The Portent:Duende, published by Image Comics, 128 pages, $12.99.
Having reviewed issue one of this limited series months ago, I returned to it upon it’s release as a trade paperback collection. I’m glad I did. Writer/artist Peter Bergting may be new to the comics industry, this being his first project, but his is […]

Cyber Force/X-Men #1/26 pgs. & $3.99 from Top Cow and Marvel/ words: Ron Marz; art: Pat Lee/sold at comics shops.
Remember those TV commercials where peanut butter is accidentally mixed with chocolate to produce a surprisingly tasty new confection? Betcha never thought of CyberForce and the X-Men as confections, didja.
Think again.
Two of the most successful super-teams […]

Graphic Classics: H. P. Lovecraft(GC:HPL)/140 pgs.& #11.95, Eureka Productions/various artists & adapters /sold at comics and book stores and www.graphicclassics.com.
Many consider H.P. Lovecraft to be the greatest horror writer who ever lived. The great disappointment in that statement is “lived”: there will never be a new Lovecraft story. So the best one can hope […]

Captain America: Winter Soldier Vol. 2, published by Marvel Publishing, Inc., 136 pages, $14.99.
Where comics are concerned, I have to admit to being a continuity buff. I don’t agree with many of the decisions and directions of the Big Two publishers (Marvel and D.C. for any newcomers) these days. Regardless of my personal predilections, however, […]

The Hot Rock Glide/108 pgs., spiral-bound chapbook, $35 from Jill Mosley/sold at on-line auctions and at www.smilinjackart.com.
Smilin’ Jack was one of the earliest and longest running adventure comic strips. Beginning in 1933 and continuing until 1973, it fed the public’s hunger for everything aviation through the exploits of pilot Smilin’ Jack and an amazing supporting […]

Okko: The Cycle of Water #1 (of 4)/32 pgs., $3.95from Asp Comics/art and story by Hub/sold at comics and book stores and www.aspcomics.com.
 
“Okko the ronin heads a small group of demon hunters, wandering the realms of Empire” reads a blurb promoting a new comics title from Archaia Studios.
 
Are you surprised? Isn’t every manga […]

The Dreamland Chronicles: Book One/285 pgs. and $19.95 from Blue Dream/art and story by Scott Christian Sava/available in comics shops and bookstores and at www.thedreamlandchronicles.com.
Alex falls asleep to awaken to adventure in his dreams! This classic theme (possibly the origin of all storytelling) is explored in The Dreamland Chronicles: Book One, a massive volume […]

Note: Suspended Animation is a new weekly feature produced by Michael Vance.

Batman and The Monster Men, published by DC Comics, 144 pages, $14.99.
I love a good Batman tale. I’ve also always loved the work of Matt Wagner. Batman and The Monster Men would seem proof of the belief that you can’t lose when […]