Comic Books

You got a fleeting glimpse at her at the end of The Walking Dead season 2 as a hooded stranger with two armless zombies in tow.

Today, everyone is getting their first look at Michonne (played by Danai Gurira), a character who was embraced by fans of the comic book and is making her series debut on AMC's third season of The Walking Dead.

Check out a larger version of the photo inside.  EW scored the exclusive.

“The essence of the character - her personality, her motives, everything that makes Michonne Michonne - remains intact from the comics,” series creator Robert Kirkman tells the outlet. “But like a lot of things on the show, there will be little tweaks and differences here and there. We saw that her introduction is slightly different from how it was in the comic, and her interaction with Andrea is really going to be a really cool addition to the character that I think will get television viewers up to speed, and they’ll get to know her a lot faster than comic book readers did.”

Although first announced in April, Variety is reporting the comic book Shambler is still being prepped for a screen adaptation.

Never heard of the comic?  Well, here's what the title's official site has to say about the story:  Dr. Samuel Pratt is a multi-doctorate scientist who is obsessed with raising the dead. But just as Sam is about to perfect his colossal breakthrough, an unfortunate series of circumstances puts him in conflict with organized crime. The mobsters kill Sam and take off with his irreplaceable research, hoping to sell the secret of immortality to the highest bidder. Pratt’s desperate fiancé and his shady lab assistants use the remaining prototype formula to bring him back to life. Humor mixes with horror as Pratt is resurrected and mummified, wrapped in police scene crime tape and out for revenge against the criminals who destroyed his life’s work. But time is against him. Sam must find a way to restore himself to true life before he denigrates into a mindless killing machine – the hulking anti-hero, who lurks in the shadows of LA’s underbelly, which the tabloids have dubbed: Shambler!

It's usually a bittersweet moment when a comic book becomes a video game.  As a fan, we get excited because it's our favorite comic book come to life and we get to be a part of it, but more often than not it's about as disappointing as when one of the "big two" announce a big summer event series and it is ultimately lackluster (looking at you Avengers vs X-Men).  Having said that, there are still plenty of comic books out there that could do with a good video game.

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that while I don't play a lot of video games, Batman: Arkham City really captured me as it did everyone else.  That game is nearly perfect and the same formula could be applied to essentially any comic book hero or series and it would work.  For the sake of not sounding repetitive, I've limited myself to only choosing the Arkham City formula for one series, just so we can have a wide variety of styles here.

Now, let's put something on the proverbial table here before we get cracking.  This list is, of course, my opinion and the style of video game that I've chosen for each comic book might not be what you consider “fun” or “cool” or whatever the kids say these days but it's what I like, so let's be cool in the comments section.

As The Walking Dead lurches into season 3, the canvas of characters is going to widen significantly.  If you're familiar with the comic, or if you saw the season finale of season 2, Rick Grimes and company are heading to a prison, albeit an abandoned one - or so they think.  Of the new characters they encounter, we know Michonne (Danai Gurira) - the samurai sword-wielding gal - is on the plate.  So is The Governor (David Morrissey).  But who else can we expect?

Cameras began rolling on The Walking Dead Season 3 and AMC has released the first promo video which takes you on the set.  The cast and crew preview what's to come, where the season picks up.  Producer Gale Anne Hurd reveals Ernest Dickerson - who helmed season 2's finale - is directing episode 301.  The season is described as messy, dark, hard and, apparently at some point, "love blossoms."  Head inside for the video!

Robert Kirkman, the creator/writer of The Walking Dead comic book series and graphic novels and Skybound announce their first event, The Walking Dead Escape: San Diego.

In conjunction with the release of The Walking Dead issue #100 at San Diego Comic-Con, the event takes place July 12 -15 at Petco Park, centrally located near the San Diego Convention Center. Registration is now open at TheWalkingDeadEscape.Com.

There are three ways to participate in this epic adventure. Participants can be a Survivor and race through the zombie infested evacuation zone; a Walker who becomes one of the undead, embracing the inevitable; or a Spectator who watches the apocalypse from sidelines at the Escape Party. 

The Walking Dead Escape: San Diego is unlike any obstacle course event in the U.S., expanding on the best-selling The Walking Dead comic book series and graphic novel storylines, allowing Survivors and Walkers to explore the initial days of the apocalypse. 

The Fringe is a place where non-horror genre films can get some play on Shock.  These films might be sci-fi, fantasy or action - and certainly contain some horror elements - but will likely be light on scares, or, straight-up "horror."  Still, they might be of interest to you.

Today, a bunch of viral madness was unleashed for The Amazing Spider-Man.

If you tinker around OscorpIndustries.com/AnimalDynamicsLab the word "Mutagen" formed. Adding that to the URL, OscorpIndustries.com/Mutagen gives you a first look at a new featurette which is all about The Lizard.

Edward R. Pressman, producer of such classic films as Wall Street, American Psycho, The Crow, Bad Lieutenant, and Das Boot, announced today that he has optioned the feature film rights for Archaia Entertainment’s acclaimed graphic novel Feeding Ground.

Created by Swifty Lang, Michael Lapinski, and Chris Mangun, Feeding Ground was the first full-length graphic novel to be published in hardcover simultaneously in English and Spanish. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is set to direct and screenwriter Carlos Coto will adapt for the screen.

Feeding Ground tells the story of a “coyote,” a trafficker of illegal immigrants, forced to smuggle his family into America by crossing the most forbidding part of the Arizona/Mexico border, a searing no-man’s-land known as “The Devil’s Highway.” Along the way, he and his family clash with U.S. Border Patrol agents, only to realize that the entire party is being hunted by the real monsters that roam the countryside - werewolves.

Superman series co-producer Pierre Spengler is lining up a slate of new projects in anticipation of the Cannes.  Screen Daily says he's bringing two genre projects to the festival's film market.  

The first being I Am Legion, a directing vehicle for Nacho Cerda (Aftermath, Abandoned) based on the comic book by Fabien Nury and John Cassaday.

French publisher Humanoids released the comic which was picked up in the U.S. by Devil's Due.  The synopsis goes like this: While the outcome of the war is in doubt, the Nazis frantically search for Ana, a girl with the ability to possess other bodies.

Richard Stanley is attached to write the script.

I'm always skeptical about “sequels” to properties. Like, a few years ago when an "official sequel" novel to Bram Stoker's Dracula written by his grand-nephew or something. Needless to say I don't really see a point in doing a sequel to something that wasn't intentionally thought of or doesn't have some sort of connection with the original creators, but it does happen and sometimes they're quite good. Frankesntein Alive, Alive! would certainly be in that category.

If there are two people in the comic book world that know monsters it's Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson. Being the creators of some of the most influential and memorable monster comics ever there's no need to check their credentials. Plus, with the two of them having worked with the Frankenstein monster before it only makes sense that they would team up to tell this story.

Frankenstein Alive, Alive! is a sequel to Bernie Wrightson's original graphic novel adaptation of Mary Shelley's original tale, making it a sequel to the original story in a sense. Now, the original Frankenstein book is one of my all time favorites so like I said earlier, I was skeptical, but considering I adore Niles and Wrightson's work I was slapped in the face for doubting them.

It seems I told a fib dear readers.  I promised you an extra long version of The Graveyard Shelf today and, alas, I was mistaken.  I had it in my head that there were at least four or five comics that I didn't get a chance to review in the last week - turns out there were only two.  So, prepare yourself for an average-length Graveyard Shelf, but don't confuse that with average quality, for you shall be disappointed!

The TV show and comic book have gone on very different paths, but one thing has remained constant: The Walking Dead characters constantly face tough choices.  Kill a zombie or sneak past it?  Risk your life for supplies or escape to safety and hope for a better opportunity later?  Chop a dude’s hand off or leave him to do it himself?  It provides a lot of “What would I do in that situation” type thinking, so it’s no surprise that the franchise’s first video game is all about choices, with minimal action.  

And who better to deliver that sort of gameplay-lite approach to a big license than Telltale Games, who have tackled Jurassic Park and Back To The Future as well?  I’m sure some folks would prefer a Resident Evil type survival horror adventure game, but this version actually fits the approach of the comic quite nicely – lots of talk, lots of characters, minimal but just enough action to keep you interested…in terms of the original work’s spirit, it’s probably one of the most successful licensed games in recent memory.

Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to Monsterpalooza this year - which sucks because I was looking forward to getting a hand on look at the new Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave comic book series.

The series is in the same vein as the old school Eerie and Creepy comics, and the modern equivalent of Dark Horse Presents, a series of short horror stories presented in one huge volume.

The comic is brought to us by Monsterverse Entertainment with 52 pages of art and story at the low low price of 4.99, that's a dime a page folks!

Well, it only took me three weeks to drop the ball on this whole weekly column thing but I'm a busy guy so lay off it. [Editor's Note: One more delay, Spencer, and we sacrifice your first born to Quetzacoatl.]

There were some comics I was going to review for last week's installment, but they will have to wait until next week so expect a super-sized entry. Anyway, I've got some exciting things to share with you and some things that will disappoint you like a bad tasting cake at a birthday party.

Alan Robert's graphic novel Crawl to Me is getting the adaptation treatment.  As previously reported, David Armstrong (the Saw franchise's director of photography) is attached to director.  At the time of his involvement, the project was looking for a writer and it appears it has found two.

According to Noise Creep, David White and T.J. Cimfel will tackle the story.  Producers Robert, Jeff Mazzola and Chris White are shepherding the project.

White and Cimfel have penned the thriller Shut In, currently in development.  Cimfel scripted the upcoming No Tell Motel.

Godzilla will always be my first monster love in life. But not long after I discovered the big green fella did I learn about the possibility of real life monsters, namely Bigfoot, Nessie, and the Yeti.

The “discovery” of these creatures captured my imagination, going as far as my declaration to my teachers in middle school that I was going to become a Cryptozoologist when I grew up. I've since moved on to greater pastures, but anything in the world that deals with cryptids is still a hindrance on my productivity.

I've always wondered why there was a lack of these creatures in comic books. They have an infinite well of myths and stories behind them, the possibilities would be endless. Then I heard about this comic book Footprints and I was beyond intrigued. Cryptids thrown into the mix of a noir underworld? I am there with bells on.

We talk about zombies a lot here at Shock. It's just a part of the job. Not that I'm complaining. Zombies are one of the reasons I got into what I do now I love the little critters. As it's been said before we're in an era now where the is an abundance of zombie media. They've become the new hot commodity for the masses. It's almost like zombies are so prevalent in our culture that creators think just because their story is about zombies means that it will be successful, not the case.

How do you take a concept (in this case, the living dead) and make it different from all the others? Well, there are of course several answers to this question, just ask any writer, but a few years back Chris Ryall and Ashley Wood came up with an answer to that question: Robots.

Joey Esposito is the comics editor over at IGN and he recently stepped into the world of comics creation with his new series Footprints. The comic details a mystery being solved by the most unlikely of noir characters, the world's cryptids (Bigfoot, Nessie, The Jersey Devil, etc.).  Joey graciously gave us the comic to review, which we loved, and also agreed to talk to us about Footprints, writing, and comics in general.

The Fringe is a place where non-horror genre films can get some play on Shock.  These films might be sci-fi, fantasy or action - and certainly contain some horror elements - but will likely be light on scares, or, straight-up "horror."  Still, they might be of interest to you.

Warner Bros. has set Journey 2: The Mysterious Island director Brad Peyton for their DC Comics adaptation, Lobo, Deadline reports.

Created in 1984 by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen, Lobo is a Czarnian (originally Velorpian) bounty hunter who, as a nearly indestructible anti-hero, drives a space-faring motorcycle across the cosmos in search of his next target.

People are always quick to slap the saying “Don't judge a book by it's cover” on someone these days. More often then not they're not even talking about a book. This advice though can be just as applicable to books as it is people, and it should be.

I fear that the title and cover of Alabaster Wolves will keep people away from reading it, which would be a shame. The peculiar title that it's sporting, coupled with the very peculiar artwork, would be more then enough to drive some people away from even picking it up. We mustn’t forget this little gem of advice that we so often do not apply to the object within it.

Alabaster Wolves is an interesting little tale by Caitlin Kiernan with pencils by Steve Lieber. It deals with an albino monster hunter named Dancy Flammarion who, even though her name makes her sound like two delightful Pokémon, finds herself in some very peculiar situations in the world. It's pretty obvious when reading this inaugural issue that there is a lot of back story to this character that some readers might not know about. The back of the issue and some Internet snooping proved me right. Kiernan has written two prose books featuring the character before, and I can say after reading this first comic I'd like to pick those up.

Dark Horse Comics has announced Ex Sanguine - a unique blend of horror and thriller from Tim Seeley, the creator of Hack/Slash, writer of The Occultist, artist of The Guild, and more. 

“Ex Sanguine is my take on the vampire-romance genre, but instead of being full of longing and anguished staring, it’s full of brutal flirtations between two savage predators, one a vampire, one a serial killer,” said Tim Seeley.

One is a natural-born killer - a remorseless hunter of men restlessly prowling the night for victims to quench an unnatural bloodlust. The other, Saul Adams, is a vampire. A bored vampire. His centuries of existence have left him world weary and detached, lost in a haze of endless memories for days or weeks on end. His latest bout of preoccupation is mercifully interrupted by federal agents.

Ever since the ever popular The Walking Dead television show, and the completely insane prices that the comics are going for, I wondered how long it would take Image to jump on the variant edition covers for the series. Well, in my opinion, they picked a good place to try it out.

For the 100th issue of The Walking Dead that hits shelves in July it will have a whopping nine different covers for the centennial issue.

Charlie Adlard will be providing the regular cover, a wrap around and a special chromium cover.  In addition to the series artist these high profile names will be contributing to the mix: Todd McFarlane, Sean Phillips, Marc Silvestri, Bryan Hitch, Frank Quitely and Ryan Ottley.

Quite the assortment of artists that will bring something really cool to a special issue.  Inside, you can check out a preview of Charlie Adlard's wrap around cover but be warned, potential spoilers for the comic series lie ahead.  You'll get the joke when you see the cover.

From the imagination of horror director Greg Mclean (Wolf Creek, Rogue) comes Dark Axis: Secret Battles of WWII, a four-part comic book series published by San Diego based Ape Entertainment and Diezel Punk.  Digital editions will now be released via the COMICS+ App at iTunes. 

After the release of DARK AXIS #1 on April 10th – editions 2, 3 & 4 will be released every two weeks and cost 99 cents each.

Issue two will hit April 24th, three arrives May 8th and the final issue strikes May 22nd.

Mclean describes Dark Axis as "an action adventure mash up of Saving Private Ryan meets Evil Dead 2. Featuring secret Nazi weapons, terrifying monsters and futuristic machines that reveal the history of a sprawling, evil conspiracy that almost changed the course of the war.  The result is an alternate World War II history, as you've never seen it before.”

The Fringe is a place where non-horror genre films can get some play on Shock.  These films might be sci-fi, fantasy or action - and certainly contain some horror elements - but will likely be light on scares, or, straight-up "horror."  Still, they might be of interest to you.

Filmmakers Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, along with producer Alexander Rodnyansky, have announced that production will commence on the highly anticipated sequel to 2005’s Sin City, entitled Sin City: A Dame To Kill For.

The film will be produced by AR Films and Quick Draw Productions, financed through AR Films U.S and released domestically by Dimension Films.

“The first question I am always asked is “When will you make another Sin City?” said Rodriquez.  “I have wanted to re-team with Frank Miller and return to the world he created since the day we wrapped the original, but have felt a duty to the fans to wait until we had something truly exceptional that would meet and exceed what have become epic expectations.  A Dame To Kill For will certainly be worth the wait.” 

I was worried when I pitched the idea of The Graveyard Shelf that I would run out of things to talk about.  Even with my second entry, it was something I was afraid of, but thankfully I was wrong.  It's been a busy week here at Shock in the comics division.  

I've read and written about quite a few books that you'll be hearing about soon.  I've conducted interviews with several notable writers in the comic field - the first of which is up now with Selwyn Hinds of Vertigo's Dominique Lavaeu: Voodoo Child.  He's put out a great comic and was a joy to talk to.  

Today, I've got a handful of single issues to talk about below if you'll let me. Please let me.

One of the new Vertigo books that hit last month was Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child.

Set in the post-Katrina New Orleans, it's setting itself up to be an epic full of wonder, thrills, and monsters that we've never seen before in comics.

Like the other Vertigo titles, it was one of my favorite single issue comics of March. I reached out to the writer Selwyn Seyfu Hinds and he graciously accepted to do an interview with us.

A common conversation in nerd circles is the always interesting “What would YOU do in the zombie apocalypse?" Until now there has never been a story that focuses in on that story from the “nerd” perspective, but with the newly released Fanboys vs. Zombies we finally get a glimpse into what that world is like. Unfortunately, it is about as properly representative of nerd culture as The Big Bang Theory.

The comic details the “What if...” scenrario that the title says, and what better place for the setting of such an event that the San Diego Comic-Con? On paper, it sounds like it has potential to be one of the coolest forays into the geek lifestyle that one could think of. Though this is only the first issue, I can only help but think that the execution could have been better. While I can appreciate the story for what it is, it just didn't do it for me like I hoped. This is a great premise and could have been “the next big thing," but I feel like it fell short of that.

I was trying to think of a way to start off this review and couldn't really think of anything except that I would consider Ragemoor an “old school” horror comic. To which I thought, what does that even mean? So, I started to ponder what it means for something to be “old school”. Does it mean something that harbors the same tropes and story beats as older horror stories? Does it mean a story that takes place in an “old” setting, so it doesn't function as a present day counter part would? What about a story that is a knockoff or a re-imagining of an older story? If I were to harbor a guess, I would say it could be all of them.

As my mini-rant does suggest, Ragemoor has an old school sensibility and style to it. It is also the product of long time collaborators Jan Strnad and Richard Corben. It's obvious just from reading this that the years of work that they've done together is both obvious and that they've hashed out a quality style of working together.

Following the news that restored versions of Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava’s blood-curdling zombie horror classics Demons and Demons 2 will be released on Blu-ray, DVD and Steelbook on April 30th in the UK, Arrow Video is pleased to premiere extracts from the specially commissioned Demons 3 comic book.

For horror fans, it’s what they have been waiting for since 1986...  Written by Stefan Hutchinson and Barry Keating, with artwork by Jeff Zornow and Peter Fielding, Demons 3 is an original sequel to the first two Demons films, presented as a 2-book comic, which will come housed in the Blu-ray and DVD editions of Demons and Demons 2.

You'll find a preview after the jump.

Welcome to The Graveyard Shelf, Shock's newest weekly feature! The idea behind this came from when I was thinking about the reviews we do for comics over here and how I wasn't happy that we seldom did a review for a series after its inaugural issue. So, in this new column you can expect more compact reviews for the other issues of comics that got a full length review for their first issue. But don't worry, we'll still be rolling out full length reviews for any new number 1s, any milestone issues and graphic novels.

I remember covering the announcement of Image's new mini-series Rebel Blood just a few months ago. I was pretty psyched about the comic for a few reasons: I like the title a lot, the art seemed nuts, the premise sounded interesting, and that cover....come on. After finally getting a chance to pick up and read the comic, my thoughts of what it was going to be weren't entirely met, but at the same time I was still really interested in the direction they took this.

Rebel Blood is a clever book, telling the story of Chuck Neville as he fights through the zombie outbreak to get to his family.

This book jumps around a lot, so it is by no means accustomed to linear storytelling. Often, the main character plays out various scenarios, which are depicted in his head, and how each of them could go horribly wrong. This is an interesting device for the story, it not only speaks volumes about Neville as a person and his though process, but it allows artist Riley Rossmo to stretch his zombified legs for the proverbial “What if” scenarios.

The question of vampire versus zombies is a regular debate among genre fans. I have no preference for a victor in the situation either way.  As long as I get to see the fray, I'm fine with whatever the outcome is. While this is an often talked about topic among the horror community, it is seldom put into practice within the horror craft.

Vertigo, however, has now launched their fourth new series this month with precisely that kind of story for us readers.

The New Deadwardians is a peculiar book. It has a lot of melding of genres within its panels - be it mystery, family drama, horror or action.  There's a lot to chew on here. And while we may only get a little bit of a vampire/zombie feud in this first issue, it would appear that we're being built up to a boiling point of the conflict between the two dead parties.

In conjunction with the release of Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden’s latest collaboration earlier this week, and Mignola’s appearance at this weekend’s World Horror Convention, Dark Horse is pleased to announce a limited-edition hardcover release of Joe Golem and the Drowning City.

After a séance gone horribly wrong, strange men wearing gas masks and rubber suits abduct the aging psychic Orlov the Conjuror, sending his young assistant Molly McHugh racing through the canals of a submerged Manhattan. As Molly flees her captors through a sunken city full of scavengers, her one hope comes in the form of two strange men: Simon Church, a Victorian-era detective kept alive by clockwork gears and magic, and his assistant, Joe, whose mysterious past is hinted at in dreams of stone and witches.

I love my job here at Shock. I love getting to see movies and read comics for free and then writing about how awesome or terrible they are, I'm really lucky in that regard. I'm not the first one to tell you this, and you might have already figured this out for yourself, but there's a lot of repetition in the horror genre. I can't even remember how many zombie and vampire comic books I've written about over the past few months, and not to mention how many I'm reading that I don't write about. In that regard, it is always nice to get a genre book that is different, and in this case I do mean different.

Dominique Laveau Voodoo Child is one of the most original and cool comics I've read in some time. It, of course, is about the life of Dominique Laveau a descendent of the infamous New Orleans Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau (if you couldn't make the connection), and the very bizarre adventure she's about to have in New Orleans a mere 4 months after Hurricane Katrina. The book is written by Selwyn Seyfu Hinds with pencils by Deny's Cowan.

I like a good story with an epic scope behind it. Sometimes it can be intimidating though - but whenever I see something that I think possesses a huge magnitude worth of story just starting out I feel like I should jump on it and be there from the beginning.

This is the exact feeling I had while reading the press release for Ancient Dreams: The Hand of Fate by JP Roth. I get the feeling this book will make a big splash in the comic world.

“In Ancient Dreams: The Hand of Fate I created a lushly illustrated universe where the creatures of myth, such as warlocks, vampires, witches and gods, are rendered in a steam punk style that blends ancient legends with futuristic innovations," says JP Roth.

Just as the first issue of the author's new ongoing comic book series, "Saga," hits stores, The Hollywood Reporter brings word that the film adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan's most popular series Y: The Last Man, is on the verge of hiring two new screenwriters.

Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia are said to be the men for the job and are negotiating to come aboard the New Line project, which has gone through its fair share of stops and starts over the years.

Created by Vaughan and artist Pia Guerra, Y: The Last Man ran for 60 issues beginning in 2002. It tells the story of Yorick Brown, a 20-something who (along with his capuchin monkey, Ampersand) somehow survives a catastrophic event that kills off every living creature with a Y chromosome. 

I think we can all agree that aliens have been castrated. Instead of the destructive and vile creatures that they're capable of being like in The Thing, Predator, Alien, or Mars Attacks!, it seems like year after year we have “nice guy” alien movies like Paul or Planet 51. Sure, there have been some good ones that stand out - District 9 and Super 8 come to mind. But nothing has been quite on the scale of Independence Day with an alien force that is fully capable of destroying the earth. While we may only see the aliens in the first issue of Saucer Country for maybe four panels, you can tell they mean business.

There are a few things in the comic world that are guaranteed to make a comic fan squeal with excitement. One of them of course is the phrase “New Vertigo series."  

Saucer Country is one of four new Vertigo titles rolling out his month, and it does not disappoint.

ComiXology - the world’s largest digital comics platform available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire and the Web with over 50 million comic and graphic novel downloads to date - will be exhibiting for the first time this year at WonderCon ’12, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California from March 16th-18th.

The first 5,000 WonderCon ’12 attendees to come by comiXology’s booth (#107) will receive a limited edition promotional postcard imprinted with a unique download code redeemable for The Walking Dead Vol. 1 exclusively on comiXology.com. In partnership with The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman’s Skybound, comiXology is making sure attendees of WonderCon ’12 get a “taste” of the first graphic novel — regularly $8.99 for 140 pages —that the hit The Walking Dead TV show is based on.

Eagle One Media is proud to announce comic book industry veterans David A. Rodriguez ("Starkweather") and Dheeraj Verma ("Nightmare on Elm Street," "Escape of the Living Dead") will team up to create and craft a comic book tale based on Eagle One Media's upcoming Spanish language horror feature film release Zombie Dawn.

The Rodriguez/Verma comic book Zombie Dawn: Safehouse will feature a prequel story that ties-in to the events of the action-packed film and will be bilingual in English and Spanish. 

If you remember my review for Baltimore: The Plague Ships you'll remember how much I loved it.  Well, good news for me and anyone else that loves the character/series, he's coming back!

Christopher Golden stopped by Comic Book Resources to tell them all about the new series entitled Baltimore: Dr. Leskovar's Remedy.  As can be expected the story revolves around Lord Henry Baltimore in his quest to kill the vampire that destroyed his family but he will find an unexpected adversary in Dr. Leskovar.

There is no shortage of zombie comics in the world.  Even over at Image there is  no stopping their flagship title The Walking Dead.  In 2008-2009 they released a mini-series written by Clark Castillo and Mel Smith with arr by Alex Nino called Dead Ahead.

The comic tells the story of a boat of survivors stranded out at sea, who find a luxury cruise liner drifting out in the water.  Well, they were pleased to announce at the inaugural Image Expo that the sequel to their book is in the works.

“We’ve got the first nine pages in the first draft,” said Smith talking to Bleeding Cool. “So [Nino] is working on it right now. I’d say by Comic-Con we’ll have stuff to show and it’ll come out through Image again.”

In case you don't know, a lot of the comics put out by Dynamite Entertainment are licensed properties not original creations.  Green Hornet, The Six Million Dollar Man, and the more Shock appropriate, Vampirella, to name a few.

Most of these titles focus in on their monthly books with very little shifts from the primary story line.  Well, Dynamite has decided to put out an all new Vampirella mini series titled Vampirella: The Red Room.

Fans of the character should be excited because the plot sounds like Vampirella has entered the Thunderdome.

There are two writers that are essential to the development of horror both as a mainstream genre and it's place in modern culture:  Stephen King and Richard Matheson.  So, what happens when the former recreates a story by the latter?  Furthermore, what happens when his son, the wonderful Joe Hill, gets in on the action and they turn it into a comic book?  We get the brand new comic from IDW Road Rage.

Two giants of modern horror have taken a pretty famous story by Matheson, Duel, and updated it, how could you not get excited about this?

We know the story:  Big rig trucker chases and runs down innocent motorists on a long stretch of road in the desert.  Where is it different here, you might wonder?  Well, it's about an entire motor cycle gang being chased by the crazed trucker.

Based on both the short story Duel by Matheson and the companion piece Throttle by Stephen King and Joe Hill, we get this pretty solid adaptation by Chris Ryall.

Another year, another chance at trying to capitalize on the horror fan's love for both Army of Darkness and Bruce Campbell!

Like every good Evil Dead fan, I picked up the book.  I'm only vaguely familiar with the other Army of Darkness comics, so I will admit, the "Volume 3" aspect of the new series was a little intimidating.

It seemed simple enough at the start.  Starting off with images that we've come to know being fans of the film series, but then things got weird.  We were introduced to the main character of the comic, Ashley Williams!

But wait!

This is not the Ashley Williams that you think you know.  It is an Ashley Williams that the name is appropriate for, because it is a girl.  She resided at one point in an alternate universe, presumably parallel from the "real one" that the male Ashley also resides in.

"BUT THIS ISN'T WHAT I PAID FOR!? THIS ISN'T MY ARMY OF DARKNESS!!"

Years after being merged with the demon Zarathos in a deal with the Devil, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) is trying to lose himself in Eastern Europe when he encounters a gypsy named Nadya (Violante Placido) and her young son Danny (Fergus Riordan) being chased by a group of mercenaries led by Carrigan (Johnny Whitworth), who is acting as the right hand man of someone named Rourke (Ciaran Hinds), who just happens to be The Devil who turned Blaze into Ghost Rider in the first place.

To some, this follow-up to 2007's Ghost Rider, one of the pre-Dark Knight pre-Iron Man guard of bad superhero movies, may fall into the "why did they make this?" realm of unwarranted sequels, not that we would ever want to fully throw the two-headed directing team of Neveldine/Taylor under the bus, as they've proven themselves to be quite clever at times, the type of ballsy and daring filmmakers Hollywood desperately needs. 

There's something about stories that combine monsters against a tactical military squad that I've always found appealing.  Perhaps it is the crossing of the horror and action genres within the one story, maybe it's just that I like a few automatic weapons with my scary beasts.  Whatever it is, it's a sub-genre that I'm pretty fond of and it's only made better when the story that is concerned has rich sympathetic characters like B.P.R.D.

One of the characters in B.P.R.D. that we tend to forget about and take for granted is Johann Kraus.  Lucky for him he gets to take center stage in this book, and boy, does he shine.  Johann has never been a character I was particularly fond of, it's not that he's a bad character per se but there was never a moment that I've read that made me feel a connection to his character.  He's always just kind of been there, said a few funny things, and not much else.  But the creative team successfully transformed Kraus into as empathetic a character as possible, and it seems like the best way to have done that was put the life of his fellow teammates in jeopardy.

Some may say Johnny has it all:  A pretty girlfriend, reasonably good looks, and a steady job as a carnival performer.  Johnny is fifty percent of a stupendous stunt bike duo.  Every night, he and his father provide cheap thrills, under the big top, for adoring fans.  Unfortunately, Johnny’s father is very ill.  In his grief stricken state, Johnny does what any rational thinking man would do and sells his soul to the Devil, in exchange for his father’s health.  The Devil, who is a bit of a trickster, grants his end of the bargain, but immediately after doing so, takes Johnny’s father’s life, in a fiery mishap.  Years later, the Devil comes back to collect on his end of the bargain. Johnny Blaze is now a damned soul cursed to ride the earth and collect on the Devil’s deals.  He is the "Ghost Rider."

Ghost Rider is brought to us by director Mark Steven Johnson who is responsible for such "classics" as Jack Frost (1998).  There is a clear theme in Johnson’s work, of over the top performances and silly scripts.  Johnson first worked on a Marvel screen adaptation with 2003’s Daredevil.  He did such a fantastic job of pissing fans of the comic off that Marvel brought him back to write and direct their 2007 film, Ghost Rider, and do it all over again.  Somewhere, Satan was laughing.  As it turns out, lightning struck twice and Johnson managed to make another forgettable, critically-panned adaptation.  Fans, of course, revolted.  

We can always depend on Heavy Metal magazine to take things to the extreme.

Just announced is the first installment in a three graphic novel series called The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The premise as you can imagine, is simple enough:

The End is Here:  Welcome to the Apocalypse! Raised by the Order of Solomon, Adam Cahill is one of a rare handful of highly trained warriors bound by bloodline to guard the Seven Holy Seals that contain the End of Days. But ageless forces have conspired towards a prophetic event foretold by numerous cultures and multiple religions, and when that cryptic date arrives, they strike against the order without mercy! The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a dark, gritty, action – horror story inspired by the biblical tale of Armageddon. In addition to the works of Simon Bisley, the series will feature additional art by the late Stan Winston, Tim Bradstreet, Chad Fidler, and Dave DeVries, and script written by co- writers Mike Kennedy and Sean Jaffe.

Telltale Games and Robert Kirkman, the Eisner Award-winning creator/writer of The Walking Dead, announced that the first episode of Playing Dead, a new online talk show discussing their upcoming game, The Walking Dead, is now live and available to view on the games’ official website, which also debuted today. 

Based on Robert Kirkman’s groundbreaking comic book series, The Walking Dead is an episodic Adventure Horror game series set during the same apocalyptic period witnessed by Sheriff Rick Grimes.  Telling the story of a new group of survivors as they struggle to flee the horror of Atlanta and the surrounding communities consumed by the undead, The Walking Dead offers players the chance to experience the very first days of the apocalypse, meeting people and participating in events that intersect with the story seen in the comic books.

Telltale also released 3 new screenshots from the game, highlighting the game’s distinctive visuals, inspired by the work of The Walking Dead comic book artist Charlie Adlard.

Platinum Studios announced today that the entertainment company will release the werewolf action-horror story Big Badz as a digital graphic novel on Apple's iOS, Android, Nook, Kindle and other standard formats.

Big Badz is just one of the titles in Platinum Studios' international library of thousands of comic book characters which it adapts, produces, and licenses for all forms of media including print, film, online, mobile/wireless, gaming and merchandising.