Geek of Oz

Read, Watch, Play! is back this week with another one of our special episodes! Who doesn't love special extra content? With the Sydney Opera House's annual GRAPHIC festival on last weekend, Christof and I managed to grab an interview with the comic creator behind Multiple Warheads,   King City and Prophet , Brandon Graham. The phrase 'nicest guy in comics' gets thrown around a lot, but you really would be hard pressed to find a creator more generous, open and personable than Brandon. He kindly gave up a few hours of his short stay in Sydney to chat about his time as a graffiti artist, his art and of course his comics. For those of you not familiar with his work, Brandon is known for his intricate urban environments, love of puns and drawing some of the roundest butts in comics. Recently he has been responsible for writing (and sometimes drawing) the reboot of Rob Liefeld's Prophet as well as   editing and curating Island Magazine   both   from Image C...

So this weeks a big 'un. Yes, I am well aware we say that every time, but this episode is actually our longest yet! Plus for the first time since episode one we are back to four panellists WOOOOOO. Joining me in the studio, and by studio I do mean my lounge room, are Stu (who is yet to miss an episode), Chris (The prodigal son of Geek of Oz) and special guest Paul Caggegi. Paul is a Sydney based comics creator, know for his sci-fi series Pandeia. As well as dad jokes, Paul had a lot of great insights into the comics making process, visual storytelling, indie comic economics and marketing your books. Seriously this is episode is a must for all you aspiring comics creators out there!!! You can find out more about Paul and grab PDF's of Pandeia volume one (collects issues 1-5) and Pandeia issue 6 here . Be sure to get in quick as they are currently on sale for the low-low price of just 99c! As always we thrive on your feedback, so please let us know what you like/love/d...

Jonathan Hickman has carved quite the name for himself in the world of comica. Where Grant Morrison is associated with psychedelic trips, Mark Millar with high-octane ultra-violence, and Brian Michael Benids with superhero soap operas, Hickman has his reputation firmly planted in his love of high concept science fiction and intricate plots. Seriously, no one does sci-fi quite like Hickman, and the first time I read one his books, the first volume of The Manhattan Projects, it took me a solid week to process what I had just read. He's a skilled writer with a unique voice to say the least, but there is one slight problem, his schtick is starting to wear thin on me. Hickman has such a clear and definitive writing style that often his characters become overpowered by it, reduced to cogs in the overarching plot machine. Don't get me wrong, I love what the man does, but I would just like to see him change it up a little and tell more character driven stories in his creator ow...

LOW #1 (Released 30th of July) Story by: Rick Remender, Art by: Greg Tocchini Chris: Low is best described as Finding Nemo meets BioShock, if the opening issue is any indication. It does take most of its page count to get to the central thrust of the narrative, but once it does it manages, much like one character does to another near the end, to really hook you in. I’ll admit my initial desire to read Low was because of its cover. No other reason; I had no idea the story was about an underwater colony of humans looking for a new world, nor that it would end with the two children of our parental protagonists getting captured by a guy stealing a genetically-encoded Big Daddy suit. I just saw that cover by Greg Tocchini and my jaw dropped. It’s the kind of art Fiona Staples might make if she lived in Rapture. While it’s not as attention-grabbing as its cover, Low still manages the task of giving me enough story to make me want seconds. It’s a narrati...

So, as you probably didn't notice, there was no Image-ine All the Reviews for last weeks books. Unfortunately, this little thing known as 'real life' occasionally prevents us from spending all our time writing about comics and wishing we had a cool sidekick, and a  skin-tight  leather costume (well maybe that last one's just me). Anyway without further  adieu,  feast your eyes on this weeks tasty books from Image - Christof RED CITY #2 Witten by: Daniel Corey Art by: Mark Dos Santos Chris:  I feel like Red City ’s really trying to be more than it is in some places. There’s clear evidence of a complex, multi-faceted universe replete with political machinations and a host of interesting alien species. It’s the kind of vast, deep setting that a great sci-fi writer like J. Michael Straczynski or Iain Banks could make a good story out of. Unfortunately for Red City , both its story and universe are not good. Where once was an attempt at...

Last weekend I the chance to have an exit interview with Ryan Ferrier after his mini series D4VE finished. We talk about the series and what he has instore next. Billy Tournas: Ryan, thanks for sitting down with me today. Since we last spoke your miniseries D4VE from Monkeybrain comics has ended. Ryan Ferrier: It’s come and gone. Yes with its finite ending. How has it been since the ending? It’s been real bitter sweet for Valentin and myself. It was Awesome in that people seemed to really enjoy it, but it was also really hard to see it end just because as a team we were firing on all cylinders, and it was a lot of fun. A lot of people didn’t realise it was done in 5 issues and were saying that there were surprised that issue #5 was the last one. So it kind rang true for us too. We were like “Aww man this sucks that it’s over”. But it’s been really cool. Which was your favourite issue? That is a tough one. I think I had a lot of fun with issue #3. I felt like ...

We are back for another week to bring you the title which caught our eye from Image's shiny new titles. While I stay very firmly in my comfort zone and deliver yet another Mark Millar review (what can I say? I'm a bit obsessed) new recruit Chris checks out the space-noir RED CITY #1 . Hope you enjoy our reviews as much as we enjoyed writing them. As always please let us know if you checked out any of these books and agree or disagree with us! - Christof STARLIGHT #4 Written by Mark Millar Art by Goran Parlov Christof: Another week sees another title from Mark Millar and his Millarworld brand. Unlike the bulk of Millar's work, Starlight has been surprisingly heartfelt, reveling more in nostalgia and emotion than the over the top cussing and violence Millar is usually known for.  Starlight #4 sees retired swash-buckling hero, Duke McQueen, busted from prison by rebel leader Tilda Starr.  This leads to some thrilling jet pack shenanigans and is undou...

After a week off we are back to bring you our picks from Image comic's new releases. I check out Southern Bastards #2 and C.O.W.L #1 from last weeks stack, whilst my partner in crime Billy gives us his take on Five Weapons #9 which came out this week - Christof Southern Bastards #2 Written by Jason Aaron Art by Jason Latour Christof:  I’ve been surprised by how much I've been enjoying  Southern Bastards . Even though it's geographically and culturally grounded in America's deep south, in the wonderfully named Craw County, there’s something so universal about the story that Jason Aaron and Jason Latour are weaving. It's about trying to forge your own path, about home coming, and of course it's about hillbillys.Can't have the deep south without hillbillys. This second issue sees Earl Tubb come face to face with Coach Boss (yes that is his name), the big bad crime boss who's been slowly taking over Craw County. As well as beginning to hin...

Christof and Billy start an all-new column featuring some of the choice Image Comics released this past week. Check them out below and tell us what you think as well! MPH #1 Written by Mark Millar Art by Duncan Fegredo Christof: Mark Millar hasn't been shy about his intentions to create what he has dubbed 'The Marvel Universe for the 21st century'. Which of course involves drug use, gangs, gratuitous violence and lots and lots swearing. That's what all the cool kids are into right? And Mark Millar is nothing if not one of the cool kids. The latest in his line of 'Millar World' books is MPH a story about a couple of down-and-out kids from Detroit who stumble upon a pill that gives them super human speed for seven days. This first issue very much sets it all up. We meet Roscoe, a likable and ambitious drug dealer who wants to make his money and then go clean. Well that is until his supplier sets him up and he lands in jail. Queue magic pill....

Before I jump into this review I feel I should come clean; I'm no TopCow fan. Although I've dabbled with some of their titles from time to time, their roster of characters have never really resonated with me. I blame this almost exclusively on my personal taste although the intimidating continuity of the TopCow universe has always been a turn off. This probably begs the question as to why on earth I am here reviewing Artifacts #34. The answer is twofold; for starters it's a one-shot so is free from the entanglement of continuity but more importantly it's written by Eugene Ward and illustrated by Martin Gimenez, both of whom have never been professionally published before. It's always a real thrill to see new talent, something the incestuous comic book industry could always use more of. Artifacts #34 is a self-enclosed tale starring Ian Nottingham, the bearer of the mystical artifact known as the Blood Sword. This 22 page thrill ride sees Ian c...