My top 5 Shockng Moments in comics

I've heard people say that comics are for children and while there are many great "all-ages" comics there are a lot more comics that I wouldn't let within 100 meters of a child. Comics have many many moments that are both violent and shocking for readers so I have decided to list my top 5 shocking moments in comics that made me say "Well I didn't see that coming". Warning the following images contain violence and gore and may be disturbing for some readers.

Yarrr thar be spoilers ahead!

When this guy shows up there are always spoilers ahead

#5 Rachel Rising - Zoe's First Appearance

When we first meet Zoe she is an 11 year old little girl who has a ballerina poster above her bed, drinks out of a teddy bear cup and wears fuzzy bunny slippers all of these just add to the shock factor when she smashes her stepsister over the head with a frying pan and then smothers her with cling wrap.

#4 Morning Glories - Fortunato's Eyes

Morning Glories has never shied away from violence but nothing has been truly quite so shocking and unexpected as what happened to Fortunato after he was captured. The sadistic Miss Daramount feels her control over the students slipping so she decides to make an example of the already imprisoned Fortunato by gouging out his eyes with her own hands.

#3 The Walking Dead - Billy & Ben

The walking dead has had fans shocked and horrified since it first began in 2003 but nothing left me as stunned as what Ben did to Billy. Ben and Billy were twin boys in the original group of survivors, about 5 or 6 years old and later adopted by Dale and Andrea. We already see that Ben is starting to slip mentally after he is seen cutting up a dead cat that it is heavily implied he killed but what happens next is not something that anybody saw coming. When the twins are off in the woods Andrea goes to find them and what she sees is Ben kneeling over Billy's mutilated body as he turns and simply says "Don't worry, he's going to come back. I didn't hurt his brains."

#2  Thor - Dario Agger's Pirates

Dario Agger is the C.E.O. of Roxxon Energy Corporation, described as "the world's wealthiest psychopath" and "occasional minotaur". Agger tells a story to Malekith, the dark elf, how he got his minotaur powers when pirates invaded his father's private island when he was just a boy. As sad as Agger's story is its not as shocking as what happened after. Agger used his enormous wealth and advanced technology to keep the pirate's heads alive, not the whole pirate just the head forced to stare at Agger's success for as long as Agger decides they should be punished.

#1 Chew - Toni's Fate

Chew is a comic that is both goofy yet extremely violent but it never has the impact of shocking the reader quite as much as when we discover Toni's fate. Toni is kidnapped by the vampire who then eats her arms and legs in an attempt to learn her secrets and then snaps Toni's neck killing one of Tony's greatest allies and one of our favourites.

In The Local Pocket #2 - Fly The Colour Fantastica

Fly The Colour Fantastica

This year at Supa Nova as I wandered through the artist alley, looking at local comics, art and sketches, a book caught my eye. This book was so beautiful I went straight over to the stall and had already decided I wanted to buy whatever they were selling. Fortunately for me the lovely ladies at the stall were selling a comic anthology called Fly The Colour Fantastica which ended up being one of my favourite purchase at Supa Nova this year.

Just gorgeous

A comic anthology is a collection of short comics usually with a similar theme running through each comic, in the case of Colour Fantastica all the comics were written and illustrated by 12 Australian, female artists. Some of the stories are happy, some sad, some mysterious but all of them touching and beautiful. I could tell you about all the comics in the book but it is more fun if you buy it and discover them for yourself so I will tell you that my favourite is Chapter 1: Serendipity, which is about a boy who meets a mermaid.

Serendipity by Natasha Sim

I'm always cautious about writing my interpretation of wordless comics because I want you to read them and interpret them yourself but I will say that with most of the comics having little to no dialogue you really feel the stories. Some of the stories may take you back to your childhood, some will bring you to the present day and others will take you to how you hope the future will be but all of them will make you think and all of them will make you feel.

Every single comic in Colour Fantastica has amazing art, I was not disappointed in any of the art styles and they complimented each other beautifully. You can see many of the styles have a Japanese influence and as the name suggests all the comics have a fabulous use of colour.

I could write for pages and pages all the great things about Colour Fantastica but the main thing is that I love it and I want everyone else to love it too. I would recommend Colour Fantastica to first time comic readers, long term comic readers, art fans and anybody that loves colour.

I give Fly The Colour Fantastica 4.5 out of 5 big yellow monsters.

Get your copy of Fly The Colour Fantastica here.

You can find out more about the artists here.

11 of the 12 creators

It is always a thrill to go to conventions and actually meet the creators of local comics and at this year's Supa Nova I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Alisha Jade the writer of Freedom.

Alisha isn't in the picture above with the other creators so she gets her own picture.

My Top 5 Tragic Characters In Comics

Comic Books have changed a lot since the days of super heroes that are entirely good and villains that are entirely evil. Now days we have heroes that make tragic mistakes and whose motives aren't always 100% clear and complicated villains who are capable of good. Both heroes and villains can have tragic back stories invoking pity and sympathy from the reader.

WARNING THAR BE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

The spoilers pirate strikes again

#5
Rufus from Killeroo

Rufus, a genetically engineered kangaroo, was created as a weapon for a war that never happened he is now shunned by both humans and animals. Rufus fights his strong urges for violence focusing it on those he feels deserve punishment and death such as murders and rapists. Rufus belongs nowhere and fights his violent urges while truly wanting to do good. Killeroo is a local Australian comic by Darren Close. Get your copy of Killeroo here.

#4
Harley Quinn from Batman

We all know Harley Quinn and the incredibly messed up relationship she has with the Joker but her wild, bubbly and sparatic behaviour often make people forget how tragic her story really is. Harley Quinn truly believes that the Joker loves her so much so that she gave up her previous life as a psychiatrist to help spread the Joker's madness. Harley is abused and tossed aside by the one she loves so much she would give her life for all the while making excuses for him and blaming Batman for her troubles. I find the saddest part of Harley Quinn's story is that she neither wants nor will ever accept the help she truly needs to overcome her madness, toxic lifestyle and abusive relationship.

#3
Zoe from Rachel Rising

Zoe doesn't seem like a tragic character while reading Rachel Rising due to her sarcastic attitude and cute appearance but when you really think about her story it is pretty bad. Housing a demon named Malus inside her for decades Zoe is permanently 11 years old until Malus is exorcised by Zoe attempting to slit her own wrists. Zoe is told by Malus that she will give birth to the Antichrist when she is only 15 years old. Zoe is also a serial killer wielding Satan's blade. Zoe is not higher on the list because she has Rachel, Jet and Aunt Johnny to care for her and they have a somewhat dysfunctional but happy family.

#2
Carl Grimes from The Walking Dead

Can't even get into an M rated movie on his own but still more bad ass than you

Carl begins the series as a wide eyed young boy but the new world he is forced to live in takes a massive toll on him. Carl is forced to shoot his Shane, his father's best friend and a man who was like an uncle to him, after watching him attempt to kill his father. Carl's mother and baby sister are killed in a raid by the Governor, he sees numerous members of his group killed by zombies, secretly executing another young boy named Ben after he murdered his own twin brother as he honestly didn't understand why he shouldn't, being shot in the face and losing an eye. All of this before the age of 8. The most tragic thing about Carl is the loss of innocence and childish wonder his own father wonders if he would be better off dead because feels Carl has lost so much of himself.

#1
The Talon from Batgirl.

Her family was killed by a balloon bomb during world war 2 and she was horrifically scarred. She was then recruited by The Court Of Owls and trained to be an assassin. Placed in cryo-sleep for decades she wakes up only to be used as a tool by The Court Of Owls. She can hardly read or write, doesn't speak and has nobody to care for her but even with all these things she is not without sympathy for others and the ability to take joy in something as simple as a box of coloured crayons.

Star Wars: Princess Leia #1 - I really need to rewatch those movies

Star Wars: Princess Leia #1

Let me be clear that I have not watched Star Wars since I was a kid and most of my knowledge comes from the Family Guy Star Wars specials but what I do remember is Princess Leia. Princess Leia was strong, smart, she fought back, she used a blaster and she actively participated in battles, she was cool. When I saw the cover of Princess Leia #1 I was hoping it would keep true and she would stay an ass kicking rebel fighter. Fortunately I was not disappointed.

I'm not entirely sure how she gets that helmet on with that hair

Princess Leia is written by Mark Waid, penciled by Terry Dodson, Inked by Rachel Dodson, colours by Jordie Bellaire and published by Marvel comics.Princess Leia #1 takes place immediately after the end of the last movie, The Return Of The Jedi, as the ceremony to honor Luke Skywalker and Han Solo for their services comes to an end. Many of her subjects mock Leia for the lack of visible mourning for her people after her home planet of Alderaan has been destroyed by the first Deathstar. Leia soon finds out that the empire is hunting down any remaining survivors from Alderann as revenge for the rebellion's recent victory. Leia expresses her wishes to search for the remaining survivors and is told that now she would best serve the rebellion by mourning for her people and essentially being a spokesperson for the rebellion. Leia knows she can do more than just represent her people so she enlists the help of a pilot named Evaan and the ever helpful R2D2 and sets out on a rescue mission to save what little is left of her culture and her people.

Pew pew pew!

The art in Princess Leia is gorgeous with it's deep colours, expressive faces and hair that would be able to hold it's own in a Pantene commercial. The visuals are similar to that of the movies and keep you immersed in the Star Wars universe with familiar technology and clearly recognisable characters.

You may of heard of these guys

When I first started reading Princess Leia and I saw the character of Evaan was a female I was worried they were going to go the "OMG!!!!! BEST GAL PALS FOREVER BFFS!!!!" relationship between the two characters and I'm very glad they didn't as the dynamic of Evaan not being able to stand Leia as they try and work together is far more interesting than if they just suddenly became best friends simply because they are both women.

Shut down!

Comic books that tie into movies can often be of poorer quality usually suffering in the story but Princess Leia could be a completely stand alone series needing very little back story to continue with the story. Yes, we know the characters and yes we know how they got to this point but the story still makes sense if you didn't know all of these things.

I give Star Wars: Princess Leia 3.5 out of 5 Princesses with blasters.

New Comic Book Day Swag Bag 18.4.2015

New Comic Book Day Swag Bag 18.4.15

Howard The Duck #2: Howard meets up with Rocket Raccoon while in the clutches of The Collector.

Spread Volume #1: The world is overrun by some sort of evil and one baby may be Earth's only hope.

Angela Asgard's Assassin #5: We know why Angela has kidnapped the heir to Asgard now what does she plan to do about it?

Revival #29: We find out what Edmund's plan is but will it be in time to stop it?

Run Love Kill #1: A spy story, don't now much about this one but the name caught my eye.

Curb Stomp #2: The first stone has been thrown, let the war begin.

Rat Queens #10: How will it all end? With secrets revealed will hearts be broken?

 Shutter #11: Has Kate made a terrible mistake?

Thor #7: Thor fights the destroyer. Meanwhile Odinson is still trying to figure out the new Thor's secret identity

Southern Cross #2: What really happened to Braith's sister and just what exactly is happening on board the Titan.

Guardian's Of The Galaxy Best Story Ever #1: Star Lord and Rocket argue about what exactly happened in their recent voyage

The Big Con Job #1: A bunch of washed up convention celebrities decide to band together with a plan.

Saga #27: You just know this one is going to hit you right in the feels.

The Uncanny Inhumans #0: A lot of hype for this one.

5 Video Games That Need A Comic Book

There are many comic books that become movies and video games but there are not many video games become comic books which is a huge waste of untapped imagination that could make for some truly interesting comics. I've chosen my top 5 video games that would make great comic books that could continue the lore of the world and development of the characters we already know and love.

#5 Pikmin

Pikmin was released for the GameCube in 2001 and followed Captain Olimar after he crash lands on a mysterious planet and discovers small creatures called Pikmin that aid him in repairing his damaged ship. A comic series that would follow the adventures of the pikmin after Olimar's departure would make a fantastic all ages comic that would just be cute as a Pikmin's flower.

#4 Banjo-Kazooie

Like most people born in the 90's I played a lot of Nintendo 64 growing up and one of the games I spent a massive amount of time playing was Banjo-Kazooie. Banjo-Kazooie was released in 1998 and is about a bear named Banjo and a bird named Kazooie, who lives in Banjo's backpack, setting out to rescue Banjo's sister, Tooty, from the evil witch, Gruntilda, before she steals her beauty. Banjo-Kazooie is funny, colourful, had many diverse and unusual characters and broke the fourth wall constantly. Bringing all these things into a comic book would make for a fantastic comedy series that would be wacky, weird and wonderful.

#3 Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger is one of my absolute favourite games ever, it just has the most fantastical story and characters that you just love from the moment you meet them. Chrono Trigger was released in 1995 and is a time travelling adventure story that takes place across diverse times and landscapes, with the original art done by the man behind Dragon Ball Z, Akira Toriyama, it just begs to be explored in a print form.

#2 Bioshock

Bioshock was released in 2007 and takes place in a destroyed underwater society, called Rapture, that was once a utopia. A comic series that documented the rise of Rapture, the discovery of the power granting ADAM, the rebellion and finally the glorious Rapture's fall into a broken dystopia would be remarkable. It would be dark, it would be foreboding, it would be brilliant.

#1 Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

Skyrim, first released in 2011, is a enormous open world in which you complete quests that may involve fighting dragons, trolls, bandits and collecting humming plants. One of the best things about Skyrim is that there is no set path for your character, you can spend hundreds of hours playing before you even start the main story. If a comic was made about the playable character it would lose a lot of the freedom that makes the game so enjoyable however there are countless stories about the history, legends and lore of the Elder Scrolls universe. Lots of different mini-series could be made about the different legends from the Daedric Princes to the Wolf Queen the possibilities are almost endless.

Supanova 2015

This year I attended Supanova for the first time and while I have attended other conventions before I have never had as much fun as I did traversing the colourful jungle that was Supanova Pop Culture Expo. The first piece of advice I can give you is if it is a two day event try and go both days because you will just not be able to do it all in one day.

You can always tell your on the correct train when heading to a convention but the number of cosplayers you see on the train with you. Everybody was excited and chatting amongst themselves and to complete strangers, talking about costumes, tv shows, movies, comics and the celebrities that would be attending. One of the greatest things about attending conventions is getting to meet the wonderful people and share the things you love with them because tomorrow the person standing next to you will be a strangers but today they are family.

Also I got to ride on the train with Jesus

My favourite part of any convention or event are the cosplays, I just love them! I love seeing people work so hard to put their costumes together, I love seeing people take photos with their favourite characters and I even love seeing people in hastily thrown together costumes because even though they may not be able to sew or afford to buy a costume they still join want to join in the fun. I saw cosplayers ranging from a Tiny Super baby to an older lady dressed as Professor Umbridge.

This lovely lady snapped into character every time a camera was pointed at her

The amount of stalls and shops available is just unbelievable and can be overwhelming the first time you enter. The best advice I can give you is not to get to excited and spend all your money at the first stall you see, make sure you keep an eye out for smaller, independent stalls because it's a great opportunity to pick up local comic books, art, clothing, jewellery and out of the ordinary things but don't ignore the larger stalls completely as it's also a great chance to collect that elusive figurine you've been searching for.

Everybody needs a giant Hulk

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Supanova was to meet some local comic book creators especially Mike Speakman & Matty Taylor creators of Carmen and Chris Mcquinlan creator of How To Make A Friend as I am a big fan of both of these comics. Meeting these local creators was a big deal for me and all three were absolutely lovely and really just made my whole weekend.

Not only did I meet creators that I already knew of I got to meet some other creators of some really cool books, my favourite new pick up would probably be Fly The Colour Fantastica a comic anthology put together by an all female team of 12 Australian artists. I got to meet a few of the artist and had a fantastic conversation with one of the creators, Alisha Jade, about their influences and the comic industry in general.

Alisha was a cool chick

Conventions also give you the occasional opportunity to meet some of your favourite celebrities from tv and movies. This year I got to meet Manu Bennett who plays Crixus on Spartacus and George Takei who plays Sulu from the original Star Trek series. Both were absolutely lovely and were seemingly unbothered by my weird fangirl grin face. Last year when I attended Oz Comicon I lined for hours to get my photo tokens and then again for the photo session, and while it was worth the wait, the amount of time just standing around ate into the day and enjoyment of the Comicon experience. This year I wanted to avoid spending such a large amount of time lined up so I decided to purchase my photo tokens at the end of the first day and get my photos on the second day which worked much better as I found that I could walk straight up to the counter to obtain the photo tokens and only spent about 20 minutes lining up for photo sessions. The organisers were very successful in having the crowd stay in an orderly line and ensured that the photo sessions were kept moving without feeling like it was rushed through.

Manu Bennett hugged me ^_^

George Takei said I looked like I was having fun

I picked up many fun things at Supanova this year including comic books, stickers, badges, brooches (I love badges & brooches), figurines, jewellery, art, sketches and caricatures and as much fun as all these things are the experience of meeting people I look up to in the comic world, meeting new creators, getting to spend time with like minded people, meeting celebrities I admire, the random things that happened and getting to show my mother around her first convention (that's right Mama Jane's Mama attended) were worth more than all of those things put together.

I' don't know why Death and horse head guy were facing off but they stood like this for 10 minutes

I had a marvelous time at Supanova this year and I would highly recommend going if you ever get the chance. I give my Supanova experience a 5 out of 5 Giant Iron Man suits
If you'd like to see more photos from Supanova check them out on my Facebook

My Top 5 Geeky Items For $30 Or Less

I'm a sucker for online shopping (especially when I'm drunk) and I love ordering little nerdy items, some made by fellow geeks and others made by companies that are probably run by fellow geeks. I could just put up a link to thisiswhyimbroke.com but unfortunately I'm not made of money so I put together a list 5 of the coolest things you can get for under $30.

#5 Geeky Jewellery

I have one of these you can get one here

Websites like Etsy are overflowing with great little finds such as Captain America earrings, Pokémon bracelets & Batman pendants. You will find something to suit almost any tastes for a very reasonable price.
Cost: $2.50 - $30.00+
Get yours here
 
#4 Pop! Vinyl figures

Let's just say I have a few

These things are everywhere and they are just great. They make these Pop! figures of almost everything from Avengers to classic movie monsters to Disney. They are adorable, cheap and chances are they will have characters from your favourite geeky hobby.
Cost: $15.00 - $30.00
Get yours here

#3 Create Your Own Comic Book Hero By EMCE Toys

Comes in male and female

I'm terrible at modelling, just awful, but it is still great fun to take time designing your hero and painting them to look the way you want or just winging it and throwing some colours on the model and seeing where it goes.
Cost: $6.00 - $8.50
Get yours here

#2 Adopt A Monster

This is Wendell, he's my monster

Who hasn't ever wanted their own monster? You pick 4 features and you will receive a digital version of your own personalised monster drawn by local artist Chris Mcquinlan.
Cost: $5 - $10
Get yours here

#1 Momot Paper Dolls

They are not as easy as they look to put together

Momot Paper Dolls come in 4 categories, Disney, Star Wars, Marvel and Blizzard, which you fold and glue together to make an adorable boxy character.
Cost: $25
Get yours here

New Comic Book Day Swag Bag 4.4.2015

New Comic Book Day Swag Bag 4.4.15

New comic book day has finally come again which also just happened to fall on the launch of Melbourne Comics Quarterly #2, so not only did I get to by a bunch of new comic books but I also got to meet some of the great local artists and writers.

Lady Killer #4: Josie has a hit out on her, how will she get out of this one?

Gotham Academy #6: Batman has interrupted the student's meeting with Killer Croc how will they get out of this one?

Chew #47: They are looking for Poyo, Colby is getting nervous.

Morning Glories #44: Dear God just tell me what is going on?!?!?

Wolf Moon #5: Cayce has decided to join Dillon on the hunt. Will they be able to finally end the hunt?

Spider-Gwen #1: What if Gwen got bitten by the radioactive spider instead of Peter?

God Hates Astronauts #7: I'm actually a little behind on my GHA reading.

Gotham Academy End Game #1: Another one-shot for the End Game special event. The students are on lock-down so they decide to tell Joker stories. Some of the stories they tell are actually pretty scary.

They're Not Like Us #4: Is Syd really going to kill her parents?

The Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw #5: The Champion hopefully has a plan for the conspirators before they make their move.

Wytches #5: Will Sailor escape? I haven't read this one yet because it will give me nightmares.

Cats Of Brunswick I have Touched: A local Mini Comic by Alex Clark about cats in Brunswick she has touched.

Effigy #3: Chondra attends a Star Cops Con to try and find any information on the murder victim

Ms. Marvel Volume #2: Who is the Inventor? Kamala goes full on fangirl when she meets one of her heroes.

Lumberjanes Volume #1: I've been waiting ages for this one to come out because every body seems to love Lumberjanes.

Melbourne Comics Quarterly #2: Another collection of local creator's work. I'm sad because I need to wait three months for the next issue to come out.

That Bullet Proof Kid #1: Issue one of the local comic That Bulletproof Kid. The creator Matt Kyme is just the nicest guy and signed my copy.

That All Star Bullet Proof Kid: A collection of short stories about Bulletproof from other local creators.

Here There Be Monsters - Don't trust fauns

Here There Be Monsters

Here There Be Monsters is written and illustrated by Verity Glass and is a wordless mini comic that is just beautiful and if you ask really, really nicely when you order your copy the lovely Verity Glass will sign and draw a little picture in it for you.

Advice to live by

Here There Be Monsters follows a boy who meets a faun who takes him to a fantastical world full of whimsical creatures but things may not be as wonderful as they seem. The story has a fairytale feel to it but more in the Grimm fairytale sense rather than Disney. I love Grimm fairy tales and Here There Be Monsters looks like it was pulled straight from the pages of the Grimm brother's stories.

I just love the cover

The art in this one is just enchanting, I absolutely adore work done in water colour and Here There Be Monsters is one of the greatest water colour works I have come across. There are many monsters in this comic with lots of diverse looks as some have this delightfully, impish look while others border on the eerie and frightening.

Wow, just wow.

 The boy in this comic is as delightfully innocent as the children in old fairy tales. He falls into the world full of wonder and completely trusts the faun to show him this world.

Here There Be  Monsters is a fantastic little mini comic and draws you into its world with breathtaking art. I'd recommend picking up a copy to both art fans and comic readers alike.

I give Here There Be Monsters 3.5 out of 5 little monsters

 

Get your copy of Here There Be Monsters here

Verity Glass who wrote and illustrated Here There Be Monsters also has a shop on Etsy.com, which you can check out here, and is a wonderful artist and has some truly beautiful work ranging from beautiful prints to adorable little stickers. You should definitely check out her Facebook & twitter.