhead and John Henry.

Situation
Our story starts with a narrative…no that’s not quite right. Our story begins with a song about the legendary black folk hero John Henry. Framed during America’s bygone era the “steel-driving” man first clutches a hammer as a babe. He travels around the land swinging his mighty mallet, in the service of those who need help. We are flashed forward to the modern-day, where twin brothers Isaiah and Nathan move into their new South Carolina home with their father. Left grieving after a family tragedy the two seem constantly at odds, with Nathan teasing his brother about being overly sensitive. While moving in one of the porters tells Isaiah the story of Rawhead, the dancing skull and his partner in crime Bloody bones. At night the two boys come in contact with the child-stealing specters, but little do the monsters know the twins have a surprise for them. Back with our hero John Henry, who has found himself in a strange dystopian world where strange bipedal robots who hunt humans. He teams up with Is’nana to save a group of people caught in the cross-hairs of the machines and return them to their homes.

Story

Elysèe spins an epic tale of legacy and heroism in the Ballad of John Henry. Perfectly embodying the spirit of a man’s indomitable will, and desire to do good. From the past to the future, Elysée frames Henry as more reliable than any tool and sturdier than any metal, conjuring up thoughts of a steadfast and noble figure a real-life superhero.
Likewise in the Ballad of Rawhead and Bloody bones he expertly taps into the macabre legends of black Americans in the south. Using dialect from the Gullah people to conjure up visions of hoodoo boogie men that steal children at night. The twist at the end of the story reminds me very much of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman with a hint of Peter Parker thrown in for good measure.
Pictures

Walter Ostlie uses faded colors and line are to transport us to the past. Giving the reader a feeling that they’ve used an old photograph to peer into a part of American history that wasn’t particularly kind to black folks. The pallet throughout Henry’s adventure seems to indicate a story told in the past tense, even when taking place in the future. This adds a very folksy and dare I say epic quality to his tale as a whole and much like Henry its spares on words and heavy on action. Though the words that are there are lettered artfully by Andworld Design, the font like something out of journal written on old parchment paper. The Ballad of Rawhead and Bloody Bones is a very different affair, littered with sharp earthy browns and visceral reds outlining the change in tone from an epic adventure to a terrifying nightmare. Lee Milewiski and Kat Aldrich do a great job of bringing the monsters to life, with shaky line work that makes them look like a horrible fever dream. Even with this in mind, they manage to instill a little playfulness into ol’ Head and Bones giving us a notion that they may be evil, but they like to have a good time.

Real

This comic is an excellent example of African diasporic folk tales done right and with a great degree of care. From the language to the gestures Elysée knows exactly what he’s doing. The essay in the back of the comic, written by Professor John Jennings AKA Black Kirby, posits that Is’nana is Spider-Man for the black comics community; I’d go even further and make the claim that Is’nana is our Sandman or Morpheus king of dreams. I expect a lot from this creator, character, and universe in the years to come and I’m sure I won’t be disappointed.

Rating 5/5
You can find Is’nana at Comixology, Webwaycomics, Amazon, and Peepgamecomix

Bit by Bit

Digital currencies and what they could mean for the world.  
By Ra’Chaun Rogers.

Most Americans are not economists, and when the country’s economy took a nose dive, a majority of citizens decided on a few things one of them being that banks were evil. They control the exchange of money, as well as the livelihood of a lot of people and are not only capable of questionable actions, but in some cases pardoned for it by the government. What if the control and flow of money were put into the hands of people and what if that money increased in value over time? Well nowadays there is something called digital currency which has the potential to change the way we see finance.

In 2009 a man (or group of people) using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto developed the first digital currency known as “Bitcoin”, which among other things is beholden to no bank or government, but is monitored by a large group of individuals on a network known as “miners”. Most forms of digital currency were linked to the price of precious metal currency, making them fixed, but most have since then changed and now fluctuate.  The great thing about digital currency is that they cannot be controlled by any government, organization or sole person. The security of digital currency is also not a factor as the number of miners is so great that in order to tamper with the network a person would need a computing power higher than that of a large software company. Digital currency is perfect for transportation of currency out of countries that are subject to Capitol Control, since there is no red tape to go through.  The downside of digital currency is that if used on a wide scale certain deflationary digital currencies could lead to people hoarding money with the intention of making purchases at some undisclosed time when it’s worth a lot more than originally stated. Another issue is that people can choose not to accept digital currency for transactions, thus making them useless. The biggest problem with digital currency is that it fluctuates at such an unpredictable rate that it would be hard to use it as a mainstay currency for many transactions.  While it seems to be the emerging currency of choice to those in the Occupy crowd or by people living in countries that can’t transport large sums of money to other countries, its relative newness, and somewhat underground status doesn’t make it a likely candidate for replacing any form of physical currency.

In my opinion, digital currency is an interesting way to put the power back in the hands of people. The miners who operate and maintain the networks are regular people, which in theory is a heartening idea. However, a new problem arises when you switch your mode of exchange from one based on a hard to understand fiat system to one based on an equally hard to understand computer science system. The average person probably knows less about open source code than they do about interest rates. It would also probably require a lot of getting used to and maybe even some specialized instruction for normal citizens to understand. Of course, this is speculating that digital currency becomes a widespread and accepted medium of exchange, until then it will only be a novelty.

My first ever comic the Hierophants Back on Sale Digitally.

The Hierophants Digital

Marcus Ripley is following his families legacy as the Geist, New York cities one and only hero. However that all changes when the death of a young man sparks civilians into action and a new vigilante emerges and takes center stage.

In the year 2011 the world has come to a turning point. Change or be washed away in the coming cosmic tide. The architects of that change are the Hierophants, a family of celestial concepts born to bring humanity into an age of new wonders or the ashes of an old hell. Enter Marcus Ripley the cities one and only protector the Geist who will learn that his days of following his father and grand father’s footsteps are over. It now falls on him that will not only affect his family, but the fate of the very universe he lives in. He will soon learn that he must rise above the waves of fate, or be drowned in the undertow. Magic, Humanity, love and self-discovery await in this occult, noir thrill ride.

Maxwell’s Mini Reviews Swag Patrol# 1

I’m back and while I was gone I got to read a number of comics. One of those comics was “Swag Patrol” and while skeptical at first I decided to give it a shot. It’s the story of the Rashad, Maya and Chris, a trio of friends doused with a chemical concoction one day, while playing around in a high school chem lab. During the night each of them awake to find that they have been endowed with extraordinary powers. With the help of their science teacher Dr. Tre they struggle to understand their abilities and try to make a difference in the world.


Hits: 
 Story hopes to convey a positive message.
Misses:
–        Characters lack depth
–        Dialogue is laden with Exposition and Cliche
–        Scenes that are meant to expound on characters seem trite. Also things that are supposed to be character development are used as plot device.
–        Spelling errors throughout.
Rating: 1.5/5