Geek of Oz

Darkest Night: Act Three is the latest chapter in Hayden Fryer's dark and brooding comic book drama series. Concluding the first story arc, 'Love', the issue is both written and illustrated by Fryer. While reading this latest installment I almost had to pinch myself: could this series really be from the same guy that brought us Billy Demon Slayer, a story that featured a teen's chainsaw-handed rampage through heaven? Don't get me wrong I love Billy for what it is, but Darkest Night represents something much more sophisticated. It's single minded in both visual and narrative tone, intricately paced and dialogue is used sparsely for the most part, but to great effect. This series has proven to be a real master-class in effective visual storytelling with this latest installment being no different. Act Three opens with protagonist Caleb Marcus catching up with his mates for some beers, the culmination of the positive note that Act Two left u...

Danger Club is an easy comic to pass on the shelf. It's got superheroes. It's got violence and it aims to be edgy. It's all stuff we see time and time again in the creator owned comic-book scene in the form of books like Hell Yeah, Irredeemable, Invincible and, of course, the book that started it all, Kick-Ass. What could be all too easily palmed off as another overly violent super hero "what-if" is actually a thought provoking and original story. Danger Club is a series that boldly combines Silver Age comic book sensibilities with Kick-Ass style violence to great effect. It's a wonderful homage to superheroes that both embraces and transcends the genre.

Beardy and the Geek are back and this time we talk to one of the men behind the phenomenal Winter City.  Patrick Purcell and his brother Carl have scripted a neo-noir detective story that revolves around a mysterious, masked and murderous man who makes his mark through meticulously mapped moments of mayhem... or similar. Back in June I reviewed the first few books and loved it so it was great to have a chat to one of it's main men, Patrick Purcell. Check out the full podcast after the jump!

As you should know by now, we here at Geek of Oz love us some Aussie comics. So we feel it only fair that we spread the word on an upcoming comic book event that should not be missed!  Melbourne based publishing house  FEC COMICS  is holding a massive extravaganza to launch 3 of their newest titles. So, for all the details on a comic event that shouldn't be missed follow on after the jump!

It is unreasonable and entirely unfair to review an independent comic book under the same conditions as one that was published by the big guys. Sure, the indie book will be less polished and probably of a lower quality in terms of packaging, but what you do get is so much more valuable. In an independent, creator-owned comic book, you get the true story that the creator wishes to tell, the story that has been mulling around in their head for years before finally oozing out of the nearest orifice, transforming into a beginning, middle and an end. Eric Orchard is Marrowbones and Marrowbones he. He is the man who does the scratchy drawings that are cute and a tad spooky, until you look at them for too long and they become menacing, threatening. On the surface of it, Eric Orchard's Marrowbones is a simple story about a young girl who works in a strange inn. Of course, in having the story introduced by a mechanical skeleton we are given fair warning as to what lunacy lies ben...

Every now and then I receive an email out of the blue asking if I would like to review a comic, generally independent comics, and generally titles that are brimming with heart. Not heart in the sense that they are touchy feely but heart in the sense that you can almost feel the blood, sweat and sleepless nights that these creators have put on the page, so is the feeling that I get from Killeroo: Gangwar.

Long time followers of The Geek of Oz will know that I have a massive soft spot for all ages comics. If you're not familiar with this fact, go read my rant  on the subject and then come straight back... I'll wait here while you do... Aussie independent publishers, Gestalt , bring us The Deep: Here be Dragons, an original graphic novel which is like a crazy mix of SeaQuest DSV and Man of Action's Ben 10. Being written and illustrated by fellow Aussies (Tom Taylor & James Brouwer) is just another bonus and a source of immense pride. "My family are explorers. We have been for generations. Some argue that there is nowhere left to explore, that everything on Earth that can be discovered has already been found. They say that to truly explore we need to leave our planet. While others look up to the starts, my family know that there are also an infinite number of things that shine brightly in the darkness blow. Most of our world lies unexplored, unexplained. T...

As far as themed variant covers go, this has to be up there with the best. It's great to see artists flexing their skills and showing us that they're not a just a bunch of funny book doodlers but a group of extremely talented artists and undoubtedly just as much art geeks as comic geeks. Without a doubt my favourite is Alex Maleev's take on Egon Schiele.

My pull list has started to get way out of control, no thanks to Brubaker. This guy is sending me broke. I was actually thinking, although briefly, that I could pass on Winter Soldier but after seeing Guice's art I don't think I can resist. Check out some unlettered pages after the jump.

From the mind of Marc Jackson, an award winning* cartoonist, comes Man From Space . The "*" following the "award winning" statement is an absolute must as without it, people would be at risk of believing it. Alternatively you could read said statement, not believe it, yet still find yourself pondering if there was something that you missed... something that required a higher level of brain function to properly receive and digest this piece of high art. In short, you don't and you didn't.

American Dark Age by writer Jean Michel and artist Jacqueline Taylor is the first release from New York based independent publisher, Megabrain Comics. Great art? Check. Intriguing storyline? Check. Pretty rock chick with a bad attitude and a broad sword? Check, one, two!

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #1 Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS Penciled by SARA PICHELLI Cover by KAARE ANDREWS (Cover will be POLYBAGGED) Variant Cover by SARA PICHELLI I was a massive fan of the original Ultimate Spider-Man run which lasted for 133 issues and nearly 10 years. Following its "cancellation" and rebirth I decided not to get it, partially for monetary reasons but also out of some stupid brand of protest which is almost exclusive to we geeks "I love it so much that I refuse to get it because of changes made". I'm sure we've all done this at one point or another. In fact, I'm quite sure that there are many of us out there doing the exact same thing in retaliation to the DC relaunch and Lucas' latest changes to Star Wars. But, I digress...

I don't want anyone out there to think that I'm in any way a technophobe or an old fuddy duddy because that's not the case. I love technology, I could not live without it. Technology boils water for my cups of tea, it cooks my crumpets and it keeps my whites white and my colours bright. The problem is that I just can't imagine getting the same level of satisfaction from reading digital comics and books as I do from the "real" thing. And for some reason I can imagine that many geeks would feel the same. I just realised much "cooks my crumpets" sounds like a sexual metaphor.