Before Watchmen Nite Owl #1 - Another HUGE WOW!

Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 27th, the first issue of J. Michael Stracznski and Andy Kubert and Joe Kubert's Before Watchmen Nite Owl #1 will adorn the racks of Alternate Reality Comics (and finer comic book stores everywhere)! For some strange reason, Nite Owl was the Before Watchmen that I was least looking forward to, but right away at page one, J. Michael Stracznski, shows that he thoroughly knows this character (and other Watchmen characters who appear within the first issue) and his love for Moore and Gibbon's Watchmen shines through on every page. This is definitely a textbook example of how to write a first issue that will have everyone who reads it coming back for the remaining three issues! The real star on Before Watchmen Nite Owl #1 for me is Joe Kubert, who inks his son, Andy Kubert's pencils. Not to disrespect Andy Kubert's artistic talents, but I've always favored Papa Joe Kubert's art, so I was happy to see that Nite Owl #1 totally looks like a Joe Kubert drawn comic! Joe Kubert is 86 (!!) years old, but he's still very much a dynamic artist that can outdraw any ten artists (at least)! Before Watchmen Nite Owl #1, joins the other three Before Watchmen titles that have been released thus far, Minutemen, Silk Spectre, and The Comedian, as money back guarantee titles! I can't wait for the second issue of Nite Owl, but next week's Before Watchmen Ozymandias, with art by Jae Lee (!!) is sure to be another must have! This is truly one of the most exciting times to be a comic book fan in all the years I've been reading comics (since 1975!)!

Arizona Artists Event, next Saturday, June 30th!

Next Saturday June 30th, here at Alternate Reality Comics, from 3-7pm, we'll be hosting several great artists from Arizona, along with Las Vegas' Queen of Cosplay, Brieanna Brock (who's also a designer, model, coordinator and MC of many local events)! During the Alternate Reality Comics portion of this weekend (Saturday, June 30th from 3-7pm) we'll have fun raffle prizes and free beverages and snacks!

The fun starts the night before at Buffalo Wild Wings (190 West Craig) from 8:30-midnight, where they will be having a Drink n Draw (actually you'd don't have to do either of those to come out and visit!) meet up! And this fun weekend continues into Sunday July 1st at Maximum Comics (520 South Marks St. in Henderson, down from the Sunset Station) from 1-7pm! So you have three times to meet these artists, purchase art and prints from them and have what we guarantee will be a weekend you won't forget (and if you come to all three of the weekend's meeting spots, you'll triple your fun!)! We hope many of Ich Liebe Comics! readers and the Las Vegas comics community will come out to show these Arizona artists how strong the Vegas comics / cosplay community is!

Here's the facebook event page detail of the weekend, with the artists from Arizona who will be here:

June 29 at 8:00pm until July 1 at 5:00pm

Las Vegas is about to have Bohn Fever again!

Come with us on a road trip (or just come hang out if you're already a Vegas local!) and get to know us as we invade your city, your body, your mind. Heading up with yours truly, are some of Arizona's greatest locals:

Jeff Pina

Mickey Chaney

April Reyna

Big Chris

Anthony Delaney

and Shelby Robertson

Not to forget the Las Vegas Siren herself, Brieanna Brock. Starting on June 29th, you can start hanging out with us for the Drink & Draw happening at Buffalo Wild Wings, followed up by back to back store signings on June 30th, Alternate Reality Comics, and on July 1st, appearing at Maximum Comics.

I will have all new prints, sketch cards, and not to forget an all new exciting issue of Elvatron Chronicles!

We would all really love to have you come up, come over and sinning with us in Sin City. Further information below. And remember, folks: Support your local artists and local comic shops!

June 29th Drink & Draw: Buffalo Wild Wings (8:30pm - Midnight) 190 W Craig Rd Las Vegas, NV

June 30th Alternate Reality Comics (3:00pm - 7:00pm) 4110 S Maryland Parkway Las Vegas, NV

July 1st Maximum Comics (1:00pm - 5:00pm) 520 S Marks St Henderson, NV.

If anyone who reads this knows how to make paragraph breaks on this blog and could let me know, I'd appreciate that (I used to be able to do paragraph breaks and when I'm prepping the entry it looks the way I want it to, but when I actually post and view, everything now runs together). Thanks!

The Massive; Brian Wood & Kristian Donaldson

The Massive is Brian Wood's new series from Dark Horse Comics, beautifully drawn by Kristian Donaldson and colored by the always fabulous, Dave Stewart (who used to be in that 1980's band the Eurythmics - grin). What is The Massive about? The Massive takes place in our future, in which most of the planet Earth has been devastated by ecological / environmental disasters. The crew of the Kapital, a group of proactive environmentalists, are looking for their missing sister ship, The Massive, while also pondering what to do in a world as shell shocked as Earth has become, when they themselves feel like they've failed our planet. Anyone who has read Brian Wood comics such as Northlanders, DMZ, and Local, knows that a Brian Wood comic will be one of the most unique comics being published, populated with rich characters and high levels of intrigue, and The Massive, with just its first issue and its strong world building foundations, is really strong out of the gate, so if you're looking to break up your superhero reading, The Massive could very well be your go to new favorite title.

Before Watchmen Silk Spectre #1; Darwyn Cooke & Amanda Conner

Week 2 of the Before Watchmen releases brings us the first issue of Silk Spectre written by Darwyn Cooke (who writes and draws Minutemen) and Amanda Conner. This was an absolute delight, with Amanda Conner also bringing the best artwork she's EVER done and she has always been a great artist with a lot of range. Just look at the range of character facial expressions on this page and and tell me this isn't an artist on the top of her craft! Seriously, everyone is bringing their A game to these titles! Money back guarantee (this comes out tomorrow, Wednesday, June 13th)!

Before Watchmen Minutemen #1; Darwyn Cooke

I want to start off this entry by just cutting to the chase: Before Watchmen Minutemen #1, written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke is fantastic and was even better than I hoped it would be! Seriously, if you had any doubts about how a Watchmen comic would be sans Alan Moore, well just read Minutemen #1 and your concerns will be addressed. I'm going to say that if you don't like Minutemen #1, then this isn't the comic for you (and it's a money back guarantee comic at Alternate Reality Comics!). For those of you who aren't familiar with Darwyn Cooke, he wrote and drew the excellent Justice League story set in the 1960's, New Frontier, has adopted two Richard Stark Hunter crime fiction novels into two excellent graphic novels from IDW (with a third one scheduled for release in July), and did Batman Ego, which was a great Batman year one story. What is Before Watchmen, specifically Minutemen? Before Watchmen is exactly what it sounds like, stories that take place before Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's legendary Watchmen comic / graphic novel from 1986. Watchmen, is of course the pinnacle example of how to write (and draw) a comic book with superheroes and how the presence of said superheroes would entirely change the world. Watchmen is also one of the very best written comics ever, one that is so multi-layered that every time you re-read it, you'll find new amazing things you didn't notice on previous readings. There are many people who would argue that Watchmen is such a complete work that doing any other stories is akin to Citizen Kane having prequels. That's a good argument, but if you really want to see what an A list line up of comic book creators can do with these characters and the Watchmen world, well the seven different mini series that comprise Before Watchmen (three of them are six issues, four of them will be four issues in length) will be your ticket to fine fine comics if Minutemen is any indication of what's to come.

Batman: Death By Design

Batman: Death By Design is a new hardcover graphic novel (with its release being tomorrow, Wednesday, May 31st) written by award winning graphics designer, Chip Kidd and illustrated by Dave Taylor. There's another new hardcover Batman graphic novel coming out in July (Batman: Earth One by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank), but I'm glad that DC released Batman: Death By Design before that book because Batman: Death By Design definitely should not be overlooked!

Just look at this lush interior page from Batman: Death By Design as drawn by Dave Taylor, doesn't it evoke the artistic beauty of Moebius!? Well this entire graphic novel is a visual delight, with a story by Chip Kidd that features Batman in a 1930s setting that some may call an Elseworlds narrative (meaning it doesn't take place in "regular" DC Universe continuity). This is a very different kind of Batman story with the Gotham architecture factoring in heavily in the plot, but no less thrilling and a couple of Batman's rogue's gallery show up to great effect. Batman: Death By Design is an over-sized 105 page beautiful graphic novel with very interesting color work (also done by artist, Dave Taylor) for a mere $24.99!

Are You My Mother?; Alison Bechdel

The most anticipated graphic novel of the year has arrived! Said graphic novel is Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel, her first new long form sequential art memoir since her highly acclaimed Fun Home (which is mostly about her father, who was a closeted homosexual, and how it was growing up within a family that owned a funeral home) back in 2006. Having finished reading Are You My Mother? this past Sunday, I'm here to tell you that Alison Bechdel's new graphic novel memoir, which is mostly about her relationship with her mother, is every bit as excellent as Fun Home.

One of the reasons for the long interim between Fun Home and Are You My Mother? is, if I could be permitted to speculate, Alison Bechdel's wrestling with her relationship with her mother and how to best convey their divisions in a graphic novel memoir (additionally, while Bechdel's cartooning art style is very appealing to the eye, drawing is something that is a VERY long process for her). Another large aspect of Are You My Mother? is Alison Bechdel's sessions with therapists she's gone to and an examination of psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott.

Are You My Mother? does have odd traces of humor throughout, but ultimately, Are You My Mother? is Alison Bechdel's highly personal account of the difficulty her and her mother have relating to each other. While reading and upon finishing Are You My Mother?, you'll think about your own relationship with your mother, and while reflecting upon this isn't always as rewarding as you'd like, Are You My Mother? may very well help you better process your relationship with your mother as well as being a rich, engrossing look into Alison Bechdel and her mother's relationship. I give Are You My Mother? Ich Liebe Comics! highest recommendation (and I'll have more copies of Fun Home in next week)!