by Bob Bruno 

Scott Snyder takes a one month break from his rebooted Batman origin saga: Zero Year, and with the help of James Tynion IV, gives us an exciting glimpse into the soon to be launched weekly DC comic, Batman: Eternal!

Set in a near, unrecognisable future, post-some mysterious calamity befallen Gotham City, Batman and his newly costumed sidekick, Harper Row, invade Gotham’s only remaining nightclub in search of the possible key to setting things back to the way they were.

Snyder and Tynion employ a time-jump to an undisclosed point just beyond our present, where bolted-down cameras monitor every street, and Gotham City Police violently enforce curfew with machine guns and batons. We’re prompted to ask, what exactly happened to the city? What series of events took place to get us to this dire point? Purposefully light on exposition, the writers have masterfully crafted this narrative tease of things to come. Characters associated with the Bat-family appear in shocking new contexts that intriguingly jar against their present day selves. What hard or self-serving choices did they make? What circumstances could make them abandon themselves almost completely? Never overt, each page is sprinkled with clues to be sifted through, while lines of dialogue subtlety reference past tragedies that lie within our reading future. And Gotham Eternal’s final page reveal will be sure to satisfy a number of long-time fans and perhaps even quell some of the more vocal opponents to DC’s new 52.

by Gavin Foo

Welcome readers, and appreciative viewers of sequential art! The Fine Line is a column delving into the depths of and celebrating the works of the artistic person(s) that work so hard, day and night, line after line, page after page to deliver unto us our weekly comics!

In this first instalment of the Fine Line, we will be looking at one Sean Gordon Murphy. From the East coast of America - in his relatively few years in the industry, has visualised some amazing works, and as of late collaborating with writers such as Grant Morrison and Scott Snyder, often with colour infusion by the great Dave Stewart.

Already early in his career he had delved into creator-owned comics, both writing and drawing Off Road in 2005. This was furthered by more experimentation in the fields of inking and colouring, contributing to a greater overall understanding of his craft, style and work ethic.

by Jade Lindley 

Imagine having big dreams, a passion, a goal that you are aiming for, something you would do just about anything to hold in your grasp and know it belongs to you. Imagine aiming so high for that, that you lose your common sense and you forget to protect yourself. The bright lights in Hollywood and empty promises are what lure you in and for your naivety, you are punished. It’s these very things that punish the character of Pearl in the exceptionally gritty yet classy, American Vampire. 


American Vampire is a timeline of how the vampire evolves and how they came to be and how they choose to live their lives according to what put them there in the first place. Scott Snyder and Stephen King team up and construct two very different stories of how our two protagonists came to be craving that Type A blood. And while these two stories are very unique, and are both set in two different times, they do crash into each other and the timeline of the American Vampire grows. 

by Gavin Foo

ABE SAPIEN #10

Writers: Mike Mignola / Scott Allie
Art: Max Fiumara
Colours: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Clem Robins

Man or monster? In this issue, we follow Abe Sapien further into his journey of self-reflection since he awoke from a lengthy slumber and absence from the BPRD team. Still dealing with the events of his shooting, Abe has now stumbled upon the town of Payton, Arizona.

After befriending J.J., the town’s resident lawman, the second part of this current arc opens with flames, destroying a possible threat that emerged from a bunch of dead horses. What follows is a bit of a celebration of sorts, Abe and J.J. having a chat over drinks, in which they share some personal stories. A side of Abe we haven't really seen before, the shift in his demeanour possibly a front for the darker issues he is currently dealing with.

Meanwhile, the more sinister elements in this arc reveal themselves in the forms of one Gustav Strobl - a seemingly immortal figure who first appeared in the pages of Witchfinder, one revived Agent Vaughn from the previous arc… and a couple of zombies. 

The shifts in tone and mood are highlighted well by colourist extraordinaire, Dave Stewart - with his signature reds bleeding out of the paper, which includes creepy floating tadpole creatures whilst Max Fiumara moves the story along through well paced panel work.

The issue ends with a ritual performed by the youngsters that have been camping out at the Payton golf course from issue #9, and more curiously, the frog that was placed in a cooler in that same issue, reappears and is put into an open grave, the final resting place of their (latest?) victim. - 8/10

by Chris Davidson 


Ms. Marvel #1

Writer – G. Willow Wilson  //  Artist – Adrian Alphona

Marvel’s “All-New Marvel Now” initiative rolls on and with it comes an all new #1 by the name of Ms. Marvel. It’s not the Ms. Marvel you may know and love though as Carol Danvers is nowhere to be found. 

Wilson introduces us to a young Muslim-American by the name of Kamala Khan, the book gives us an insight into her daily struggles regarding her chosen religion as she seeks acceptance from both her parents and school colleagues. The original Ms. Marvel came upon her powers due to being caught in an explosion of a Kree device known as the Psyche-Magnetron, for those of you who don’t know the Kree are an alien race. Our new heroine fortunately is not trapped in an explosion; she is however (massive spoiler) discovered to be an Inhuman as a Terrigen Mist drifts through Jersey City. This will not be too surprising for anyone that has been following Marvel’s comics, if you have no understanding of what Inhumans are or what the Terrigen Mist is you should really catch up on Marvels latest event Infinity.

It’s not only the protagonist’s background that has me interested, Wilson is very talented with her dialogue, and the way everyone interacts with each other feels very fluid.

The art on display is by Adrian Alphona and surprisingly I find it very pleasing to the eye, I say surprised as I did not enjoy his art in Uncanny X-Force (Volume 2). This could very well be due to the colourist Ian Herring; his subdued offerings seem to make Alphona’s artistry abundantly more expressive.

by Tiff Douglas

The stage is set for a tale of discovery and mystery, with an enthusiastic audience waiting for something familiar to carry them through the journey, but the setting has changed and now they are falling away from their silver screens and into the pages of vivid colour. Tall tales of mistaken identity, shocking visions of violence and terror, all pulled together by the intricacies of graphic storytelling that can only be found….

In the Twilight Zone.

J. Michael. Straczynski, I don’t really believe that you need to say more than that. He’s the man that gave us some of the best that Marvel has to offer and has written for some kick ass Sci-fi television shows and is absolutely a comic book legend. First tackling The Twilight Zone back in 1992, he’s jumped in with Dynamite publishing to give it another go. Teaming up with Guiu Vilanova, who previously illustrated Dark Shadows and Raise the Dead 2, he’s attempting to bring a whole new audience into the twisted world of The Twilight Zone, one moral enigma at a time.  

by Jade Lindley

Oh it's that time again where I get excited for the smell, and the look of pretty new comics! While I am more of a fan of trades, I will most definitely be picking up a copy of Batman #28, because well...it's written by Scott Snyder....enough said really! What is everyone else picking up this week? Leave us a pretty little Facebook comment below, the comic team would look to see what is pushing everyone else's button's this week! Reow!!! 

DARK HORSE COMICS

ABE SAPIEN #10 
CLOWN FATALE #4 
STAR WARS #14 2013 ONGOING 
X #10 

IDW PUBLISHING

CITY THE MIND IN THE MACHINE #1
MAXX MAXXIMIZED #4 
TRANSFORMERS ROBOTS IN DISGUISE #26 DARK CYBERTRON PART 9 
X-FILES SEASON 10 #9

by Jake Douglas

The legendary George A. Romero was once quoted as saying the following:

“I was trying to come up with a concept about a new society, revolutionary... in political terms, that's taking over and devouring the old society.”

With, Night, Dawn, Day and Land of the Dead, Romero was obviously building up to this, each story becoming more epic than the last. This idea of a revolutionary society taking over the old one builds with the increasing apocalyptic nature of these stories.

With Diary and Survival of the Dead, it took that concept, which had been dangling in front of our faces, and whisked it away. We were instead treated to a more personal set of stories, which while still containing the brilliant social satire that we have all come to expect, falls short of the grand scope set up in the first four films.

Empire of the Dead, the new comic series written by Romero himself and illustrated by Alex Maleev, brings the idea of revolution back to the forefront, and slams the rotter's back in our faces, throwing a little social commentary our way too.

by Bob Bruno

Utilizing his incredible talent for high-concept science fiction and voicing intelligent characters, Jonathan Hickman takes the concept of a superhero Illuminati, and runs it all the way down the field.

Under constant threat from Incursions and the inter-dimensional adversaries they bring with them, the Illuminati reconstructs Reed Richards’ invention, the Bridge, to gain intelligence on the Mapmakers and the their masters, the Sidera Maris. Meanwhile, the Sorcerer Supreme barters at the Sinner’s Market for even more power.

It’s writers like Hickman that remind us why it’s good to be an Avengers fan and a comic book fan in general. I like it when my heroes are challenged, especially in ways that don’t feel phony, forced or trite, and in this, Hickman has overwhelmingly triumphed with a story that’s gripping, and characters compelling. For those unfamiliar with the impetus of Hickman’s series long story arc, simply put: there’s a catastrophic problem with the multiverse. During cosmic events dubbed “incursions,” the dimensional walls surrounding a random pair of parallel Earths are weakened, forcing both planets into the same space until they collide, with the resulting energy unleashed from their destruction great enough to annihilate the entire parent universe. This problem is systemic and ongoing, incursions can strike any pair of Earths, at any time. The only reliable solution? Once an incursion begins, one planet needs to be destroyed before both collide.

by Lewis E. Ryan

East of West has now been running long enough for one trade to be issued and another one to be close at hand. So, with that in mind, now’s as good a time as any to delve into the intriguing world that writer Jonathan Hickman has crafted in his most recent creator-owned series.

East of West opens in ritual and rebirth as we find three eerie child-like creatures return to the world pondering the absence of their fourth.

We learn soon enough that they are three of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and that the one missing is Death. Like the denizens of Discworld in Terry Pratchett’s Soul Music they seem to have misplaced him, but that comparison is not to suggest that the tone here is light one. This is not Discworld and unlike the whimsical creatures that inhabit that place, the intent of War, Conquest and Famine is solemn and murderous.