Criminal Macabre: A Cal McDonald Mystery is a comic book series starring Cal McDonald, an antihero American comic book character created in 1990 by Steve Niles (writer). The character's adventures have been published by Dark Horse Comics and later IDW Publishing.
Cal himself is akin to John Constantine, a DC Comics paranormal detective. He takes illicit drugs, and befriends a network of ghouls to assist him in his cases. Policemen do not really care to be involved with Cal.
Cal McDonald's first story, entitled "Big-Head", was released in 1990 as part of the anthology comic Fly in My Eye: Daughters of Fly In My Eye from Arcane Comix, with art by Jim Whiting. That story led directly to the four-part "Hairball", serialized in Dark Horse Presents #102-105 in 1996. Hairball was later printed as a one-shot comic.
Cal's subsequent appearances were in two 2002 novels, Savage Membrane, and Guns, Drugs and Monsters. In the latter, Cal relocated to Los Angeles, after following a living, decapitated head searching for its body.
Following the novels Cal made his debut again in comic book form in the Dark Horse Comics mini-series, Criminal Macabre (2003) with Ben Templesmith as artist. The two would pair up again for a one-shot comic titled "Love Me Tenderloin" in 2004. Cal's adventures have continued in other mini-series such as "Last Train to Deadsville" and "Supernatural Freak Machine", both with artist Kelley Jones, where he re-encountered the decapitated head. Next, he starred in the mini-series "Two Red Eyes" with artist Kyle Hotz, where he does battle with the vampire Nosferatu. He also made a brief appearance in short story format in the Dark Horse Comics released title Drawing on your Nightmares, again with Ben Templesmith as artist. From there, he went on to do "My Demon Baby" & the current series "Cell Block 666" (starting in Sept 2008) with artist Nick Stakal. The series "Two Red Eyes" started a trend continuing in "My Demon Baby", where action film actor Thomas Jane would portray Cal on the issue's covers, stylized by artist Tim Bradstreet.
During the release of some of the comic book series there was another novel released in 2003 titled Dial M for Monster: A Cal McDonald Collection. This novel included several short stories featuring Cal.
Criminal Macabre: The Complete Cal McDonald Stories collects the entire catalogue of Cal McDonald short stories (not the comic stories) until this point. It was released on December 26 of 2007.
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Comics
A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a funny book, comic paper or comic magazine) is a magazine made up of narrative artwork broken into "panels" that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog (usually in word balloons, emblematic of the comic book art form) as well as including brief descriptive prose. The first comic book appeared in the United States of America in 1934, reprinting the earlier newspaper comic strips, which established many of the story-telling devices used in comics. The term "comic book" arose because the first comic books reprinted humor comic strips, but despite their name, comic books do not necessarily operate in humorous mode; most modern comic books tell stories in a variety of genres. The Japanese and European comic book markets demonstrate this clearly. In the United States the super-hero genre dominates the market, even though other genres also exist.
31 December 2011
30 December 2011
Comanche Series Complete
The Western Comanche series is a comic book series, 1969, by Greg (scenarios) and Hermann (drawings) for the comics magazine Tintin created.
This classic comic book series is next to Jerry Spring and Lieutenant Blueberry to the three major Western series of Franco-Belgian comics and is considered one of the best epics of the Western comic book history. Greg wrote until his death in 1999, fourteen albums long scenarios as well as some short stories. After the completion of the tenth adventure Hermann rose from the series as a draftsman. His successor, Michel Rouge in 1990. When Greg died in October 1999, he left behind an unfinished scenario for a fifteenth adventure. The scenario started by Red Dust Express, had been completed for the Greg still 19 pages, was completed by Rodolphe on behalf of the publishing house Dargaud.
By chance, the Cowboy Red Dust in the nest verschlägt Greenstone Falls in Wyoming. There, the courageous young farmer defends its Comanche Ranch "666" with wisdom and force of arms against Indians, rustlers and gunslingers. They support the quirky and ten gallons of Colored Toby and the greenhorn Clem. Together on the ranch, they welded together to form a close-knit community.
The protagonist of the series is not the eponymous Comanche, the owner of the ranch 666 (pronounced Triple Six Ranch), but Red Dust, a red-headed cowboy Irish descent with a strong sense of justice. He is a classic Western hero, as he is known from many movies and comics, its origin is unknown and he is extremely quick with the gun.
In Germany, published the first adventures of Comanche in 1972 in ZACK magazine. The first albums were made from 1979 publications at Ehapa in the series "The large fine-Western." There were - all published by Hermann subscribed albums - with the exception of tape 5. From 1991 to own a Comanche edition albums released volumes 1 - 10 at Carlsen-Verlag. The series was continued from Volume 11 in Ehapa. Volumes 13-15, published short stories as well as the special issue of prisoners from the 1998 cult-Verlag. Thus the series is completely available in German translation. Since October 2009, the splinter publishers all drawn by Hermann albums released in a hardcover version with large attachments. Following the publication of the remaining planned volumes drawn by Rouge.
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This classic comic book series is next to Jerry Spring and Lieutenant Blueberry to the three major Western series of Franco-Belgian comics and is considered one of the best epics of the Western comic book history. Greg wrote until his death in 1999, fourteen albums long scenarios as well as some short stories. After the completion of the tenth adventure Hermann rose from the series as a draftsman. His successor, Michel Rouge in 1990. When Greg died in October 1999, he left behind an unfinished scenario for a fifteenth adventure. The scenario started by Red Dust Express, had been completed for the Greg still 19 pages, was completed by Rodolphe on behalf of the publishing house Dargaud.
By chance, the Cowboy Red Dust in the nest verschlägt Greenstone Falls in Wyoming. There, the courageous young farmer defends its Comanche Ranch "666" with wisdom and force of arms against Indians, rustlers and gunslingers. They support the quirky and ten gallons of Colored Toby and the greenhorn Clem. Together on the ranch, they welded together to form a close-knit community.
The protagonist of the series is not the eponymous Comanche, the owner of the ranch 666 (pronounced Triple Six Ranch), but Red Dust, a red-headed cowboy Irish descent with a strong sense of justice. He is a classic Western hero, as he is known from many movies and comics, its origin is unknown and he is extremely quick with the gun.
In Germany, published the first adventures of Comanche in 1972 in ZACK magazine. The first albums were made from 1979 publications at Ehapa in the series "The large fine-Western." There were - all published by Hermann subscribed albums - with the exception of tape 5. From 1991 to own a Comanche edition albums released volumes 1 - 10 at Carlsen-Verlag. The series was continued from Volume 11 in Ehapa. Volumes 13-15, published short stories as well as the special issue of prisoners from the 1998 cult-Verlag. Thus the series is completely available in German translation. Since October 2009, the splinter publishers all drawn by Hermann albums released in a hardcover version with large attachments. Following the publication of the remaining planned volumes drawn by Rouge.
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29 December 2011
Baard En Kale Series Complete
Baard and Kale (Tif et Tondu original French name) is a Belgian comic series, originally created, written and drawn by Fernand Dineur. Various artists and writers have worked on the comic series, the most popular version was signed by Will in a scenario of succession according to Maurice Rosy, Maurice and Stephen Tillieux Desberg.
The strip began in 1938 in the magazine Spirou, the last strip was in 1997. Only the strips drawn by Will, since 1954, are still published by Dupuis and sale in the strip trade.
Plot
The strip revolves around two detectives called Beard and Bald. The French names are "Tif et Tondu" (literally "Hair" and "Shaved") to the bald man with Tif and Tondu refers to the man with a beard. In one Dutch has not made this change: Beard refers indeed to the man with beard and Kale is bare. The two have scheduled to stick with a large number of criminals, including the always masked "Stomp".
Characters
On April 21, 1938 shows the character Kale, a small, chubby and bald man, for the first time in the magazine Spirou. A few weeks later, Beard, with a similar build but with a beard and hair. As of June 20, 1949 Will take over the drawing, Dineur remains screenwriter. In 1951, with stops Dineur scriptwriting, first Henri Gillain takes over this role, then Albert Desprechins. In 1954, the role of screenwriter transferred again, this time with Maurice Rosy. The latter thinks the character of "Stomp", the fixed antagonist in the comic.
In 1990, writer and artist Denis Lapière Alain Sikorski over the role of Will (artist) and Desberg (scenario). That makes it a more mundane detective comic series, in contrast to previous albums where often the world was saved from destruction. In 1997 the last strip.
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The strip began in 1938 in the magazine Spirou, the last strip was in 1997. Only the strips drawn by Will, since 1954, are still published by Dupuis and sale in the strip trade.
Plot
The strip revolves around two detectives called Beard and Bald. The French names are "Tif et Tondu" (literally "Hair" and "Shaved") to the bald man with Tif and Tondu refers to the man with a beard. In one Dutch has not made this change: Beard refers indeed to the man with beard and Kale is bare. The two have scheduled to stick with a large number of criminals, including the always masked "Stomp".
Characters
On April 21, 1938 shows the character Kale, a small, chubby and bald man, for the first time in the magazine Spirou. A few weeks later, Beard, with a similar build but with a beard and hair. As of June 20, 1949 Will take over the drawing, Dineur remains screenwriter. In 1951, with stops Dineur scriptwriting, first Henri Gillain takes over this role, then Albert Desprechins. In 1954, the role of screenwriter transferred again, this time with Maurice Rosy. The latter thinks the character of "Stomp", the fixed antagonist in the comic.
In 1990, writer and artist Denis Lapière Alain Sikorski over the role of Will (artist) and Desberg (scenario). That makes it a more mundane detective comic series, in contrast to previous albums where often the world was saved from destruction. In 1997 the last strip.
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27 December 2011
The Vault Series Complete
The Vault is the widely used nickname of a fictional defunct prison facility for technological-based superhuman criminals (predominantly supervillains) in Marvel Comics' Marvel Universe. The prison's full official name is the United States Maximum Security Installation for the Incarceration of Superhuman Criminals.
It first appeared in Avengers Annual #15 (1986). It ceased being used after the facility was destroyed in Heroes for Hire #1 (February 1997), although the facility still occasionally appears in flashbacks in various Marvel publications.
The Vault first appeared in Avengers Annual #15 (1986) by writers Steve Englehart and Danny Fingeroth, artist Steve Ditko and Editor Mark Gruenwald. It is unclear whether Englehart, Fingeroth or Gruenwald (or all three) originated the concept.
The Vault was not the first super-human detainment facility to appear in comic books. Marvel had shown their characters detained in various penitentiaries (usually alongside regular criminals) prior to Avengers Annual #15, most often at "Ryker's Island" (a fictionalised Rikers Island). Also, DC Comics' Arkham Asylum predates the Vault by over 12 years (though Arkham is technically a psychiatric hospital, not a prison). There is also Takron-Galtos, a prison planet which incarcerated many of the Legion of Super-Heroes' villains which first appeared in Adventure Comics #359 (August, 1967).
However, the Vault was the first prison said to be built specifically and exclusively for the detention of super-villains, and the first to be widely used across a line of comic books. Similar institutions in other comic book universes, such as "the Slab" and Iron Heights in the DC Universe, first appeared years later.
After its debut, the Vault quickly began to appear throughout Marvel's line of titles as it became the standard destination of imprisoned super-humans in the Marvel Universe. Several storylines were based around the notion of superheroes being imprisoned in the facility or a number of inmates coordinating a prison break. In 1991, the facility was the subject and main setting for an original graphic novel, Avengers: Deathtrap, the Vault (later republished as Venom: Deathtrap, the Vault), which was written by Danny Fingeroth with art by Ron Lim.
After Heroes for Hire Vol. 1 #1, the concept was abandoned. Comic book writer Kurt Busiek explained some the reasoning for this in a Usenet posting in February 2001
" the Vault is a dramatically-flawed idea -- either villains escape a lot (which is what happened) and the result is that this supposedly-cool place looks like it's made of cardboard, or they don't, in which case villains get captured and vanish from the Marvel U. forever, since Marvel time mitigates against their sentences ever being naturally completed."
Prior to the creation of the Vault, super-humans in US custody were usually imprisoned in special wards in Ryker's Island; however, concern about the danger posed to non-super-human inmates by the frequent breakouts by the super-human population in the prison led to those wards being closed.
Another venue, the energy research facility Project Pegasus, was also briefly used, though the unsuitability of such an institution for use as a general prison led to the imprisonment of most criminals there being discontinued eventually. The US Government then set about building a unique penitentiary dedicated and designed exclusively for the detainment of super-human criminals. Using expertise, research and technology pioneered at Project Pegasus spearheaded by Dr. Henri Sorel, and extremely robust materials such as adamantium and osmium steel, they built an underground three-level structure over 40 feet (12 m) below ground level in the Rocky Mountain range in Colorado.
Security guards at the prison wore armoured Guardsmen uniforms. These suits, similar in appearance to the armour worn by the original Guardsman, used technology adapted from Tony Stark's Iron Man armour designs. Originally Stark disagreed with this unauthorised use of his work, and this led him (in his Iron Man guise) to forcibly remove all his technology from the armour (Iron Man #228; March, 1988, during the Armor Wars). However, Stark's opinion later partially changed. He went on to contribute to the design of a later model of the suit, limited to work only in the Vault itself and the close environs thereof (Avengers Spotlight #29; February, 1990).
The first individuals to be detained at the Vault were 11 members of the East and West Coast branches of the Avengers, who were suspected of treason (Avengers Annual #15). Though they eventually escaped, it was only with outside aid as they found the facility internally impenetrable. They were eventually cleared of all charges.
After those events the prison filled with inmates, as super-human criminals were transferred there from all over the country. It quickly became the site of numerous breakouts and break out attempts. One of the most frequent escapees was the Spider-Man villain Venom, who escaped from the institution at least twice (The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #315 and 331 (May 1989 and April 1990)), in the process killing many people. One of these escapes eventually lead to the formation of a group of individuals who called themselves The Jury, who intended to destroy Venom once and for all. At another point, during the events of the Avengers: Deathtrap, the Vault graphic novel, he led a revolt among the inmates which necessitated the intervention of both the Avengers and Freedom Force. Truman Marsh, the current warden, goes insane over the stress of the breakout. Marsh had set off the Vault's self-destruct and due to several mistakes, it was going to destroy half the state, killing millions. By the time Venom kills Marsh, the warden was fully willing to kill all the innocents in order to destroy the supervillains. Iron Man, Hank Pym and Thunderball neutralize the bomb.
A Guardsman named Hugh Taylor was killed by Venom in a later breakout. This led his father, General Orwell Taylor, to assemble a group of embittered former Guardsmen from the Vault. Calling themselves The Jury, the group then illegally used modified versions of their armour to try hunt down and exact revenge against Venom, beginning with their first appearance in Venom: Lethal Protector #1 (February, 1993). The group was later reformed under the leadership of U.S. Agent.
In New Warriors (Vol. 1) #25 (August, 1992), Vance Astrovik was sentenced to imprisonment in the Vault, after being found guilty of the manslaughter of his father. While he was en route to the facility, a group of his teammates in the New Warriors overwhelmed the Guardsmen, whom Vance has befriended and attempted to aid his escape. Astrovik chose to stay in captivity and serve his time (New Warriors (Vol. 1) #26; June, 1993). While incarcerated, he helped foil a riot. Part of Vance's success was his willingness to campaign for better living conditions. For example, Terraformer, a captured member of Force of Nature, simply desires a plant in his cell. Vance manages to give him one off the Warden's desk. This serves to lessen the ire of many of the prisoners (New Warriors Vol. 1 #36; June, 1993). Astrovik was released from the prison in New Warriors Vol. 1 #43 (January, 1994).
On at least one occasion, a criminal was not freed from the Vault itself, but rather while they were en route to the Vault. The mutant terrorist group known as the Resistants attacked a prisoner transport van, killing or incapacitating the Guardsmen operating the van, and freed the mutant criminal known as Mentallo.
Mass breakouts did occur at the institution on at least four occasions. The first occurred as a result of Iron Man having disabled the Guardsmen's armour as a part of the Armor Wars storyline in Iron Man Vol. 1 #228 (March, 1988). The resulting jailbreak occurred in Captain America (Vol. 1) #340 (April 1988), though the escapees were quickly recaptured.
The second large-scale breakout, instigated by Loki, was one of the major contributing factors to the numerous supervillain attacks on various heroes during the "Acts of Vengeance" crossover, with the jailbreak itself occurring in Avengers Spotlight #26, Damage Control (Vol. 2) #1 (December 1989) and Quasar #6 (January 1990). The villains enjoyed more freedom then expected as the warden accidentally calls Damage Control before the Avengers. The facility was restored to functionality by the time of Avengers Spotlight #29 (February 1990), after Loki's alliance of criminal masterminds had collapsed and most of the escaped inmates had been recaptured.
Another breakout was recounted in a flashback in Thunderbolts Annual '97 (1997) (it had actually occurred prior to the events of Thunderbolts (Vol. 1) #1; April 1997), although only a handful of escapees were named. The fourth and final mass breakout occurred in Heroes for Hire (Vol. 1) #1. In that final prison break, the facility was destroyed by the U-Foes.
Download Link :
It first appeared in Avengers Annual #15 (1986). It ceased being used after the facility was destroyed in Heroes for Hire #1 (February 1997), although the facility still occasionally appears in flashbacks in various Marvel publications.
The Vault first appeared in Avengers Annual #15 (1986) by writers Steve Englehart and Danny Fingeroth, artist Steve Ditko and Editor Mark Gruenwald. It is unclear whether Englehart, Fingeroth or Gruenwald (or all three) originated the concept.
The Vault was not the first super-human detainment facility to appear in comic books. Marvel had shown their characters detained in various penitentiaries (usually alongside regular criminals) prior to Avengers Annual #15, most often at "Ryker's Island" (a fictionalised Rikers Island). Also, DC Comics' Arkham Asylum predates the Vault by over 12 years (though Arkham is technically a psychiatric hospital, not a prison). There is also Takron-Galtos, a prison planet which incarcerated many of the Legion of Super-Heroes' villains which first appeared in Adventure Comics #359 (August, 1967).
However, the Vault was the first prison said to be built specifically and exclusively for the detention of super-villains, and the first to be widely used across a line of comic books. Similar institutions in other comic book universes, such as "the Slab" and Iron Heights in the DC Universe, first appeared years later.
After its debut, the Vault quickly began to appear throughout Marvel's line of titles as it became the standard destination of imprisoned super-humans in the Marvel Universe. Several storylines were based around the notion of superheroes being imprisoned in the facility or a number of inmates coordinating a prison break. In 1991, the facility was the subject and main setting for an original graphic novel, Avengers: Deathtrap, the Vault (later republished as Venom: Deathtrap, the Vault), which was written by Danny Fingeroth with art by Ron Lim.
After Heroes for Hire Vol. 1 #1, the concept was abandoned. Comic book writer Kurt Busiek explained some the reasoning for this in a Usenet posting in February 2001
" the Vault is a dramatically-flawed idea -- either villains escape a lot (which is what happened) and the result is that this supposedly-cool place looks like it's made of cardboard, or they don't, in which case villains get captured and vanish from the Marvel U. forever, since Marvel time mitigates against their sentences ever being naturally completed."
Prior to the creation of the Vault, super-humans in US custody were usually imprisoned in special wards in Ryker's Island; however, concern about the danger posed to non-super-human inmates by the frequent breakouts by the super-human population in the prison led to those wards being closed.
Another venue, the energy research facility Project Pegasus, was also briefly used, though the unsuitability of such an institution for use as a general prison led to the imprisonment of most criminals there being discontinued eventually. The US Government then set about building a unique penitentiary dedicated and designed exclusively for the detainment of super-human criminals. Using expertise, research and technology pioneered at Project Pegasus spearheaded by Dr. Henri Sorel, and extremely robust materials such as adamantium and osmium steel, they built an underground three-level structure over 40 feet (12 m) below ground level in the Rocky Mountain range in Colorado.
Security guards at the prison wore armoured Guardsmen uniforms. These suits, similar in appearance to the armour worn by the original Guardsman, used technology adapted from Tony Stark's Iron Man armour designs. Originally Stark disagreed with this unauthorised use of his work, and this led him (in his Iron Man guise) to forcibly remove all his technology from the armour (Iron Man #228; March, 1988, during the Armor Wars). However, Stark's opinion later partially changed. He went on to contribute to the design of a later model of the suit, limited to work only in the Vault itself and the close environs thereof (Avengers Spotlight #29; February, 1990).
The first individuals to be detained at the Vault were 11 members of the East and West Coast branches of the Avengers, who were suspected of treason (Avengers Annual #15). Though they eventually escaped, it was only with outside aid as they found the facility internally impenetrable. They were eventually cleared of all charges.
After those events the prison filled with inmates, as super-human criminals were transferred there from all over the country. It quickly became the site of numerous breakouts and break out attempts. One of the most frequent escapees was the Spider-Man villain Venom, who escaped from the institution at least twice (The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #315 and 331 (May 1989 and April 1990)), in the process killing many people. One of these escapes eventually lead to the formation of a group of individuals who called themselves The Jury, who intended to destroy Venom once and for all. At another point, during the events of the Avengers: Deathtrap, the Vault graphic novel, he led a revolt among the inmates which necessitated the intervention of both the Avengers and Freedom Force. Truman Marsh, the current warden, goes insane over the stress of the breakout. Marsh had set off the Vault's self-destruct and due to several mistakes, it was going to destroy half the state, killing millions. By the time Venom kills Marsh, the warden was fully willing to kill all the innocents in order to destroy the supervillains. Iron Man, Hank Pym and Thunderball neutralize the bomb.
A Guardsman named Hugh Taylor was killed by Venom in a later breakout. This led his father, General Orwell Taylor, to assemble a group of embittered former Guardsmen from the Vault. Calling themselves The Jury, the group then illegally used modified versions of their armour to try hunt down and exact revenge against Venom, beginning with their first appearance in Venom: Lethal Protector #1 (February, 1993). The group was later reformed under the leadership of U.S. Agent.
In New Warriors (Vol. 1) #25 (August, 1992), Vance Astrovik was sentenced to imprisonment in the Vault, after being found guilty of the manslaughter of his father. While he was en route to the facility, a group of his teammates in the New Warriors overwhelmed the Guardsmen, whom Vance has befriended and attempted to aid his escape. Astrovik chose to stay in captivity and serve his time (New Warriors (Vol. 1) #26; June, 1993). While incarcerated, he helped foil a riot. Part of Vance's success was his willingness to campaign for better living conditions. For example, Terraformer, a captured member of Force of Nature, simply desires a plant in his cell. Vance manages to give him one off the Warden's desk. This serves to lessen the ire of many of the prisoners (New Warriors Vol. 1 #36; June, 1993). Astrovik was released from the prison in New Warriors Vol. 1 #43 (January, 1994).
On at least one occasion, a criminal was not freed from the Vault itself, but rather while they were en route to the Vault. The mutant terrorist group known as the Resistants attacked a prisoner transport van, killing or incapacitating the Guardsmen operating the van, and freed the mutant criminal known as Mentallo.
Mass breakouts did occur at the institution on at least four occasions. The first occurred as a result of Iron Man having disabled the Guardsmen's armour as a part of the Armor Wars storyline in Iron Man Vol. 1 #228 (March, 1988). The resulting jailbreak occurred in Captain America (Vol. 1) #340 (April 1988), though the escapees were quickly recaptured.
The second large-scale breakout, instigated by Loki, was one of the major contributing factors to the numerous supervillain attacks on various heroes during the "Acts of Vengeance" crossover, with the jailbreak itself occurring in Avengers Spotlight #26, Damage Control (Vol. 2) #1 (December 1989) and Quasar #6 (January 1990). The villains enjoyed more freedom then expected as the warden accidentally calls Damage Control before the Avengers. The facility was restored to functionality by the time of Avengers Spotlight #29 (February 1990), after Loki's alliance of criminal masterminds had collapsed and most of the escaped inmates had been recaptured.
Another breakout was recounted in a flashback in Thunderbolts Annual '97 (1997) (it had actually occurred prior to the events of Thunderbolts (Vol. 1) #1; April 1997), although only a handful of escapees were named. The fourth and final mass breakout occurred in Heroes for Hire (Vol. 1) #1. In that final prison break, the facility was destroyed by the U-Foes.
Download Link :
26 December 2011
X-Men Magneto Testament Series Complete
Magneto's first original title was the four-issue miniseries Magneto (Nov. 1996 - Feb. 1997), by writers Peter Milligan & Jorge Gonzalez, and penciller Kelley Jones. The miniseries took place during a period where it was believed Magneto had been de-aged and was suffering from amnesia, calling himself Joseph; it was later revealed that Joseph was a younger clone of Magneto. Later, Magneto became ruler of the nation Genosha. During this period, he received two miniseries; Magneto Rex (written by Joe Pruett and drawn by Brandon Peterson) and Magneto: Dark Seduction (written by Fabian Nicieza and drawn by Roger Cruz). A trade paperback novel detailing Magneto's childhood, titled X-Men: Magneto Testament, was released in September 2008, and written by Greg Pak. Magneto Testament, which Pak based on accounts from Holocaust survivors, watched documentaries, and read comics such as Maus, finally confirms and clarifies into the Marvel Comics canon, Magneto's personal history and background. Before the publication of X-Men: Magneto Testament, Magneto's personal background and history was established in Uncanny X-Men vol. 1, #150 (August 1981) as him being a Jewish Holocaust survivor; while he was searching for his wife Magda, a Sinti Gypsy, Magneto maintained a cover identity as a Sinti Gypsy. This created confusion amongst some readers, as to his heritage, until it was authoritatively confirmed in Magneto: Testament that he is, in fact, Jewish.
Magneto was born Max Eisenhardt sometime in the late 1920s to a middle class German Jewish family whose father, Jakob Eisenhardt was a highly decorated World War I veteran. Surviving discrimination and hardship during the Nazi rise to power, Kristallnacht, and the passing of the Nuremberg Laws, in 1939 Max and his family fled to Poland where they were captured during the German invasion of Poland and sent to the Warsaw Ghetto. Max and his family escaped the Ghetto, only to be betrayed and captured again. His mother, father, and sister were executed and buried in a mass grave, but Max survived, possibly due to the manifestation of his powers. Escaping from the mass grave, he was ultimately captured yet again and sent to Auschwitz, where he eventually became a Sonderkommando. While at Auschwitz, Eisenhardt reunited with a Roma girl named Magda, with whom he had fallen in love when he was younger, and with whom he escaped the prison camp during the October 7th 1944 revolt. Following the war, he and Magda moved to the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, and Max adopted the name "Magnus". Magda and Magnus had a daughter named Anya, and lived uneventfully until one night when an angry mob burned down their home with Anya still inside. Enraged at the mob for preventing him from rescuing Anya, the young Magnus's powers manifested uncontrollably, killing the mob and destroying a part of the city. Magda, terrified at Magnus' power, left him and later gave birth to the mutant twins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch before walking away to die. Wanted by the authorities for the deaths and destruction in Vinnytsia, while searching for Magda, Magnus paid a Romanian forger, George Odekirk, to create the cover identity of "Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte gypsy" for him.
"Erik" relocated to Israel, where he met and befriended Charles Xavier while working at a psychiatric hospital near Haifa. There, lengthy debates were held by the two regarding the consequences humanity faces with the rise of mutants, though neither revealed to the other that they both in fact possessed mutant powers. However, they were forced to reveal their inherent abilities to one another while facing Baron Strucker and HYDRA. Following the battle, Erik (now dressed as Magneto), realizing that his and Xavier's views were incompatible, left with a cache of hidden Nazi gold, which provided him with the finances to pursue his goals.
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Magneto was born Max Eisenhardt sometime in the late 1920s to a middle class German Jewish family whose father, Jakob Eisenhardt was a highly decorated World War I veteran. Surviving discrimination and hardship during the Nazi rise to power, Kristallnacht, and the passing of the Nuremberg Laws, in 1939 Max and his family fled to Poland where they were captured during the German invasion of Poland and sent to the Warsaw Ghetto. Max and his family escaped the Ghetto, only to be betrayed and captured again. His mother, father, and sister were executed and buried in a mass grave, but Max survived, possibly due to the manifestation of his powers. Escaping from the mass grave, he was ultimately captured yet again and sent to Auschwitz, where he eventually became a Sonderkommando. While at Auschwitz, Eisenhardt reunited with a Roma girl named Magda, with whom he had fallen in love when he was younger, and with whom he escaped the prison camp during the October 7th 1944 revolt. Following the war, he and Magda moved to the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, and Max adopted the name "Magnus". Magda and Magnus had a daughter named Anya, and lived uneventfully until one night when an angry mob burned down their home with Anya still inside. Enraged at the mob for preventing him from rescuing Anya, the young Magnus's powers manifested uncontrollably, killing the mob and destroying a part of the city. Magda, terrified at Magnus' power, left him and later gave birth to the mutant twins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch before walking away to die. Wanted by the authorities for the deaths and destruction in Vinnytsia, while searching for Magda, Magnus paid a Romanian forger, George Odekirk, to create the cover identity of "Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte gypsy" for him.
"Erik" relocated to Israel, where he met and befriended Charles Xavier while working at a psychiatric hospital near Haifa. There, lengthy debates were held by the two regarding the consequences humanity faces with the rise of mutants, though neither revealed to the other that they both in fact possessed mutant powers. However, they were forced to reveal their inherent abilities to one another while facing Baron Strucker and HYDRA. Following the battle, Erik (now dressed as Magneto), realizing that his and Xavier's views were incompatible, left with a cache of hidden Nazi gold, which provided him with the finances to pursue his goals.
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25 December 2011
Ides Of Blood Series Complete
The year is 44 B.C. Julius Caesar has conquered Transylvania, and vampyres are Rome's new slave class. But when rich mortals start turning up dead with fang marks on their necks, Valens, a vampyre slave-turned-Roman soldier, plunges into the blood-soaked underworld of Rome to capture the Pluto's Kiss Killer. If he can prove himself, he'll earn rank and riches beyond what anyone this side of the Tiber has ever seen! But if he fails, he just might find himself on top of the pile of bodies! Don't miss this crimson-red, 6-issue thriller that mixes the undead intrigue of True Blood with the brutal Roman action and political drama of Spartacus from newcomers Stuart C. Paul and Christian Duce!
Issues #1-5 published by Wildstorm and issue #6 published by DC Comics
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Issues #1-5 published by Wildstorm and issue #6 published by DC Comics
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24 December 2011
Top Cow and Image Comics Crossover and Extra Series Complete
Top Cow Productions (TCP) is an American comics publisher, a partner studio of Image Comics founded by Marc Silvestri in 1992.
During initial stages of Image Comics, Marc Silvestri shared a studio with Jim Lee, where he created his first creator-owned comic, Cyberforce, as part of Image's initial line-up. After setting up his own studio, Top Cow Productions, he expanded into other comics, launching Codename: Strykeforce, a new Cyberforce series and various spin-offs.
The company attracted several professionals known across the industry, including artist Brandon Peterson, writer Garth Ennis and former Marvel staffer David Wohl. It also helped launch the careers of various writers and artists, such as Christina Z., Joe Benitez, Michael Turner and David Finch. Benitez, Turner and Finch have since worked for DC and Marvel Comics.
In 1996, Top Cow briefly departed from Image during a power struggle with Image associate Rob Liefeld until Liefeld left the company shortly after. At the same time, Top Cow was abandoning superheroes and moving into a different subsegment, the fantasy genre. New properties were Witchblade (where Turner had his first big success) and The Darkness (where Marc Silvestri returned to artist duties). Thanks to the success of Witchblade Top Cow was able to expand, adding to its line with titles that included The Darkness, Magdalena, Aphrodite IX, and others. Silvestri was heavily involved in training and developing new talent through the studio and Top Cow was known for a time for its "house style".
In addition to company owned properties Top Cow has from time to time worked with creators to develop creator generated properties. These properties have included Turner's Fathom which eventually ended up at Aspen Comics; Joe's Comics, created exclusively for J. Michael Straczynski, which included Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, The Agency, and Obergeist.
Top Cow is also known for bringing Tomb Raider's Lara Croft to comics, with various graphic novels written and drawn by some of the industry's best known creators, including Dan Jurgens, Paul Jenkins, and artist Andy Park. The cartoon Battle of the Planets is another licensed property in which Top Cow has invested, collaborating with cover artist Alex Ross.
In 2006, Top Cow made a business agreement with Marvel Comics to use several of their licensed properties in their own series, with characters including Wolverine and the Punisher, appearing in crossovers (Darkness/Wolverine and Witchblade/Punisher). Also, as part of this agreement, several Top Cow artists are to provide art chores on various Marvel series, such as Tyler Kirkham (Phoenix: Warsong and New Avengers/Transformers), Mike Choi (X-23: Target X), and Silvestri himself (X-Men: Messiah CompleX). At the 2007 San Diego Comic Con an announcement was made by Marvel Comics extending the deal into 2008.
At the 2007 New York Comic Con it was announced that Top Cow will be one of the first major comics publishers to offer online distribution, through a partnership with IGN.com. The initial titles offered will be Tomb Raider #1–50, The Darkness #1–50 and Witchblade #1–50, at around $1 per issue. They have also announced a deal with Zannel to license their comics as mobile comics.
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains one of the largest comic book publishers in North America. Its output was originally dominated by work from the studios of the Image partners, but later included work by numerous independent creators. Its best-known series include Spawn, Savage Dragon, Witchblade, The Darkness, Invincible, and The Walking Dead.
In the early 1990s, several freelance illustrators doing popular work for Marvel Comics grew frustrated with the company's policies and practices. Their primary complaint was that the artwork and new characters they created were being merchandised heavily, with the artists receiving only standard page rates for their work and modest royalties on sales of the comics. In December 1991, a group of these illustrators approached Marvel president Terry Stewart and demanded that the company give them ownership and creative control over their work. Accounts vary as to whom this group included, but it is generally accepted that Todd McFarlane and Rob Liefeld were among its leaders. Marvel did not meet their demands.
In response, eight creators announced the founding of Image Comics: illustrators Todd McFarlane (known for his work on Spider-Man), Jim Lee (X-Men), Rob Liefeld (X-Force), Marc Silvestri (Wolverine), Erik Larsen (The Amazing Spider-Man), Jim Valentino (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Whilce Portacio (Uncanny X-Men); and long-time Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont. This development was nicknamed the "X-odus", because several of the creators involved (Claremont, Liefeld, Lee, Silvestri, and Portacio) were famous for their work on the X-Men franchise. Marvel's stock fell $3.25/share when the news became public.
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During initial stages of Image Comics, Marc Silvestri shared a studio with Jim Lee, where he created his first creator-owned comic, Cyberforce, as part of Image's initial line-up. After setting up his own studio, Top Cow Productions, he expanded into other comics, launching Codename: Strykeforce, a new Cyberforce series and various spin-offs.
The company attracted several professionals known across the industry, including artist Brandon Peterson, writer Garth Ennis and former Marvel staffer David Wohl. It also helped launch the careers of various writers and artists, such as Christina Z., Joe Benitez, Michael Turner and David Finch. Benitez, Turner and Finch have since worked for DC and Marvel Comics.
In 1996, Top Cow briefly departed from Image during a power struggle with Image associate Rob Liefeld until Liefeld left the company shortly after. At the same time, Top Cow was abandoning superheroes and moving into a different subsegment, the fantasy genre. New properties were Witchblade (where Turner had his first big success) and The Darkness (where Marc Silvestri returned to artist duties). Thanks to the success of Witchblade Top Cow was able to expand, adding to its line with titles that included The Darkness, Magdalena, Aphrodite IX, and others. Silvestri was heavily involved in training and developing new talent through the studio and Top Cow was known for a time for its "house style".
In addition to company owned properties Top Cow has from time to time worked with creators to develop creator generated properties. These properties have included Turner's Fathom which eventually ended up at Aspen Comics; Joe's Comics, created exclusively for J. Michael Straczynski, which included Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, The Agency, and Obergeist.
Top Cow is also known for bringing Tomb Raider's Lara Croft to comics, with various graphic novels written and drawn by some of the industry's best known creators, including Dan Jurgens, Paul Jenkins, and artist Andy Park. The cartoon Battle of the Planets is another licensed property in which Top Cow has invested, collaborating with cover artist Alex Ross.
In 2006, Top Cow made a business agreement with Marvel Comics to use several of their licensed properties in their own series, with characters including Wolverine and the Punisher, appearing in crossovers (Darkness/Wolverine and Witchblade/Punisher). Also, as part of this agreement, several Top Cow artists are to provide art chores on various Marvel series, such as Tyler Kirkham (Phoenix: Warsong and New Avengers/Transformers), Mike Choi (X-23: Target X), and Silvestri himself (X-Men: Messiah CompleX). At the 2007 San Diego Comic Con an announcement was made by Marvel Comics extending the deal into 2008.
At the 2007 New York Comic Con it was announced that Top Cow will be one of the first major comics publishers to offer online distribution, through a partnership with IGN.com. The initial titles offered will be Tomb Raider #1–50, The Darkness #1–50 and Witchblade #1–50, at around $1 per issue. They have also announced a deal with Zannel to license their comics as mobile comics.
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains one of the largest comic book publishers in North America. Its output was originally dominated by work from the studios of the Image partners, but later included work by numerous independent creators. Its best-known series include Spawn, Savage Dragon, Witchblade, The Darkness, Invincible, and The Walking Dead.
In the early 1990s, several freelance illustrators doing popular work for Marvel Comics grew frustrated with the company's policies and practices. Their primary complaint was that the artwork and new characters they created were being merchandised heavily, with the artists receiving only standard page rates for their work and modest royalties on sales of the comics. In December 1991, a group of these illustrators approached Marvel president Terry Stewart and demanded that the company give them ownership and creative control over their work. Accounts vary as to whom this group included, but it is generally accepted that Todd McFarlane and Rob Liefeld were among its leaders. Marvel did not meet their demands.
In response, eight creators announced the founding of Image Comics: illustrators Todd McFarlane (known for his work on Spider-Man), Jim Lee (X-Men), Rob Liefeld (X-Force), Marc Silvestri (Wolverine), Erik Larsen (The Amazing Spider-Man), Jim Valentino (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Whilce Portacio (Uncanny X-Men); and long-time Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont. This development was nicknamed the "X-odus", because several of the creators involved (Claremont, Liefeld, Lee, Silvestri, and Portacio) were famous for their work on the X-Men franchise. Marvel's stock fell $3.25/share when the news became public.
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23 December 2011
Witchblade Series Complete
Witchblade is an American comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, from 1995 until present. The series was created by Top Cow editors Marc Silvestri and David Wohl, writers Brian Haberlin and Christina Z, and artist Michael Turner.
The series follows Sara Pezzini, a tough-as-nails NYPD homicide detective who comes into possession of the Witchblade, a supernatural, sentient artifact with immense destructive and protective powers. The weapon has bonded with various other women throughout history, the most recent being the series' former co-lead, Danielle Baptiste. Others who have come into contact with the Witchblade include Cleopatra and Joan of Arc. Sara struggles to hone the awesome powers of the Witchblade and fend off those with a nefarious interest in it, especially entrepreneur Kenneth Irons. She also struggles to maintain a personal life.
There have been many spin-off titles which place the Witchblade in other times and settings. The character of Sara Pezzini was also featured in crossovers with characters from other franchises, including Lara Croft, the Justice League, and the cast of Battle of the Planets.
Witchblade was adapted into a moderately successful television series in 2001–2002, starring Yancy Butler as Sara Pezzini.
The title was also adapted into an anime and an unrelated manga series in 2006. Each takes place in a futuristic Japan and features a new blade-wielder, with little resemblance to Pezzini or to each other, in the role. There have been two soundtracks to the manga series (which had a limited print run).
A feature film, currently titled The Witchblade, was scheduled for a 2009 release, but is now set for 2013.
he Witchblade is a male entity of both light and dark which represents both order and chaos. It is the offspring of the primal forces of the universe The Darkness and The Angelus and therefore acts as a balance between the two entities. The Witchblade is semi-organic, a union of the genes of The Darkness and The Angelus. Because of its semi-organic structure it is able to create a symbiosis-like bond with a host. According to one of the TV episodes, the Witchblade was made out of a branch from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The Witchblade was discovered in modern times in Greece by Kenneth Irons, but before he found it, it had many hosts. When not in use, the Witchblade can look like an ornate, jewel-encrusted, right-handed gauntlet or bracelet so it doesn't draw much attention. Any wielder of the Witchblade who is unworthy will lose their arm. It forms a symbiosis-like relationship with its host, who can hear the Witchblade. When used, it expands across the body of the host, often shredding clothes and covering the body in semi-organic armor. The amount and coverage of the armor depends on the level of the threat. For example, when facing mortals, it will usually generate less armor than when facing a demon of hell. This armor can produce extensions of itself that can form swords, other stabbing weapons, hooks, chains, shields, and wings, enabling the wielder to fly. It may also become temperamental if the host chooses not to use it. When wielded, it can shoot energy blasts from the hand or sword, fire projectile darts, and extrude whip-like grapples to attack or to climb. The Witchblade is also an excellent lock pick, and can heal wounds, even mortal ones. The Witchblade can re-animate the dead, empathically show the host scenes of great trauma, and allow the host to relive experiences from past hosts as dreams.
Following the events in the First Born mini-series, the Witchblade was split into two parts. One half belongs to Dani while Sara has reclaimed the other half. However, with the Witchblade originally being the balance between the forces of Darkness and Light, it was revealed in the recent "War of the Witchblades" story arc that each half of the Witchblade represented one of the two primal forces: Sara having the Darkness one and Dani the Angelus. This led to changes in the personality of the characters, especially Sara. Encouraged by the leaderless Angelus Warriors and the mysterious Tau'ma, both hosts eventually ended up in all-out war for the complete control of the Witchblade, which concluded with Sara victorious and once again in control of the full Witchblade.
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The series follows Sara Pezzini, a tough-as-nails NYPD homicide detective who comes into possession of the Witchblade, a supernatural, sentient artifact with immense destructive and protective powers. The weapon has bonded with various other women throughout history, the most recent being the series' former co-lead, Danielle Baptiste. Others who have come into contact with the Witchblade include Cleopatra and Joan of Arc. Sara struggles to hone the awesome powers of the Witchblade and fend off those with a nefarious interest in it, especially entrepreneur Kenneth Irons. She also struggles to maintain a personal life.
There have been many spin-off titles which place the Witchblade in other times and settings. The character of Sara Pezzini was also featured in crossovers with characters from other franchises, including Lara Croft, the Justice League, and the cast of Battle of the Planets.
Witchblade was adapted into a moderately successful television series in 2001–2002, starring Yancy Butler as Sara Pezzini.
The title was also adapted into an anime and an unrelated manga series in 2006. Each takes place in a futuristic Japan and features a new blade-wielder, with little resemblance to Pezzini or to each other, in the role. There have been two soundtracks to the manga series (which had a limited print run).
A feature film, currently titled The Witchblade, was scheduled for a 2009 release, but is now set for 2013.
he Witchblade is a male entity of both light and dark which represents both order and chaos. It is the offspring of the primal forces of the universe The Darkness and The Angelus and therefore acts as a balance between the two entities. The Witchblade is semi-organic, a union of the genes of The Darkness and The Angelus. Because of its semi-organic structure it is able to create a symbiosis-like bond with a host. According to one of the TV episodes, the Witchblade was made out of a branch from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The Witchblade was discovered in modern times in Greece by Kenneth Irons, but before he found it, it had many hosts. When not in use, the Witchblade can look like an ornate, jewel-encrusted, right-handed gauntlet or bracelet so it doesn't draw much attention. Any wielder of the Witchblade who is unworthy will lose their arm. It forms a symbiosis-like relationship with its host, who can hear the Witchblade. When used, it expands across the body of the host, often shredding clothes and covering the body in semi-organic armor. The amount and coverage of the armor depends on the level of the threat. For example, when facing mortals, it will usually generate less armor than when facing a demon of hell. This armor can produce extensions of itself that can form swords, other stabbing weapons, hooks, chains, shields, and wings, enabling the wielder to fly. It may also become temperamental if the host chooses not to use it. When wielded, it can shoot energy blasts from the hand or sword, fire projectile darts, and extrude whip-like grapples to attack or to climb. The Witchblade is also an excellent lock pick, and can heal wounds, even mortal ones. The Witchblade can re-animate the dead, empathically show the host scenes of great trauma, and allow the host to relive experiences from past hosts as dreams.
Following the events in the First Born mini-series, the Witchblade was split into two parts. One half belongs to Dani while Sara has reclaimed the other half. However, with the Witchblade originally being the balance between the forces of Darkness and Light, it was revealed in the recent "War of the Witchblades" story arc that each half of the Witchblade represented one of the two primal forces: Sara having the Darkness one and Dani the Angelus. This led to changes in the personality of the characters, especially Sara. Encouraged by the leaderless Angelus Warriors and the mysterious Tau'ma, both hosts eventually ended up in all-out war for the complete control of the Witchblade, which concluded with Sara victorious and once again in control of the full Witchblade.
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22 December 2011
Tomb Raider Series Complete
The Tomb Raider comic book series are based on the character of Lara Croft, from the games produced by Eidos Interactive and (at the time) Core Design.
he series, which ran from 1999 to 2005 (in which the fiftieth and final issue was released), consisted of monthly issues published by Top Cow Productions, who secured the rights to producing comics after a long struggle. Preceding this series, French publisher Glenat got the green light from Eidos France to produce a comic series called Dark Eons based on the Tomb Raider games, which was taken off the market shortly after. Besides the monthly series, a parallel 12-part series called Journeys, which ran from 2001 to 2003, was also published.
The comics follow a different continuity compared to that of the games and the films. In the comics, the plane crash experienced by Lara kills both her parents as well as her fiancee, and takes place when she is an adult as opposed to being a young girl, as is the case with the game's continuity. Writers Dan Jurgens, John Nay Riber, and James Bonny worked on the series, which also featured the art of Andy Park, Michael Turner, Billy Tan, and Adam Hughes, amongst others.
There are one shots occasionally released and talk of the comic being reintroduced to tie-in to the Tomb Raider: Legend edited continuity. There have also been frequent crossovers with other Top Cow publications such as Fathom, The Darkness, Magdalena, and Witchblade. The debut issue of Tomb Raider was the number one-selling comic book of 1999.
In late 2006, Top Cow released the Tomb Raider Compendium. This was a large, single volume, collected edition of the Tomb Raider comic series; a hardcover version followed in 2008. The book encompasses all 50 issues (well over 1000 pages), as well as a cover gallery featuring select covers, most of them done by Adam Hughes. It is a full-size, full-color reproduction of all fifty issues on high-quality paper. This collection, however, does not include the various specials, minis, and one-shots from the series. This would probably explain why the compendium has "Volume One" written on the side.
Bandai Entertainment also published a "tankōbon" set of volumes, which reprints older stories in black-and-white in a smaller book.
Tomb Raider comics were announced to return in late 2007; however, it has been delayed due to licensing issues.
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he series, which ran from 1999 to 2005 (in which the fiftieth and final issue was released), consisted of monthly issues published by Top Cow Productions, who secured the rights to producing comics after a long struggle. Preceding this series, French publisher Glenat got the green light from Eidos France to produce a comic series called Dark Eons based on the Tomb Raider games, which was taken off the market shortly after. Besides the monthly series, a parallel 12-part series called Journeys, which ran from 2001 to 2003, was also published.
The comics follow a different continuity compared to that of the games and the films. In the comics, the plane crash experienced by Lara kills both her parents as well as her fiancee, and takes place when she is an adult as opposed to being a young girl, as is the case with the game's continuity. Writers Dan Jurgens, John Nay Riber, and James Bonny worked on the series, which also featured the art of Andy Park, Michael Turner, Billy Tan, and Adam Hughes, amongst others.
There are one shots occasionally released and talk of the comic being reintroduced to tie-in to the Tomb Raider: Legend edited continuity. There have also been frequent crossovers with other Top Cow publications such as Fathom, The Darkness, Magdalena, and Witchblade. The debut issue of Tomb Raider was the number one-selling comic book of 1999.
In late 2006, Top Cow released the Tomb Raider Compendium. This was a large, single volume, collected edition of the Tomb Raider comic series; a hardcover version followed in 2008. The book encompasses all 50 issues (well over 1000 pages), as well as a cover gallery featuring select covers, most of them done by Adam Hughes. It is a full-size, full-color reproduction of all fifty issues on high-quality paper. This collection, however, does not include the various specials, minis, and one-shots from the series. This would probably explain why the compendium has "Volume One" written on the side.
Bandai Entertainment also published a "tankōbon" set of volumes, which reprints older stories in black-and-white in a smaller book.
Tomb Raider comics were announced to return in late 2007; however, it has been delayed due to licensing issues.
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21 December 2011
Thorgal Series Complete
Thorgal is a critically acclaimed Belgian comic book series by the Belgian writer Jean Van Hamme and the Polish graphic artist Grzegorz Rosiński. It first appeared in serial form in the "Tintin" magazine in 1977, and has been published in hardcover volumes by Le Lombard from 1980 on. Translations exist in English, Dutch, German, Italian, Polish, Czech, Danish, Finnish (in the Finnish "The Phantom" comic), Swedish (in the Swedish "The Phantom" comic), Norwegian (in the Norwegian "The Phantom" comic), Turkish, Greek and other languages. In 2002, a new story was invented for a point-and-click adventure game, titled Thorgal: Curse of Atlantis, that was released for Windows by Cryo Interactive Entertainment.
The comic unites many themes and legends into one consistent world, ranging from Norse mythology and Atlantean fantasy to science fiction, and including such genres as dark drama, horror and adventure stories.
Thorgal is one of the most popular French language comics. In 2006, Album 29 was the fifth best selling new comic in French, with 280,000 copies published.
Central characters of the series
Thorgal Aegirsson: Son of Varth and Hayne, grandson of Xargos -captain of a spaceship on a way to Earth in search of energy sources. Raised by Vikings (after the spaceship crashed on Earth) but not one of them, he shows traits of character and morality that many Vikings consider those of a weak man. In reality, if needs be, he's a courageous and skillful warrior with amazing archery skills. His life's goal is to find a place for himself and his family to live in peace, but the gods seem to have cursed him with a life full of danger and supernatural influences. For a time they strip him of his memory, and he becomes the pirate lord Shaigan, though his compassionate personality remained unchanged.
Aaricia: Thorgal's wife and daughter of Viking leader Gandalf the Mad. She is bound to Thorgal from the moment of her birth by a magic object named Tjahzi's Tears. Aaricia is a spirited, strongwilled woman, and she loves her family dearly despite all the mishaps Thorgal's fate has brought to their lives.
Jolan: Thorgal's son who possesses supernatural powers - the heritage of Thorgal's mysterious ancestry. During the majority of the series, his power is limited to molecular agitation (usually disintegrating objects), and although at first not entirely in control of it, he gradually learns to use it deliberately.
Louve: Thorgal and Aaricia's daughter. She has the ability to communicate with animals.
Kriss of Valnor: young, beautiful, unscrupulous and deadly warrioress, incredible with a bow. She first appears in the 9th album, "The Archers" and re-appears intermittently in the following albums. She is in some ways Thorgal's greatest foe, trying to hurt him and his family out of pure hate, but sometimes showing hints of admiration and even secret love for Thorgal. When Thorgal loses his memory, she tricks him into believing they are married, and convinces Thorgal he is the ruthless pirate lord Shaigan. She becomes pregnant with his son shortly before Thorgal regains his memory and leaves to find his family. Later, she ends up as a slave in Byzantium and sacrifices her life to help Thorgal's family escape from the same slave pits. However, even after her demise her story is to haunt Thorgal's family in adventures to come. Her father Kahaniel of Valnor sired her to be able to reincarnate in his first-born male descendant, Aniel.
Aniel: the child son of Thorgal and Kriss of Valnor, conceived while Thorgal lived as the pirate lord Shaigan Without Mercy. He and his mother fell prey to Byzantian slavers, and his vocal cords were cut to forestall crying, leaving him mute. Later, Kriss and Aniel escaped the slave pits with Aaricia, Jolan and Louve, who had also been brought there. When Kriss was wounded by her pursuers and prepared to make her last stand, she asked Aaricia to take care of her son. Aaricia agreed and took Aniel in as one of her own children.
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The comic unites many themes and legends into one consistent world, ranging from Norse mythology and Atlantean fantasy to science fiction, and including such genres as dark drama, horror and adventure stories.
Thorgal is one of the most popular French language comics. In 2006, Album 29 was the fifth best selling new comic in French, with 280,000 copies published.
Central characters of the series
Thorgal Aegirsson: Son of Varth and Hayne, grandson of Xargos -captain of a spaceship on a way to Earth in search of energy sources. Raised by Vikings (after the spaceship crashed on Earth) but not one of them, he shows traits of character and morality that many Vikings consider those of a weak man. In reality, if needs be, he's a courageous and skillful warrior with amazing archery skills. His life's goal is to find a place for himself and his family to live in peace, but the gods seem to have cursed him with a life full of danger and supernatural influences. For a time they strip him of his memory, and he becomes the pirate lord Shaigan, though his compassionate personality remained unchanged.
Aaricia: Thorgal's wife and daughter of Viking leader Gandalf the Mad. She is bound to Thorgal from the moment of her birth by a magic object named Tjahzi's Tears. Aaricia is a spirited, strongwilled woman, and she loves her family dearly despite all the mishaps Thorgal's fate has brought to their lives.
Jolan: Thorgal's son who possesses supernatural powers - the heritage of Thorgal's mysterious ancestry. During the majority of the series, his power is limited to molecular agitation (usually disintegrating objects), and although at first not entirely in control of it, he gradually learns to use it deliberately.
Louve: Thorgal and Aaricia's daughter. She has the ability to communicate with animals.
Kriss of Valnor: young, beautiful, unscrupulous and deadly warrioress, incredible with a bow. She first appears in the 9th album, "The Archers" and re-appears intermittently in the following albums. She is in some ways Thorgal's greatest foe, trying to hurt him and his family out of pure hate, but sometimes showing hints of admiration and even secret love for Thorgal. When Thorgal loses his memory, she tricks him into believing they are married, and convinces Thorgal he is the ruthless pirate lord Shaigan. She becomes pregnant with his son shortly before Thorgal regains his memory and leaves to find his family. Later, she ends up as a slave in Byzantium and sacrifices her life to help Thorgal's family escape from the same slave pits. However, even after her demise her story is to haunt Thorgal's family in adventures to come. Her father Kahaniel of Valnor sired her to be able to reincarnate in his first-born male descendant, Aniel.
Aniel: the child son of Thorgal and Kriss of Valnor, conceived while Thorgal lived as the pirate lord Shaigan Without Mercy. He and his mother fell prey to Byzantian slavers, and his vocal cords were cut to forestall crying, leaving him mute. Later, Kriss and Aniel escaped the slave pits with Aaricia, Jolan and Louve, who had also been brought there. When Kriss was wounded by her pursuers and prepared to make her last stand, she asked Aaricia to take care of her son. Aaricia agreed and took Aniel in as one of her own children.
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20 December 2011
The necromancer Series Complete
The Necromancer is a comic book published by the Top Cow imprint of Image Comics.
The comic is written by science fiction author turned comic writer Joshua Ortega with art on the first series by Francis Manapul.
Necromancer was originally announced back in 2001 with Top Cow president Matt Hawkins as the writer and Brian Ching on art chores.
Necromancer returned in the 2007 "Pilot Season" program from Top Cow. Ortega provided the script and Jonboy Meyers took over on art, as Manapul was on exclusive contract to DC.
The series follows Abby van Alstine, a teenage girl who discovers that she is part of a mystical subculture among society, possessing several growing powers of her own.
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The comic is written by science fiction author turned comic writer Joshua Ortega with art on the first series by Francis Manapul.
Necromancer was originally announced back in 2001 with Top Cow president Matt Hawkins as the writer and Brian Ching on art chores.
Necromancer returned in the 2007 "Pilot Season" program from Top Cow. Ortega provided the script and Jonboy Meyers took over on art, as Manapul was on exclusive contract to DC.
The series follows Abby van Alstine, a teenage girl who discovers that she is part of a mystical subculture among society, possessing several growing powers of her own.
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19 December 2011
The Magdalena Series Complete
The Magdalena is an American comic book heroine created by Top Cow Productions. She did not have her own on-going series for many years, but had two limited series and has been featured in comics with The Darkness, the Witchblade, Tomb Raider, The Angelus and Vampirella. She first appeared in The Darkness #15 (June 1998). Her ongoing series started April 2010.
After the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, reputed to be his wife, gave birth to Christ's daughter, Sarah. From this child is descended the holy lineage of The Magdalena, a royal bloodline that passes great power and great honor from mother to daughter. The Magdalena serves as the warrior and protector of the Catholic Church.
The Magdalena has the inherent ability to see into the human heart, to show people the error of their ways and give them the choice to redeem their sins. There is only one in a generation, and she alone stands and takes arms against the evils of the world. Apart from the powers she is born with, The Magdalena wields the Spear of Destiny, the spear that pierced the side of Christ, as a holy and formidable weapon against the twisted and the evil.
Since the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church has been the Magdalena's employer. They raise her from childhood and train her until she is ready to take hold of her destiny. It is the Inquisition, a secretive and mystical but powerful council of cardinals, that oversees the Magdalena's activities and chooses her missions.
Incarnations
Three Magdalena have been depicted in detail in the Top Cow universe.
Sister Rosalia
When introduced Rosalia was 33 years old. Raped as a teenager by a masked assailant, she gave birth to a daughter who is assumed to have been taken from her and brought up in a convent somewhere.
She was sent to investigate possible vampire killings in France. She found the vampires and discovered they were humans infected with a virus and saw they were not evil. She was killed by the soldiers of the Inquisition, the Garduna, for trying to prevent them from slaughtering the 'vampires'.
Chronologically Rosalia was the first Magdalena readers encountered, although the Blood Divine mini series (#1 - 3) which she starred in was the Magdalena's second printed appearance. The mini-series was created by Marcia Chen and Joe Benitez.
Sister Mariella
Mariella was the above mentioned daughter of Rosalia and the mysterious masked assailant. She debuted in the first printed appearance of the Magdalena in The Darkness #15 - 18, and then appeared again in Magdalena/Angelus #1/2. Mariella must have been in her later teens/early twenties when called as the next Magdalena.
She was sent to kill Jackie Estacado with the Spear of Destiny but unbeknownst to her she was not yet fully trained. Even after the Sisters of the Order of Magdalene performed the ritual which gave her the ability of her blood to reveal a person's sins, she and the Sisters were still defeated by Jackie Estacado, who made an example of them by crucifying them in the church as a message to their superiors.
Having recovered from her combat with Jackie and her crucifixion, Mariella received word of where the Spear of Destiny was and set out to retrieve it. In the process she encountered The Angelus and Appolonia Francetti and was again left for dead.
It is not clear what has actually happened to Mariella after her encounter with The Angelus. She was clearly stated to be alive following her appearance in Magdalena/Angelus #1/2 but was never seen again. Since a new Magdalena was called to replace her, Mariella presumably died on a mission not yet depicted.
Mariella was sent on these two very dangerous missions by the devious Cardinal Innocent and then by an anonymous letter. The possibility was raised that someone within the Church, probably Cardinal Innocent, wanted an end to the Magdalena and her line because of their true origin as the heirs of both Christ and his female followers.
Mariella appeared in The Darkness #15 - 18 by Malachy Coney and Joe Benitez. She re-appeared in the Magdalena / Angelus one-shot, by Marcia Chen and Brian Ching.
Patience
The third Magdalena seen was named Patience. There is no information yet on her exact lineage or her relation to her two immediate predecessors, and she appears too old to be a daughter of Mariella though it is possible that she is her sister. Patience was in her novitiate but left her convent suddenly, forcing the Inquisition to send an agent, Kristof, to track her down when her time came to assume the mantle.
Kristof found her living on the streets of New York City with a newfound friend, a homeless girl called Rowan Barry. Kristof became Patience's mentor and gave her basic training in her new role. Patience was initially hesitant but gave in to her destiny when Rowan was abducted by agents of an evil force. The events of her first adventure in her new role led to a disagreement with Kristof and the Inquisition, prompting her to declare herself independent of their control but allied with them only when their goals did not conflict with her sense of ethics.
Patience was sighted again when Sara Pezzini, an officer of the New York City Police Department and wielder of the Witchblade, was attacked by a bloodthirsty demon, posing as a young woman. Sara found that this enigmatic Magdalena might prove a valuable ally against an unspeakable evil that roams the streets of New York City.
Patience appeared in Magdalena/Vampirella #1 by David Wohl and Joe Benitez, in Witchblade #62-65 by David Wohl and Francis Manapul and also in the new Magdalena mini-series by Brian Holguin and Eric Basaldua.
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After the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, reputed to be his wife, gave birth to Christ's daughter, Sarah. From this child is descended the holy lineage of The Magdalena, a royal bloodline that passes great power and great honor from mother to daughter. The Magdalena serves as the warrior and protector of the Catholic Church.
The Magdalena has the inherent ability to see into the human heart, to show people the error of their ways and give them the choice to redeem their sins. There is only one in a generation, and she alone stands and takes arms against the evils of the world. Apart from the powers she is born with, The Magdalena wields the Spear of Destiny, the spear that pierced the side of Christ, as a holy and formidable weapon against the twisted and the evil.
Since the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church has been the Magdalena's employer. They raise her from childhood and train her until she is ready to take hold of her destiny. It is the Inquisition, a secretive and mystical but powerful council of cardinals, that oversees the Magdalena's activities and chooses her missions.
Incarnations
Three Magdalena have been depicted in detail in the Top Cow universe.
Sister Rosalia
When introduced Rosalia was 33 years old. Raped as a teenager by a masked assailant, she gave birth to a daughter who is assumed to have been taken from her and brought up in a convent somewhere.
She was sent to investigate possible vampire killings in France. She found the vampires and discovered they were humans infected with a virus and saw they were not evil. She was killed by the soldiers of the Inquisition, the Garduna, for trying to prevent them from slaughtering the 'vampires'.
Chronologically Rosalia was the first Magdalena readers encountered, although the Blood Divine mini series (#1 - 3) which she starred in was the Magdalena's second printed appearance. The mini-series was created by Marcia Chen and Joe Benitez.
Sister Mariella
Mariella was the above mentioned daughter of Rosalia and the mysterious masked assailant. She debuted in the first printed appearance of the Magdalena in The Darkness #15 - 18, and then appeared again in Magdalena/Angelus #1/2. Mariella must have been in her later teens/early twenties when called as the next Magdalena.
She was sent to kill Jackie Estacado with the Spear of Destiny but unbeknownst to her she was not yet fully trained. Even after the Sisters of the Order of Magdalene performed the ritual which gave her the ability of her blood to reveal a person's sins, she and the Sisters were still defeated by Jackie Estacado, who made an example of them by crucifying them in the church as a message to their superiors.
Having recovered from her combat with Jackie and her crucifixion, Mariella received word of where the Spear of Destiny was and set out to retrieve it. In the process she encountered The Angelus and Appolonia Francetti and was again left for dead.
It is not clear what has actually happened to Mariella after her encounter with The Angelus. She was clearly stated to be alive following her appearance in Magdalena/Angelus #1/2 but was never seen again. Since a new Magdalena was called to replace her, Mariella presumably died on a mission not yet depicted.
Mariella was sent on these two very dangerous missions by the devious Cardinal Innocent and then by an anonymous letter. The possibility was raised that someone within the Church, probably Cardinal Innocent, wanted an end to the Magdalena and her line because of their true origin as the heirs of both Christ and his female followers.
Mariella appeared in The Darkness #15 - 18 by Malachy Coney and Joe Benitez. She re-appeared in the Magdalena / Angelus one-shot, by Marcia Chen and Brian Ching.
Patience
The third Magdalena seen was named Patience. There is no information yet on her exact lineage or her relation to her two immediate predecessors, and she appears too old to be a daughter of Mariella though it is possible that she is her sister. Patience was in her novitiate but left her convent suddenly, forcing the Inquisition to send an agent, Kristof, to track her down when her time came to assume the mantle.
Kristof found her living on the streets of New York City with a newfound friend, a homeless girl called Rowan Barry. Kristof became Patience's mentor and gave her basic training in her new role. Patience was initially hesitant but gave in to her destiny when Rowan was abducted by agents of an evil force. The events of her first adventure in her new role led to a disagreement with Kristof and the Inquisition, prompting her to declare herself independent of their control but allied with them only when their goals did not conflict with her sense of ethics.
Patience was sighted again when Sara Pezzini, an officer of the New York City Police Department and wielder of the Witchblade, was attacked by a bloodthirsty demon, posing as a young woman. Sara found that this enigmatic Magdalena might prove a valuable ally against an unspeakable evil that roams the streets of New York City.
Patience appeared in Magdalena/Vampirella #1 by David Wohl and Joe Benitez, in Witchblade #62-65 by David Wohl and Francis Manapul and also in the new Magdalena mini-series by Brian Holguin and Eric Basaldua.
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18 December 2011
The Darkness Series Complete
The Darkness is a series of ongoing American comic books created by Marc Silvestri, Garth Ennis, and David Wohl and produced by Top Cow Productions. The comic first appeared in 1996 and enjoyed an initial period of relative success during the Top Cow/Image Comics boom of the late 1990s. However, Top Cow was forced to "re-launch" the comic in 2002 after sales began to drop. The Darkness has sold over 1 million copies worldwide.
Notable writers, including Paul Jenkins, have also worked on The Darkness.
The Darkness is an ancient elemental force that allows those who wield it access to an otherworldly dimension and control over the Darklings who dwell there. When the host of The Darkness conceives offspring, The Darkness bounds into the newly formed vessel and leaves his old host to die. The living vessel of The Darkness then assumes his eternal, infernal birthright on the eve of his twenty-first birthday when he is at once blessed and cursed by the power of The Darkness.
Jackie Estacado is the current wielder of The Darkness and former hitman for the Franchetti Family mob. Though he lives life on the wrong side of the law and can kill without remorse, Estacado has a strict set of morals and a fierce loyalty to those that earn it.Yet the only thing keeping him from being purely evil is his true love Jenny.As seen in the video game after he kills his "Uncle" Paulie the darkness takes full control for a moment.But soon after he has a vision of Jenny. She tells him he has to wake up and so he does.
Jackie was never easily intimidated, even as the smallest (and subsequently scrappiest) orphan at Saint Gerard's. He joined the Mafia at the very early age of 6, after being adopted by mafia don Frankie "Kill-the-children-too" Franchetti. He was picked up at Saint Garald's orphanage after Frankie was prompted by Sonatine, who told Frankie that Jackie would make him mighty. Jackie came to the mafia life easily, witnessing his first point blank bullet to the base of the skull assassination of a close "family friend" at age 10, losing his virginity to a female officer during interrogation at age 14, and making his first hit at 16. He grew up, or more accurately matured, very quickly, and soon enjoyed the life of sex and violence. His actions within the mob caused Franchetti to become the most powerful don in the city, fulfilling Sonatine's prophecy. However, when he turned 21, he was both blessed and cursed by the power of The Darkness and he learned of his eternal, infernal birthright. His powers served him well in the role of mob enforcer, dealing death with careless grace.
Early on, Jackie spent much of his time escaping from or fighting the Angelus (who wants to kill him), and Sonatine and his Brotherhood of The Darkness (who wish to capture him and either control him or steal his powers). Eventually, Jackie realized that he could use his powers for more noble ends and chose to quit the mob, but found it easier said than done. Jackie had turned on his adoptive uncle, Don Frankie Franchetti, to get a clean slate and exit from his life of crime after a meeting with Batman. (Batman/Darkness crossover) However, after Frankie kidnapped Jenny, a childhood friend of Jackie's, Frankie killed her and sent a videotape to Jackie in revenge. Jackie could not take this and called out Franchetti's mob, leading them to an abandoned warehouse covered in gasoline. When the crew arrived to kill Estacado, Jackie and the darklings threw down their lighters and blew the place, and all its occupants, to bits, killing Frankie and burning Jackie alive. Over the course of this series, Jackie makes uneasy and often flirtatious alliances with Sara Pezzini, the current user of The Witchblade.
Jackie spent two days (or what seemed to him like 'a million years') afterward wandering around Hell, searching for Jenny, until Tom Judge came and gave him hope, a gift that allows men to exit Hell. Jackie's body was then reconstructed by The Darkness.
Jackie returned to find the Franchetti mob taken over by Frankie's amateur cousin, Paulie. Paulie was able to discover Jackie's secret as well as a long-lost sister of Jenny's. Using this information, Paulie blackmailed Jackie into doing hits for him. Along the way, Jackie learned how to construct a gun out of The Darkness. Later, Jackie discovered the identity of the hitman following Jenny's sister, killed him, and took his revenge on Paulie as well. This led to Jackie taking control of the Franchetti family. With control of the Franchetti family, Jackie vastly expanded his mafia, taken on the Triads, and fought the Russian Mafia in Atlantic City.
Being the Don of the Italian Mafia in New York did not last long however. In search for revenge the new Angelus once again confronts Jackie and with the help of Patience the Magdalena and Witchblade wielder Danielle Baptiste, Estacado manages to crush her, losing everything he had gained. He flees to Sierra Muñoz in hope of establishing a new empire there.
Jackie Estacado is also the biological father of Hope Pezzini, Sara Pezzini's mystical child. He himself could not explain it properly apart from saying that it had to do with 'Darkness wanting to tip the balance'. The Darkness entity itself confirms this to Patience (Witchblade #110) by saying that it used Jackie as raw material to settle the matter with Angelus once and for all. Recently, (Darkness Vol. 3 # 1-2) Jackie has established a drug cartel in Sierra Muñoz with a narcotic made from his own bodily fluids thanks to the help of a demented, but brilliant scientist named Professor Kirchner. With the Darkness, Jackie is able to take control of the small tropical republic, build himself an impenetrable fortress, an army and eventually, even a lover he calls 'Elle'.
Most of these come at a price since the residents of Sierra Muñoz do not take very kindly to him. To express their distaste, they perform various acts of guerrilla warfare and suicide bombing in their struggle for liberation. They manage to find themselves a sponsor in their struggle- The United States military, who wish to capture Jackie for both experimentation and to learn about his "armor". Jackie went to fight the army head on and, using The Darkness, he was able to take out the entire fleet. Returning to his fortress, he is betrayed by Kirchner and loses control of all of his power, with his darklings turning on him. Jackie is left for dead after being shot in the neck and falling down a waterfall. Upon his capture he makes a deal with the local rebels agreeing to rid the island of the drug he created. In doing so he crosses paths with Elle and she reveals to Jackie that she is pregnant with his baby: a spawn of The Darkness itself.
The Darkness however killed Elle upon birth, grew to full maturity and killed Professor Kirchner. A fight between Jackie and The Darkness ended when Jackie left the creature in the upper atmosphere just as dawn was breaking. The Darkness was then destroyed by the rays of the morning sun.
After crashing to Earth following this battle, Jackie was weakened and battered. He flees Sierra Munoz and heads back to the States. But the road home is no easy journey as he runs afoul of Mexican witches and wannabe gangsters. During one such fight, he was knocked out and soon discovers his battle with The Darkness cast his soul into Hell while leaving his body and mind on Earth after he meets and makes a deal with a devil who calls himself The Sovereign, an arch-demon who promises, in return for a number of assassinations, to reunite Jackie's body and soul.
The assassinations Jackie was sent on were meant to return to Hell evil souls, who had previously made a deal with The Sovereign to take over human bodies. After one such mission in Africa, Jackie was enticed by a beautiful woman with a red scarf, who motioned for him to follow. As he was about to follow her into a house, he was stopped by The Foreigner, a mysterious African man who once wielded The Darkness, but had completely discarded the power over ten thousand years ago without it killing him. He warned Jackie of the trap laid hundreds of years earlier by an angry sorcerer who created a powerful Djinn to kill The Darkness, who defiled his wife. The Foreigner was able to kill the Djinn over two thousand years ago, but his curse is so potent that even his decayed remains can rise to strike at The Darkness.
Inside the building were the woman waited, the Djinn responded to Jackie's presence, resurrected, and attacked Jackie. Eventually, Jackie understood that both the woman and the Djinn were cursed themselves, to live only to lure and kill The Darkness. By strangling the woman, both were released. Outside, Jackie was once more confronted by The Foreigner, who explained that Jackie can call The Darkness and his soul back at any time, so long as he desires it. Through a series of insults and physical attacks, Jackie once more drew on the full power of The Darkness and fought the old Darkness wielder, claiming to be sick of people who tried to mess with his head. Together with the always talkative Darklings, he stated his desire to return home.
Attacking the building where The Sovereign held his base, Jackie found himself caught in a room flooded with artificial sunlight and a score of bodies controlled by The Sovereign. With the help of the Darklings biting the power lines outside, Jackie destroyed all the bodies, leaving only one man alive, Leonard Kim. Jackie, impressed by Kim's ability to stay calm where all the other mercenaries had panicked, offered him a job.
Jackie quickly brought together a group of people with distinct skills for a single purpose: to destroy each and every statue that might be used by The Sovereign, effectively removing his presence from Earth. During this time, Jackie was called by Sara who suspected him of robbing a number of New York banks. During a meeting in broad daylight Sara warned Jackie to stay away from the city, not wanting to tell her daughter Hope that 'mommy had killed daddy.' Jackie agreed and instructed his new employees that under no circumstance were they to enter the city of New York.
Jackie and his team then go on a world tour finding and destroying stone bodies that The Sovereign could use as hosts. One of these trips takes him to Fort Knox where a host statue is held. During the raid Jackie discovers that The Sovereign has already taken over the statue as it is radiating light. Jackie is forced to take the Sovereign-possessed statue with them he orders his team to detonate the explosives they had set earlier. Unfortunately for Jackie, he falls from the van and is left helpless as tanks and marines surround him on orders by Major White, who survived the explosion back in Sierra Munoz.
Jackie holds his own against the marines but is shot down and captured. Linked to an electronic shock disc, Major White Informs Jackie that members of Hunter Killer are coming to take him and study his powers. Meanwhile, The Sovereign tries to bargain with Jackie's team, however out of loyalty to Jackie, they refuse and The Sovereign attacks them. The team manage to destroy The Sovereign by hitting the brakes on the van, tossing The Sovereign into the windshield and detonating the C4 explosives on his back. White informs Jackie that Jackie's power must not be used by anybody but him (Jackie). White shuts down the power in the base and willingly lets Jackie break his jaw and escape. Jackie makes his way to a parking lot building where the squad of Hunter Killers are after him. After a visit from the old Darkness host, Jackie manages to evade the squad by making copies of himself and fooling the team into thinking they had caught him, while Jackie hides and escapes by using The Darkness to shapeshift into an old lady.
While on a plane to retrieve another Sovereign statue from retired Russian mob boss Vasily Martynov, Jackie begins having strange dreams of himself as a teenager wearing a costume-like Darkness armor and chasing Capris through an orphanage. He then wakes up and dismisses the thought from his mind. During the meeting with Martynov, Jackie meets his mysterious deaf assistant, Arvo. Jackie then begins hearing the most beautiful voice he's ever heard which begins to pull him into Martynov's complex after he sees Capris. He reaches her and finds her surrounded by illusions of The Sovereighn and Sonatine created by the song. He battles the creatures and eventually submits after receiving a vision from an old knight. He wakes up restrained to a machine surrounding an angelic woman known as The Alkonost. The machine syphons The Darkness from him and into Arvo, who intends to use it to rule as a god. Meanwhile, Jackie's team are betrayed and sold out to Martynov by one of their own, Dev Ravada. Back within the machine, the old knight reveals himself to be the last member of The Order of The Holy Voice, an order devoted to the protection of The Alkonost, he also informs Jackie that "Capris" was in fact an illusion created by The Alkonost's singing. Arvo was intended to be the old knight's apprentice, however Arvo wanted The Alkonost for himself and so he battled the old knight and has kept him strapped to the machine for centuries. While Arvo raped the helpless Alkonost, Jackie loses consciousness and only by killing "Capris" does he summon the strength to free both himself and the old knight from the machine. He is attacked by Arvo while the old knight attends The Alkonost and pulls the lance from her chest and impales Arvo, giving Jackie the chance to use The Darkness to heal Arvo's ears, making him vulnerable to The Alkonost's song. As the old knight lay dying in the weeping Alkonost's wings, Jackie offers to heal his wound, however the old knight declines as dying in The Alkonost's presence is his greatest honor. Jackie then lays the old knight to rest as The Alkonost flew into the sky and escaped. Martynov is devastated by the release of The Alkonost, just in time for Kim to kill him and for Jackie to kill Arvo.
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Notable writers, including Paul Jenkins, have also worked on The Darkness.
The Darkness is an ancient elemental force that allows those who wield it access to an otherworldly dimension and control over the Darklings who dwell there. When the host of The Darkness conceives offspring, The Darkness bounds into the newly formed vessel and leaves his old host to die. The living vessel of The Darkness then assumes his eternal, infernal birthright on the eve of his twenty-first birthday when he is at once blessed and cursed by the power of The Darkness.
Jackie Estacado is the current wielder of The Darkness and former hitman for the Franchetti Family mob. Though he lives life on the wrong side of the law and can kill without remorse, Estacado has a strict set of morals and a fierce loyalty to those that earn it.Yet the only thing keeping him from being purely evil is his true love Jenny.As seen in the video game after he kills his "Uncle" Paulie the darkness takes full control for a moment.But soon after he has a vision of Jenny. She tells him he has to wake up and so he does.
Jackie was never easily intimidated, even as the smallest (and subsequently scrappiest) orphan at Saint Gerard's. He joined the Mafia at the very early age of 6, after being adopted by mafia don Frankie "Kill-the-children-too" Franchetti. He was picked up at Saint Garald's orphanage after Frankie was prompted by Sonatine, who told Frankie that Jackie would make him mighty. Jackie came to the mafia life easily, witnessing his first point blank bullet to the base of the skull assassination of a close "family friend" at age 10, losing his virginity to a female officer during interrogation at age 14, and making his first hit at 16. He grew up, or more accurately matured, very quickly, and soon enjoyed the life of sex and violence. His actions within the mob caused Franchetti to become the most powerful don in the city, fulfilling Sonatine's prophecy. However, when he turned 21, he was both blessed and cursed by the power of The Darkness and he learned of his eternal, infernal birthright. His powers served him well in the role of mob enforcer, dealing death with careless grace.
Early on, Jackie spent much of his time escaping from or fighting the Angelus (who wants to kill him), and Sonatine and his Brotherhood of The Darkness (who wish to capture him and either control him or steal his powers). Eventually, Jackie realized that he could use his powers for more noble ends and chose to quit the mob, but found it easier said than done. Jackie had turned on his adoptive uncle, Don Frankie Franchetti, to get a clean slate and exit from his life of crime after a meeting with Batman. (Batman/Darkness crossover) However, after Frankie kidnapped Jenny, a childhood friend of Jackie's, Frankie killed her and sent a videotape to Jackie in revenge. Jackie could not take this and called out Franchetti's mob, leading them to an abandoned warehouse covered in gasoline. When the crew arrived to kill Estacado, Jackie and the darklings threw down their lighters and blew the place, and all its occupants, to bits, killing Frankie and burning Jackie alive. Over the course of this series, Jackie makes uneasy and often flirtatious alliances with Sara Pezzini, the current user of The Witchblade.
Jackie spent two days (or what seemed to him like 'a million years') afterward wandering around Hell, searching for Jenny, until Tom Judge came and gave him hope, a gift that allows men to exit Hell. Jackie's body was then reconstructed by The Darkness.
Jackie returned to find the Franchetti mob taken over by Frankie's amateur cousin, Paulie. Paulie was able to discover Jackie's secret as well as a long-lost sister of Jenny's. Using this information, Paulie blackmailed Jackie into doing hits for him. Along the way, Jackie learned how to construct a gun out of The Darkness. Later, Jackie discovered the identity of the hitman following Jenny's sister, killed him, and took his revenge on Paulie as well. This led to Jackie taking control of the Franchetti family. With control of the Franchetti family, Jackie vastly expanded his mafia, taken on the Triads, and fought the Russian Mafia in Atlantic City.
Being the Don of the Italian Mafia in New York did not last long however. In search for revenge the new Angelus once again confronts Jackie and with the help of Patience the Magdalena and Witchblade wielder Danielle Baptiste, Estacado manages to crush her, losing everything he had gained. He flees to Sierra Muñoz in hope of establishing a new empire there.
Jackie Estacado is also the biological father of Hope Pezzini, Sara Pezzini's mystical child. He himself could not explain it properly apart from saying that it had to do with 'Darkness wanting to tip the balance'. The Darkness entity itself confirms this to Patience (Witchblade #110) by saying that it used Jackie as raw material to settle the matter with Angelus once and for all. Recently, (Darkness Vol. 3 # 1-2) Jackie has established a drug cartel in Sierra Muñoz with a narcotic made from his own bodily fluids thanks to the help of a demented, but brilliant scientist named Professor Kirchner. With the Darkness, Jackie is able to take control of the small tropical republic, build himself an impenetrable fortress, an army and eventually, even a lover he calls 'Elle'.
Most of these come at a price since the residents of Sierra Muñoz do not take very kindly to him. To express their distaste, they perform various acts of guerrilla warfare and suicide bombing in their struggle for liberation. They manage to find themselves a sponsor in their struggle- The United States military, who wish to capture Jackie for both experimentation and to learn about his "armor". Jackie went to fight the army head on and, using The Darkness, he was able to take out the entire fleet. Returning to his fortress, he is betrayed by Kirchner and loses control of all of his power, with his darklings turning on him. Jackie is left for dead after being shot in the neck and falling down a waterfall. Upon his capture he makes a deal with the local rebels agreeing to rid the island of the drug he created. In doing so he crosses paths with Elle and she reveals to Jackie that she is pregnant with his baby: a spawn of The Darkness itself.
The Darkness however killed Elle upon birth, grew to full maturity and killed Professor Kirchner. A fight between Jackie and The Darkness ended when Jackie left the creature in the upper atmosphere just as dawn was breaking. The Darkness was then destroyed by the rays of the morning sun.
After crashing to Earth following this battle, Jackie was weakened and battered. He flees Sierra Munoz and heads back to the States. But the road home is no easy journey as he runs afoul of Mexican witches and wannabe gangsters. During one such fight, he was knocked out and soon discovers his battle with The Darkness cast his soul into Hell while leaving his body and mind on Earth after he meets and makes a deal with a devil who calls himself The Sovereign, an arch-demon who promises, in return for a number of assassinations, to reunite Jackie's body and soul.
The assassinations Jackie was sent on were meant to return to Hell evil souls, who had previously made a deal with The Sovereign to take over human bodies. After one such mission in Africa, Jackie was enticed by a beautiful woman with a red scarf, who motioned for him to follow. As he was about to follow her into a house, he was stopped by The Foreigner, a mysterious African man who once wielded The Darkness, but had completely discarded the power over ten thousand years ago without it killing him. He warned Jackie of the trap laid hundreds of years earlier by an angry sorcerer who created a powerful Djinn to kill The Darkness, who defiled his wife. The Foreigner was able to kill the Djinn over two thousand years ago, but his curse is so potent that even his decayed remains can rise to strike at The Darkness.
Inside the building were the woman waited, the Djinn responded to Jackie's presence, resurrected, and attacked Jackie. Eventually, Jackie understood that both the woman and the Djinn were cursed themselves, to live only to lure and kill The Darkness. By strangling the woman, both were released. Outside, Jackie was once more confronted by The Foreigner, who explained that Jackie can call The Darkness and his soul back at any time, so long as he desires it. Through a series of insults and physical attacks, Jackie once more drew on the full power of The Darkness and fought the old Darkness wielder, claiming to be sick of people who tried to mess with his head. Together with the always talkative Darklings, he stated his desire to return home.
Attacking the building where The Sovereign held his base, Jackie found himself caught in a room flooded with artificial sunlight and a score of bodies controlled by The Sovereign. With the help of the Darklings biting the power lines outside, Jackie destroyed all the bodies, leaving only one man alive, Leonard Kim. Jackie, impressed by Kim's ability to stay calm where all the other mercenaries had panicked, offered him a job.
Jackie quickly brought together a group of people with distinct skills for a single purpose: to destroy each and every statue that might be used by The Sovereign, effectively removing his presence from Earth. During this time, Jackie was called by Sara who suspected him of robbing a number of New York banks. During a meeting in broad daylight Sara warned Jackie to stay away from the city, not wanting to tell her daughter Hope that 'mommy had killed daddy.' Jackie agreed and instructed his new employees that under no circumstance were they to enter the city of New York.
Jackie and his team then go on a world tour finding and destroying stone bodies that The Sovereign could use as hosts. One of these trips takes him to Fort Knox where a host statue is held. During the raid Jackie discovers that The Sovereign has already taken over the statue as it is radiating light. Jackie is forced to take the Sovereign-possessed statue with them he orders his team to detonate the explosives they had set earlier. Unfortunately for Jackie, he falls from the van and is left helpless as tanks and marines surround him on orders by Major White, who survived the explosion back in Sierra Munoz.
Jackie holds his own against the marines but is shot down and captured. Linked to an electronic shock disc, Major White Informs Jackie that members of Hunter Killer are coming to take him and study his powers. Meanwhile, The Sovereign tries to bargain with Jackie's team, however out of loyalty to Jackie, they refuse and The Sovereign attacks them. The team manage to destroy The Sovereign by hitting the brakes on the van, tossing The Sovereign into the windshield and detonating the C4 explosives on his back. White informs Jackie that Jackie's power must not be used by anybody but him (Jackie). White shuts down the power in the base and willingly lets Jackie break his jaw and escape. Jackie makes his way to a parking lot building where the squad of Hunter Killers are after him. After a visit from the old Darkness host, Jackie manages to evade the squad by making copies of himself and fooling the team into thinking they had caught him, while Jackie hides and escapes by using The Darkness to shapeshift into an old lady.
While on a plane to retrieve another Sovereign statue from retired Russian mob boss Vasily Martynov, Jackie begins having strange dreams of himself as a teenager wearing a costume-like Darkness armor and chasing Capris through an orphanage. He then wakes up and dismisses the thought from his mind. During the meeting with Martynov, Jackie meets his mysterious deaf assistant, Arvo. Jackie then begins hearing the most beautiful voice he's ever heard which begins to pull him into Martynov's complex after he sees Capris. He reaches her and finds her surrounded by illusions of The Sovereighn and Sonatine created by the song. He battles the creatures and eventually submits after receiving a vision from an old knight. He wakes up restrained to a machine surrounding an angelic woman known as The Alkonost. The machine syphons The Darkness from him and into Arvo, who intends to use it to rule as a god. Meanwhile, Jackie's team are betrayed and sold out to Martynov by one of their own, Dev Ravada. Back within the machine, the old knight reveals himself to be the last member of The Order of The Holy Voice, an order devoted to the protection of The Alkonost, he also informs Jackie that "Capris" was in fact an illusion created by The Alkonost's singing. Arvo was intended to be the old knight's apprentice, however Arvo wanted The Alkonost for himself and so he battled the old knight and has kept him strapped to the machine for centuries. While Arvo raped the helpless Alkonost, Jackie loses consciousness and only by killing "Capris" does he summon the strength to free both himself and the old knight from the machine. He is attacked by Arvo while the old knight attends The Alkonost and pulls the lance from her chest and impales Arvo, giving Jackie the chance to use The Darkness to heal Arvo's ears, making him vulnerable to The Alkonost's song. As the old knight lay dying in the weeping Alkonost's wings, Jackie offers to heal his wound, however the old knight declines as dying in The Alkonost's presence is his greatest honor. Jackie then lays the old knight to rest as The Alkonost flew into the sky and escaped. Martynov is devastated by the release of The Alkonost, just in time for Kim to kill him and for Jackie to kill Arvo.
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17 December 2011
Hunter-Killer Series Complete
Hunter-Killer is a comic book series from Top Cow Productions, Created by Mark Waid and Marc Silvestri. Silvestri provided the art for the first story arc while Eric Basaldua and Kenneth Rocafort drew the remaining issues. The series started in March 2005.
The protagonist of the story is a young man named Ellis. Other main characters are Wolf and Samantha Argent, some of the hunter-killers the title refers to.
During the Cold War, in response to the concern that a nuclear war would destroy the world, the United States government began a project to create living super-weapons. These beings were referred to as "Ultra Sapiens". However, there was a breakout, and most of the Ultra Sapiens went underground, hiding their gifts. Some went back to work for the government, tracking their rogue brethren and dealing with "situations" – they are the eponymous hunter-killers of the story.
However, something else was also created by the project, capable of tracking and neutralising any Ultra Sapiens, anywhere. No one knows what it is, what it looks like, or where it is. However, a married couple in rural Montana might have some ideas, and their strangely gifted twenty-year-old son would be very surprised at the answer...
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The protagonist of the story is a young man named Ellis. Other main characters are Wolf and Samantha Argent, some of the hunter-killers the title refers to.
During the Cold War, in response to the concern that a nuclear war would destroy the world, the United States government began a project to create living super-weapons. These beings were referred to as "Ultra Sapiens". However, there was a breakout, and most of the Ultra Sapiens went underground, hiding their gifts. Some went back to work for the government, tracking their rogue brethren and dealing with "situations" – they are the eponymous hunter-killers of the story.
However, something else was also created by the project, capable of tracking and neutralising any Ultra Sapiens, anywhere. No one knows what it is, what it looks like, or where it is. However, a married couple in rural Montana might have some ideas, and their strangely gifted twenty-year-old son would be very surprised at the answer...
Download Link :
16 December 2011
Fathom Series Complete
Fathom is a comic book created by Michael Turner and originally published by Top Cow Productions. It debuted in 1998 and was Michael Turner's first creator-owned comic book series. Fathom is currently published by Turner's own company, Aspen MLT.
Fathom was created by Michael Turner, who said that he found the inspiration from an issue of National Geographic.[1] The first series began in 1998 and was abruptly halted in 2002 when it was discovered that Turner had been diagnosed with cancer. During the period of inactivity on the main series, comic book artist Talent Caldwell drew a miniseries titled Fathom: Killian's Tide. After Turner's cancer went into remission, he left Top Cow and launched his own company, Aspen MLT Inc. During this period there was a legal conflict between Turner and Top Cow as to who owned the rights to Fathom.
In 2004, Turner restarted the Fathom series and had a preview of its premiere in his company's first comic, Michael Turner Presents: Aspen. After that, a Fathom miniseries titled Fathom: Dawn of War was produced and, shortly after that, the series Fathom: Cannon Hawke was started. The second volume in the Fathom series was drawn by artist Koi Turnbull. The third Fathom series was drawn by artist Ale Garza and inked by Sal Regla.
Fathom's popularity and originality led to it getting a green light in 2002 as a feature film. The film was to be made by director James Cameron and his production company Lightstorm Entertainment; but nothing developed. In the past, Fathom had been considered as an animated film by Top Cow Productions and Fox Studios, but that also fell through.
There has been conflict with NBC's Surface television show. The TV show was named "Fathom" originally, but due to copyright infringement on the comic book name, the producers changed it at the last minute to the title "Surface". There are resemblances to note in the show; some[who?] point out that it parallels Fathom considerably.
Plot
Fathom begins as the cruise ship Paradise arrives in San Diego 10 years after it was reported to have disappeared. A military quarantine is established to cross-examine the crew and passengers; however, no one on board knew that they had been missing. Compounding the mystery was a girl discovered by the crew while the Paradise was still at sea. The girl could only remember that her name was Aspen. Aspen is taken from the ship by a vacationing naval officer, Captain Matthews, who adopts her and raises her as his own. Aspen has a strange attraction to water, and spends much of her youth swimming, eventually making the US Olympic team for the 1988 Seoul games. She wins the gold, but has her medal taken away after she gives an abnormal response to a drug test. Afterwards, Aspen attends UC San Diego and receives a degree in Marine Biology. She is then invited to study at a top-secret underwater science facility known as the DMD, or Deep Marine Discovery. The DMD is a joint project between the United States and Japan. The facility was built over a strange underwater craft of unknown origin which both nations study to determine its origin. However, the Americans and Japanese no longer trust each other and rely on an intermediary named Cannon Hawke to share research data. Aspen is also introduced to a mysterious man who somehow entered the DMD and requested to be placed into a tube filled with water. He requires no air, leading the DMD to deduce that, despite his appearance, he is not human.
A US Navy test pilot named Chance Calloway is testing an experimental amphibious fighter plane for Admiral Maylander, who heads Naval Intelligence. Maylander is also the man who oversaw the quarantine of the Paradise. Chance's wingman is killed by a craft resembling the one at the DMD. Violating orders Chance pursues the craft, first in the air and then underwater. Disobeying orders, he fires a torpedo at the craft only to have it dissolve into the water before the torpedo reaches its target. Without a target, the torpedo locks onto the generator at the DMD and destroys it, severely damaging the facility. Before she drowns, Aspen is rescued by the man in the tube who springs to life and attempts to take her with him. He begins to dissolve into the water, just like the alien craft, and Aspen begins to dissolve as well. Naval rescue teams arrive and the man flees: Aspen is rescued, but not before Calloway sees her in a half-dissolved form. He goes AWOL to try to find Aspen and figure out what he saw. He eventually finds Aspen, who cannot explain her abilities. Before she can find out any more, she is abducted by government personnel and brought to Killian who is held in the DMD. He tells Aspen that she is a member of a race of aquatic humanoids called the Blue who possess the ability to control water.
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Fathom was created by Michael Turner, who said that he found the inspiration from an issue of National Geographic.[1] The first series began in 1998 and was abruptly halted in 2002 when it was discovered that Turner had been diagnosed with cancer. During the period of inactivity on the main series, comic book artist Talent Caldwell drew a miniseries titled Fathom: Killian's Tide. After Turner's cancer went into remission, he left Top Cow and launched his own company, Aspen MLT Inc. During this period there was a legal conflict between Turner and Top Cow as to who owned the rights to Fathom.
In 2004, Turner restarted the Fathom series and had a preview of its premiere in his company's first comic, Michael Turner Presents: Aspen. After that, a Fathom miniseries titled Fathom: Dawn of War was produced and, shortly after that, the series Fathom: Cannon Hawke was started. The second volume in the Fathom series was drawn by artist Koi Turnbull. The third Fathom series was drawn by artist Ale Garza and inked by Sal Regla.
Fathom's popularity and originality led to it getting a green light in 2002 as a feature film. The film was to be made by director James Cameron and his production company Lightstorm Entertainment; but nothing developed. In the past, Fathom had been considered as an animated film by Top Cow Productions and Fox Studios, but that also fell through.
There has been conflict with NBC's Surface television show. The TV show was named "Fathom" originally, but due to copyright infringement on the comic book name, the producers changed it at the last minute to the title "Surface". There are resemblances to note in the show; some[who?] point out that it parallels Fathom considerably.
Plot
Fathom begins as the cruise ship Paradise arrives in San Diego 10 years after it was reported to have disappeared. A military quarantine is established to cross-examine the crew and passengers; however, no one on board knew that they had been missing. Compounding the mystery was a girl discovered by the crew while the Paradise was still at sea. The girl could only remember that her name was Aspen. Aspen is taken from the ship by a vacationing naval officer, Captain Matthews, who adopts her and raises her as his own. Aspen has a strange attraction to water, and spends much of her youth swimming, eventually making the US Olympic team for the 1988 Seoul games. She wins the gold, but has her medal taken away after she gives an abnormal response to a drug test. Afterwards, Aspen attends UC San Diego and receives a degree in Marine Biology. She is then invited to study at a top-secret underwater science facility known as the DMD, or Deep Marine Discovery. The DMD is a joint project between the United States and Japan. The facility was built over a strange underwater craft of unknown origin which both nations study to determine its origin. However, the Americans and Japanese no longer trust each other and rely on an intermediary named Cannon Hawke to share research data. Aspen is also introduced to a mysterious man who somehow entered the DMD and requested to be placed into a tube filled with water. He requires no air, leading the DMD to deduce that, despite his appearance, he is not human.
A US Navy test pilot named Chance Calloway is testing an experimental amphibious fighter plane for Admiral Maylander, who heads Naval Intelligence. Maylander is also the man who oversaw the quarantine of the Paradise. Chance's wingman is killed by a craft resembling the one at the DMD. Violating orders Chance pursues the craft, first in the air and then underwater. Disobeying orders, he fires a torpedo at the craft only to have it dissolve into the water before the torpedo reaches its target. Without a target, the torpedo locks onto the generator at the DMD and destroys it, severely damaging the facility. Before she drowns, Aspen is rescued by the man in the tube who springs to life and attempts to take her with him. He begins to dissolve into the water, just like the alien craft, and Aspen begins to dissolve as well. Naval rescue teams arrive and the man flees: Aspen is rescued, but not before Calloway sees her in a half-dissolved form. He goes AWOL to try to find Aspen and figure out what he saw. He eventually finds Aspen, who cannot explain her abilities. Before she can find out any more, she is abducted by government personnel and brought to Killian who is held in the DMD. He tells Aspen that she is a member of a race of aquatic humanoids called the Blue who possess the ability to control water.
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15 December 2011
Cyberforce Series Complete
Cyberforce is an Image Comics super-hero team created by artist Marc Silvestri and writer Eric Silvestri in 1992. Silvestri would begin performing both the plotting and pencilling chores, but the series was subsequently drawn by other artists, including David Finch. The title was originally published through Homage Studios, a studio Silvestri shared with Jim Lee, as a 4 part mini-series (Volume 1, 1992–1993). Soon afterwards, Silvestri formed Top Cow Productions and Cyberforce received a regular monthly series (Volume 2, 35 issues, 1993–1997), the first few issues crossing over with WildC.A.T.s for the "Killer Instinct" story. Since then, Cyberforce has been published by Top Cow.
Storylines
The comic-book focused upon a team of mutants who had all at one point been captured by Cyberdata, an enormous corporation with ambitions of world-takeover. Cyberdata was run by brilliant scientists who had created advanced cybernetics technology and had employed this technology to create "Special Hazardous Operations Cyborg" or S.H.O.C.s. The captured mutants were all used in the experiments that had led to the creation of the S.H.O.C.s, and had had their mutant abilities enhanced with cybernetic implants. The mutants escaped and banded together as Cyberforce to put an end to Cyberdata's plans.
One of the lesser successes of the first wave of Image Comics, Cyberforce received the same heavy criticism that most of the other titles did. Many pointed out[citation needed] that the characters from Cyberforce bore strong resemblances to Marvel characters: Cyblade is very similar to the X-Men character Psylocke, Ripclaw shares similarities with Wolverine, Impact resembles Colossus, and Stryker, Cable. Additionally, there were many complaints[citation needed] of the large amount of violence in Cyberforce, as well as the highly sexualized female characters. Cyberforce gradually faded away, with Ripclaw making occasional guest appearances elsewhere, most notably in Silvestri's series The Darkness. Ripclaw and Cyblade recently appeared in a crossover with Wolverine and Psylocke.
In 2006, the series was resurrected with moderate success (oddly titled as Cyberforce Volume 2 again, when it should be Cyberforce Volume 3), written this time by Ron Marz and pencilled by Alex Milne who was hired by credited penciller Pat Lee.
Cyberforce recently finished the first story arc since their reintroduction. The group had returned from their final mission and was confronted by the new threat of their alien forebearers. The group has established a new base and a new look, as well as some further changes to their inner workings, for instance, bringing back Heatwave from the dead, as well as reintroducing both Stryker, (as a side character at the moment) and Impact/Boomer, both of whom had left the group. At Impact's reintroduction, he stated emphatically that he wasn't interested in continuing his involvement in the team, as it wasn't "What I wanted. I never wanted any of this, not the strength or the invulnerability." He was won over by Ripclaw's promise to buy him a chocolate colored Labrador dog. Impact was subsequently killed off at the summation of the story arc. The group then decided that they owed it to Impact/Boomer, to continue in their heroic ways against an unspecified threat. Minor character arcs have begun between Ripclaw and Velocity, despite their age difference, as a romantic storyline between the two.
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Storylines
The comic-book focused upon a team of mutants who had all at one point been captured by Cyberdata, an enormous corporation with ambitions of world-takeover. Cyberdata was run by brilliant scientists who had created advanced cybernetics technology and had employed this technology to create "Special Hazardous Operations Cyborg" or S.H.O.C.s. The captured mutants were all used in the experiments that had led to the creation of the S.H.O.C.s, and had had their mutant abilities enhanced with cybernetic implants. The mutants escaped and banded together as Cyberforce to put an end to Cyberdata's plans.
One of the lesser successes of the first wave of Image Comics, Cyberforce received the same heavy criticism that most of the other titles did. Many pointed out[citation needed] that the characters from Cyberforce bore strong resemblances to Marvel characters: Cyblade is very similar to the X-Men character Psylocke, Ripclaw shares similarities with Wolverine, Impact resembles Colossus, and Stryker, Cable. Additionally, there were many complaints[citation needed] of the large amount of violence in Cyberforce, as well as the highly sexualized female characters. Cyberforce gradually faded away, with Ripclaw making occasional guest appearances elsewhere, most notably in Silvestri's series The Darkness. Ripclaw and Cyblade recently appeared in a crossover with Wolverine and Psylocke.
In 2006, the series was resurrected with moderate success (oddly titled as Cyberforce Volume 2 again, when it should be Cyberforce Volume 3), written this time by Ron Marz and pencilled by Alex Milne who was hired by credited penciller Pat Lee.
Cyberforce recently finished the first story arc since their reintroduction. The group had returned from their final mission and was confronted by the new threat of their alien forebearers. The group has established a new base and a new look, as well as some further changes to their inner workings, for instance, bringing back Heatwave from the dead, as well as reintroducing both Stryker, (as a side character at the moment) and Impact/Boomer, both of whom had left the group. At Impact's reintroduction, he stated emphatically that he wasn't interested in continuing his involvement in the team, as it wasn't "What I wanted. I never wanted any of this, not the strength or the invulnerability." He was won over by Ripclaw's promise to buy him a chocolate colored Labrador dog. Impact was subsequently killed off at the summation of the story arc. The group then decided that they owed it to Impact/Boomer, to continue in their heroic ways against an unspecified threat. Minor character arcs have begun between Ripclaw and Velocity, despite their age difference, as a romantic storyline between the two.
Download Link :
14 December 2011
Aphrodite IX Series Complete
Aphrodite IX was a comic book series published by the Top Cow imprint of Image Comics. The comic series carries a sci-fi theme and is named after the central character of the series, Aphrodite IX. Aphrodite IX is written by David Wohl and drawn by comic book artist David Finch.
Issue number 0 was released with an issue of Wizard magazine on November 30, 1996. Originally appearing on the Top Cow solicitation schedule as a monthly title, to date only 6 issues and one trade paperback have ever been published. The 2000 publication year saw the release of issues 1 and 2. Before issue number 3 was released in early 2001, Finch was replaced with artist Clarence Lansang (the issue features artwork by both artists), yet only two more issues would be published during Lansang's tenure (number 1/2, a place-holder issue recapping previous story events and containing ten pages of "pin-ups" by various artists, and number 4 which continued the story but did not finish it). Aphrodite IX still appears on the Top Cow website as a "current" publication, although Wohl has since moved on to other projects.
A trade paperback, Aphrodite IX: Time Out of Mind, collecting all extant issues, was released in 2003.
An anime of Aphrodite IX was being developed, but aside from a trailer released in early 2005 there has been little apparent activity or news on the project.
An android similar to Aphrodite IX, identified as Aphrodite IV, appeared in a page from Top Cow's ongoing series Cyberforce.
An Aphrodite is featured on the cover Witchblade #119, where she is shown wielding the Witchblade itself. The Aphrodite is confirmed to be IV, the same one stalking the Cyberforce. The cover, showing Aphrodite IV wielding the Witchblade, may seem a bit misleading, as she does not actually wear the Witchblade in this issue. During the Artifacts limited series, Aphrodite IV is hired by an unknown person who desires to bring all Thirteen artifacts together.
Plot
Aphrodite IX is a female android who suffers from amnesia shortly after being sent on undercover missions. This leads to ongoing confusion about what she does and for whom, exacerbated by subsequent episodes of amnesia. Although she becomes aware that she is intended as an assassin, she finds the idea increasingly distasteful and experiences dreams and desires like a human. This begins to undermine her morale but not her efficiency, for her conditioning takes over as her masters or survival circumstances require. When she seeks out clues to her past and true identity, she stumbles onto a conspiracy involving a secret society of cyborgs attempting to undermine the legitimate government.
Main characters
Aphrodite IX - Aphrodite IX is a self-aware android designed to carry out undercover missions of infiltration and assassination. Although she has been trained to kill, Aphrodite IX retains no memory of her actions; her brain is designed to experience an episode of amnesia at the end of each mission, apparently to protect her masters if not herself.
The character's appearance is her trademark: kelly-green makeup and hair (including an oversized spot on one cheek), form-fitting outfits ringed with ammo belts, thigh-high lug soled boots. She typically carries a very large knife on her belt and one or more large guns.
Download Link :
Issue number 0 was released with an issue of Wizard magazine on November 30, 1996. Originally appearing on the Top Cow solicitation schedule as a monthly title, to date only 6 issues and one trade paperback have ever been published. The 2000 publication year saw the release of issues 1 and 2. Before issue number 3 was released in early 2001, Finch was replaced with artist Clarence Lansang (the issue features artwork by both artists), yet only two more issues would be published during Lansang's tenure (number 1/2, a place-holder issue recapping previous story events and containing ten pages of "pin-ups" by various artists, and number 4 which continued the story but did not finish it). Aphrodite IX still appears on the Top Cow website as a "current" publication, although Wohl has since moved on to other projects.
A trade paperback, Aphrodite IX: Time Out of Mind, collecting all extant issues, was released in 2003.
An anime of Aphrodite IX was being developed, but aside from a trailer released in early 2005 there has been little apparent activity or news on the project.
An android similar to Aphrodite IX, identified as Aphrodite IV, appeared in a page from Top Cow's ongoing series Cyberforce.
An Aphrodite is featured on the cover Witchblade #119, where she is shown wielding the Witchblade itself. The Aphrodite is confirmed to be IV, the same one stalking the Cyberforce. The cover, showing Aphrodite IV wielding the Witchblade, may seem a bit misleading, as she does not actually wear the Witchblade in this issue. During the Artifacts limited series, Aphrodite IV is hired by an unknown person who desires to bring all Thirteen artifacts together.
Plot
Aphrodite IX is a female android who suffers from amnesia shortly after being sent on undercover missions. This leads to ongoing confusion about what she does and for whom, exacerbated by subsequent episodes of amnesia. Although she becomes aware that she is intended as an assassin, she finds the idea increasingly distasteful and experiences dreams and desires like a human. This begins to undermine her morale but not her efficiency, for her conditioning takes over as her masters or survival circumstances require. When she seeks out clues to her past and true identity, she stumbles onto a conspiracy involving a secret society of cyborgs attempting to undermine the legitimate government.
Main characters
Aphrodite IX - Aphrodite IX is a self-aware android designed to carry out undercover missions of infiltration and assassination. Although she has been trained to kill, Aphrodite IX retains no memory of her actions; her brain is designed to experience an episode of amnesia at the end of each mission, apparently to protect her masters if not herself.
The character's appearance is her trademark: kelly-green makeup and hair (including an oversized spot on one cheek), form-fitting outfits ringed with ammo belts, thigh-high lug soled boots. She typically carries a very large knife on her belt and one or more large guns.
Download Link :
13 December 2011
Michel Vaillant Complete Series Dutch Language
Michel Vaillant is the title of a Belgian comics series created in 1957 by French cartoonist Jean Graton and published originally by Le Lombard. Later, Graton published the albums by himself when he founded Graton éditeur in 1982. Michel Vaillant is the main character of the eponymous series, a French racing car driver who competes mainly in Formula One.
The feature first appeared in Tintin, where Jean Graton had already published a number of short stories about real-life sporting heroes. The series appeared in Tintin between 1957 and 1976, in France[2] as well as in Belgium. An estimated 17 million copies of the series' albums have been sold worldwide.
On February 7, 1957 Jean Graton created the character Michel Vaillant, with five short stories published in the Belgian magazine Tintin. Given their positive reception, a full-length adventure was written and drawn by Graton, published in Tintin in 1959.
The titles were first published in album format by Le Lombard until 1976, then by Dargaud until 1979, by Fleurus in 1979 and 1980, by Novedi in 1981 and 1982, and finally by Graton editeur, created and owned by Philippe and Jean Graton from 1983 on. In 1995, a new series was launched, the Dossiers Michel Vaillant series, with stories and information on important figures in motorsports and the automobile industry. In 2000, the Palmarès Inedit series was created, with early works and stories previously unpublished in books. In 2007, Studio Graton translated three titles into English: "The Great Challenge" (Tome 1), "China Moon" (Tome 68), "24 Hours Under the Influence" (Tome 70). In 2008, a new collection was launched by Le Lombard, named Integrale Michel Vaillant. This series plans to reprint all past adventures in 20 volumes of 200 pages, each volume grouping several stories. All the titles of the original series are to be reprinted, and many comments, dossiers and unpublished strips added.
In recent years Jean Graton has left the writing to his son Philippe, gradually leaving the artwork to the Studio Graton, which he established. Since Graton stopped drawing the series himself, the graphic style has evolved, with Philippe Graton continuing with the writing and three artists providing the artwork. Philippe Graton admitted that the drawing isn't as rigorous as it once was.
Vaillante is a family-run French business which, in the beginning, was a transporting company. They also create their own trucks and cars and so decide to enter Formula One racing competition. In 1939, Henri Vaillant, a young driver, creates this new team. In the next seventy plus adventures, Michel Vaillant and the Vaillante race team compete in numerous races in Formula One and other driving competitions such as IndyCar, rallying or enduro challenges.
Michel, Henri's son, is the main driver, his usual team-mate being the American, Steve Warson. The team is first managed by Henri Vaillant, then by Michel's older brother Jean-Pierre. Henri has remained the chairman of the Vaillante firm, but was replaced by Jean-Pierre when he retired.
As the Vaillante firm grows, Vaillante's drivers, among them Michel, accumulate victories, but their success is either disrupted by rivals, by internal problems in the Vaillante team or by the "Leader", the greatest of Vaillante's enemies. Most of the adventures deal with motor racing life, but they also deal with the Vaillante team drivers' private lives, with concerns in the Vaillante firm and with various outside problems.
The comic is notable for depicting real-life motor racing background, featuring many non-fictional drivers, teams and personalities. Michel Vaillant competes in existing motor races and Grand Prix on real circuits. In the course of the series, the background in which the characters are featured evolves: the series' environment has always been updated, so that cars, teams and personalities have constantly changed.
Graton's graphic style also aims at being realistic, as the illustrations are very technically accurate. Notably, Graton is recognized for the meticulous details he provides on cars illustrations. The numerous depictions of cars and circuits featured in the series are very specific and detailed; Graton used to personally attend races and circuits to takes notes. Philippe Graton later continued this practice.
Realism is also expressed in the fictional background. Vaillant's factories and property are prominenly featured in the series. The Vaillante firm is run as a real company, it has financial problems, must launch advertising campaigns and search for sponsors. It owns factories, which employs several engineers and mechanics that are realistically described and is shown employing several real-life drivers.
The Vaillants own the familial domain "La Jonquière", located a short drive / cycle ride from the factory, and is home throughout the series to Henri and Elisabeth Vaillant. Michel and Jean Pierre lived there in the early books, before striking out on their own.
It is notable that as the context in which the characters evolved, Michel also is shown getting older. While he looked like a young man of about twenty years at the beginning of his adventures, he is seen progressively reaching middle-age. Recently his appearance is younger than previously. Other fictional characters are also shown getting older. In recent years, their general appearance has become steady. In spite of this he is still depicted as quite young for a man who has competed against drivers of multiple generations, including Juan Manuel Fangio, Graham Hill and Ayrton Senna.
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The feature first appeared in Tintin, where Jean Graton had already published a number of short stories about real-life sporting heroes. The series appeared in Tintin between 1957 and 1976, in France[2] as well as in Belgium. An estimated 17 million copies of the series' albums have been sold worldwide.
On February 7, 1957 Jean Graton created the character Michel Vaillant, with five short stories published in the Belgian magazine Tintin. Given their positive reception, a full-length adventure was written and drawn by Graton, published in Tintin in 1959.
The titles were first published in album format by Le Lombard until 1976, then by Dargaud until 1979, by Fleurus in 1979 and 1980, by Novedi in 1981 and 1982, and finally by Graton editeur, created and owned by Philippe and Jean Graton from 1983 on. In 1995, a new series was launched, the Dossiers Michel Vaillant series, with stories and information on important figures in motorsports and the automobile industry. In 2000, the Palmarès Inedit series was created, with early works and stories previously unpublished in books. In 2007, Studio Graton translated three titles into English: "The Great Challenge" (Tome 1), "China Moon" (Tome 68), "24 Hours Under the Influence" (Tome 70). In 2008, a new collection was launched by Le Lombard, named Integrale Michel Vaillant. This series plans to reprint all past adventures in 20 volumes of 200 pages, each volume grouping several stories. All the titles of the original series are to be reprinted, and many comments, dossiers and unpublished strips added.
In recent years Jean Graton has left the writing to his son Philippe, gradually leaving the artwork to the Studio Graton, which he established. Since Graton stopped drawing the series himself, the graphic style has evolved, with Philippe Graton continuing with the writing and three artists providing the artwork. Philippe Graton admitted that the drawing isn't as rigorous as it once was.
Vaillante is a family-run French business which, in the beginning, was a transporting company. They also create their own trucks and cars and so decide to enter Formula One racing competition. In 1939, Henri Vaillant, a young driver, creates this new team. In the next seventy plus adventures, Michel Vaillant and the Vaillante race team compete in numerous races in Formula One and other driving competitions such as IndyCar, rallying or enduro challenges.
Michel, Henri's son, is the main driver, his usual team-mate being the American, Steve Warson. The team is first managed by Henri Vaillant, then by Michel's older brother Jean-Pierre. Henri has remained the chairman of the Vaillante firm, but was replaced by Jean-Pierre when he retired.
As the Vaillante firm grows, Vaillante's drivers, among them Michel, accumulate victories, but their success is either disrupted by rivals, by internal problems in the Vaillante team or by the "Leader", the greatest of Vaillante's enemies. Most of the adventures deal with motor racing life, but they also deal with the Vaillante team drivers' private lives, with concerns in the Vaillante firm and with various outside problems.
The comic is notable for depicting real-life motor racing background, featuring many non-fictional drivers, teams and personalities. Michel Vaillant competes in existing motor races and Grand Prix on real circuits. In the course of the series, the background in which the characters are featured evolves: the series' environment has always been updated, so that cars, teams and personalities have constantly changed.
Graton's graphic style also aims at being realistic, as the illustrations are very technically accurate. Notably, Graton is recognized for the meticulous details he provides on cars illustrations. The numerous depictions of cars and circuits featured in the series are very specific and detailed; Graton used to personally attend races and circuits to takes notes. Philippe Graton later continued this practice.
Realism is also expressed in the fictional background. Vaillant's factories and property are prominenly featured in the series. The Vaillante firm is run as a real company, it has financial problems, must launch advertising campaigns and search for sponsors. It owns factories, which employs several engineers and mechanics that are realistically described and is shown employing several real-life drivers.
The Vaillants own the familial domain "La Jonquière", located a short drive / cycle ride from the factory, and is home throughout the series to Henri and Elisabeth Vaillant. Michel and Jean Pierre lived there in the early books, before striking out on their own.
It is notable that as the context in which the characters evolved, Michel also is shown getting older. While he looked like a young man of about twenty years at the beginning of his adventures, he is seen progressively reaching middle-age. Recently his appearance is younger than previously. Other fictional characters are also shown getting older. In recent years, their general appearance has become steady. In spite of this he is still depicted as quite young for a man who has competed against drivers of multiple generations, including Juan Manuel Fangio, Graham Hill and Ayrton Senna.
Download Link :
12 December 2011
Ultimate X-Men Complete Series
Ultimate X-Men is a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2001 to 2009. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running X-Men comic book franchise as part of its Ultimate Marvel imprint. The Ultimate X-Men exist alongside other revamped Marvel characters in Ultimate Marvel titles including Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, and The Ultimates.
The protagonists are the X-Men, a group of mutants whose unusual genetics grant them superpowers which set them apart from the rest of humanity. They are led by Professor Charles Xavier, the world's most powerful telepath. The series features many characters and storylines similar to those of the original X-Men series. However, Ultimate X-Men almost completely ignores supernatural or mystical elements as plot devices, and the X-Men have no secret identities, and mutants are mistrusted and hunted down. The series began in 2001 under writer Mark Millar and artist Adam Kubert, whilst the final issues of the series were written by Aron Coleite and penciled by Mark Brooks.
A quasi-sequel/spinoff titled Ultimate Comics: X began in February 2010, but only lasted on for 5 issues. The series focused on Wolverine's secret son Jimmy Hudson, Jean Grey, and several other mutants dealing with the aftermath of Ultimatum.
It has recently announced that Ultimate X-Men will be relaunched under the " Universe Reborn" tagline by Nick Spencer and Paco Medina, with the title now called Ultimate Comics: X-Men. The currently announced members of the X-Men are Jimmy Hudson, Kitty Pryde (returning from her departure to appear in Ultimate Spider-Man), Iceman, Rogue, and Johnny Storm (formerly of the Fantastic Four).
Upon its debut in February 2001, Ultimate X-Men was the second comic of the Ultimate Marvel line, preceded a few months by its sister title Ultimate Spider-Man. The heads of the Ultimate Universe line, Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada, originally tried to hire Brian Michael Bendis to write the title, but he declined. Marvel hired Scottish writer Mark Millar, who was best known at the time for his run on The Authority and was largely ignorant of the X-Men franchise. With the first X-Men film as his only reference, Millar reinvented the X-Men. As a result, Millar's original X-Men consisted of telepath Professor X, Cyclops, whose eyes shoot concussive beams, telepathic and telekinetic Jean Grey, weather-manipulating Storm, simian genius Beast, metal-skinned Colossus, and cryokinetic Iceman.
Common to the Millar period was an edgy tone, featuring quick action-driven plots and less moral X-Men. For instance, Wolverine tries to kill Cyclops in "Return of the King" because he is envious of Jean's love. In an interview with Sequential Tart, Millar commented, "You're not competing with Cartoon Network on these books; you're competing with 'Buffy'...Superhero comics aren't adult, but they shouldn't be written for five-year-olds either." Millar shaped Ultimate X-Men into a commercial hit, consistently outselling its sister titles, X-Treme X-Men and Uncanny X-Men and staying just behind Grant Morrison's experimental and popular New X-Men run.
After Mark Millar's run, Ultimate Spider-Man writer Brian Michael Bendis took over for a year. Bendis stated that his run on the book would be more character-driven, especially concerning Wolverine, who had previously tried to kill his teammate Cyclops. Bendis' run was marked by the relative absence of major villains and was also notorious for killing Beast, who was killed when a Sentinel attacked the White House during Emma Frost's public disclosure of her school. This made Beast the first dead Ultimate X-Man. As a side note, Ultimate X-Men #40 features what Marvel claims to be the first marriage proposal in a comic book letters column, which is answered in Ultimate X-Men #44 with a positive response.
The third Ultimate X-Men writer was Brian K. Vaughan, best known at the time for his work on Y: The Last Man. His run was marked by the relative absence of Wolverine as the main character and the re-imagining of second-string X-Men characters. He introduced Mr. Sinister as a mutant-killing scientist with hypnosis and stealth powers in "The Tempest" (#46-49), German twins Fenris as mutant corporate criminals in "Cry Wolf" (#50-53), as well as Mojo and Longshot as a corrupt TV producer and a mutant felon, respectively in "The Most Dangerous Game" (#54-57). Both are of non-alien origin in this world and have the civilian names "Mojo Adams" and "Arthur Centino", a play on the names of their creators, writer Ann Nocenti and artist Art Adams. Further arcs were centered on Professor X (#58) and Deathstrike in "Shock and Awe" (#59-60). Lady Deathstrike possesses adamantium claws and regenerative powers. Vaughan also reintroduced Emma Frost's mutant team and Magneto in "Magnetic North" (#61-65), and established Ultimate Colossus to be homosexual.
Vaughn's run was followed by Robert Kirkman, author of The Walking Dead and Invincible comic books. Kirkman's run was noted for adapting several major storyarcs from the regular X-Men series. These included Jean Grey's transformation into Phoenix, the arrival of Cable and Bishop, and the appearance of Apocalypse. Kirkman reintroduced Wolverine as an important character, and played with issues of team loyalty. Under his authorship, major characters such as Nightcrawler and Colossus left the team. His tenure also featured Cyclops' decision to turn Xavier's into a more traditional school and consequently disband the X-Men. When this was done an alternate team of X-Men was formed by Bishop as part of the upcoming fight against Apocalypse. After the "Ultimatum" storyline, nearly all of the X-Men were killed, and the team disbanded.
After the events in "Ultimatum" this book, along with Ultimate Fantastic Four, was canceled after its 100th issue. A follow-up one-shot, called Requiem, was released and concluded the series' story. A new series, Ultimate Comics: X, debuted in early 2010 and features Kitty Pryde, Wolverine's son, Jimmy Hudson and Jean Grey.
A relaunch of Ultimate X-Men is scheduled with writer Nick Spencer and artist Paco Medina with the series starring Jimmy Hudson, Kitty Pryde, Johnny Storm, Bobby Drake and Rogue.
Download Link :
The protagonists are the X-Men, a group of mutants whose unusual genetics grant them superpowers which set them apart from the rest of humanity. They are led by Professor Charles Xavier, the world's most powerful telepath. The series features many characters and storylines similar to those of the original X-Men series. However, Ultimate X-Men almost completely ignores supernatural or mystical elements as plot devices, and the X-Men have no secret identities, and mutants are mistrusted and hunted down. The series began in 2001 under writer Mark Millar and artist Adam Kubert, whilst the final issues of the series were written by Aron Coleite and penciled by Mark Brooks.
A quasi-sequel/spinoff titled Ultimate Comics: X began in February 2010, but only lasted on for 5 issues. The series focused on Wolverine's secret son Jimmy Hudson, Jean Grey, and several other mutants dealing with the aftermath of Ultimatum.
It has recently announced that Ultimate X-Men will be relaunched under the " Universe Reborn" tagline by Nick Spencer and Paco Medina, with the title now called Ultimate Comics: X-Men. The currently announced members of the X-Men are Jimmy Hudson, Kitty Pryde (returning from her departure to appear in Ultimate Spider-Man), Iceman, Rogue, and Johnny Storm (formerly of the Fantastic Four).
Upon its debut in February 2001, Ultimate X-Men was the second comic of the Ultimate Marvel line, preceded a few months by its sister title Ultimate Spider-Man. The heads of the Ultimate Universe line, Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada, originally tried to hire Brian Michael Bendis to write the title, but he declined. Marvel hired Scottish writer Mark Millar, who was best known at the time for his run on The Authority and was largely ignorant of the X-Men franchise. With the first X-Men film as his only reference, Millar reinvented the X-Men. As a result, Millar's original X-Men consisted of telepath Professor X, Cyclops, whose eyes shoot concussive beams, telepathic and telekinetic Jean Grey, weather-manipulating Storm, simian genius Beast, metal-skinned Colossus, and cryokinetic Iceman.
Common to the Millar period was an edgy tone, featuring quick action-driven plots and less moral X-Men. For instance, Wolverine tries to kill Cyclops in "Return of the King" because he is envious of Jean's love. In an interview with Sequential Tart, Millar commented, "You're not competing with Cartoon Network on these books; you're competing with 'Buffy'...Superhero comics aren't adult, but they shouldn't be written for five-year-olds either." Millar shaped Ultimate X-Men into a commercial hit, consistently outselling its sister titles, X-Treme X-Men and Uncanny X-Men and staying just behind Grant Morrison's experimental and popular New X-Men run.
After Mark Millar's run, Ultimate Spider-Man writer Brian Michael Bendis took over for a year. Bendis stated that his run on the book would be more character-driven, especially concerning Wolverine, who had previously tried to kill his teammate Cyclops. Bendis' run was marked by the relative absence of major villains and was also notorious for killing Beast, who was killed when a Sentinel attacked the White House during Emma Frost's public disclosure of her school. This made Beast the first dead Ultimate X-Man. As a side note, Ultimate X-Men #40 features what Marvel claims to be the first marriage proposal in a comic book letters column, which is answered in Ultimate X-Men #44 with a positive response.
The third Ultimate X-Men writer was Brian K. Vaughan, best known at the time for his work on Y: The Last Man. His run was marked by the relative absence of Wolverine as the main character and the re-imagining of second-string X-Men characters. He introduced Mr. Sinister as a mutant-killing scientist with hypnosis and stealth powers in "The Tempest" (#46-49), German twins Fenris as mutant corporate criminals in "Cry Wolf" (#50-53), as well as Mojo and Longshot as a corrupt TV producer and a mutant felon, respectively in "The Most Dangerous Game" (#54-57). Both are of non-alien origin in this world and have the civilian names "Mojo Adams" and "Arthur Centino", a play on the names of their creators, writer Ann Nocenti and artist Art Adams. Further arcs were centered on Professor X (#58) and Deathstrike in "Shock and Awe" (#59-60). Lady Deathstrike possesses adamantium claws and regenerative powers. Vaughan also reintroduced Emma Frost's mutant team and Magneto in "Magnetic North" (#61-65), and established Ultimate Colossus to be homosexual.
Vaughn's run was followed by Robert Kirkman, author of The Walking Dead and Invincible comic books. Kirkman's run was noted for adapting several major storyarcs from the regular X-Men series. These included Jean Grey's transformation into Phoenix, the arrival of Cable and Bishop, and the appearance of Apocalypse. Kirkman reintroduced Wolverine as an important character, and played with issues of team loyalty. Under his authorship, major characters such as Nightcrawler and Colossus left the team. His tenure also featured Cyclops' decision to turn Xavier's into a more traditional school and consequently disband the X-Men. When this was done an alternate team of X-Men was formed by Bishop as part of the upcoming fight against Apocalypse. After the "Ultimatum" storyline, nearly all of the X-Men were killed, and the team disbanded.
After the events in "Ultimatum" this book, along with Ultimate Fantastic Four, was canceled after its 100th issue. A follow-up one-shot, called Requiem, was released and concluded the series' story. A new series, Ultimate Comics: X, debuted in early 2010 and features Kitty Pryde, Wolverine's son, Jimmy Hudson and Jean Grey.
A relaunch of Ultimate X-Men is scheduled with writer Nick Spencer and artist Paco Medina with the series starring Jimmy Hudson, Kitty Pryde, Johnny Storm, Bobby Drake and Rogue.
Download Link :
11 December 2011
Rurouni Kenshin AKA Samurai X 28 Volumes + Extras Manga Complete

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story (るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚-, Rurōni Kenshin Meiji Kenkaku Rōmantan?), also known as Rurouni Kenshin and Samurai X, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The fictional setting takes place during the early Meiji period in Japan. The story is about a fictional assassin named Himura Kenshin, from the Bakumatsu who becomes a wanderer to protect the people of Japan. Watsuki wrote this series upon his desire of making a shōnen manga different from the other ones that were published in that time, with Kenshin being a former assassin and the story taking a more serious tone as it continued. Although the tragic tone was highly expanded as the manga advanced, Watsuki became determined to give it a happy ending as it was aimed at teenagers.
The manga initially appeared in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from September 2, 1994, to November 4, 1999. The complete work consists of 28 tankōbon volumes, while years later it was reprinted into twenty-two kanzenban volumes. Studio Gallop, Studio Deen and SPE Visual Works adapted the manga into an anime series which aired in Japan from January 10, 1996 to September 8, 1998. Seasons 1 and 2 cover the first 151 chapters of the manga, however Season 3 is an original storyline. Besides an animated film, two series of original video animations (OVAs) were also produced. The first adapted stories from the manga that were not featured in the anime, while the second was also a sequel of the manga. Writer Kaoru Shizuka has authored three official Rurouni Kenshin light novels which were published by Shueisha. Several video games have also been released for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles.
The United States release of the manga has been completed by Viz Media. Rurouni Kenshin is subtitled "Wandering Samurai" in some English releases, as a rough translation of "Rurō ni" (流浪に, lit. "Wandering"?). The TV series later licensed in North America and released on DVD by Media Blasters. The first two seasons aired on the United States Cartoon Network as a part of the Toonami Block, while the third season was only featured in DVD . The English-language versions of the OVAs as well the film is released as Samurai X, although the original title was included in the DVD releases. The first light novel has been translated by Viz and distributed in the United States and Canada. None of the video games of the series have been released in North America.
The series has been highly popular in Japan, the United States, Brazil and Europe. The manga has sold over 47 million copies in Japan as of 2007 while the anime has ranked between the 100 most watched series in Japan multiple times. The anime and manga have received praise and criticism from various publications for anime, manga and other media, with both having received good response on the characters' designs and the historical setting. The OVAs have also received praise due to their animation and music.
PLOT
The story of Rurouni Kenshin takes place during the early Meiji era in Japan. It tells the story of a peaceful wanderer named Himura Kenshin, formerly known as the assassin "Hitokiri Battōsai". After participating during the Bakumatsu war, Kenshin wanders the countryside of Japan offering protection and aid to those in need as atonement for the murders he once committed as an assassin. When arriving in Tokyo in the 11th year of Meiji (1878), he meets a young woman named Kamiya Kaoru, who was in the middle of a fight with a murderer who claims to be the Hitokiri Battōsai from her swordmanship school. Kenshin decides to help her and defeats the fake Battōsai. After discovering that Kenshin is the real Battōsai, she offers him a place stay at her dojo as she notes Kenshin is a gentle person instead. Kenshin accepts and begins to establish lifelong relationships with many people such as Sagara Sanosuke, a former Sekihō Army member; Myōjin Yahiko, an orphan from a samurai family; and a doctor named Takani Megumi. However, he also deals with his fair share of enemies, new and old, including his rival from the Bakumatsu Saitō Hajime and the former leader from the Oniwabanshū, Shinomori Aoshi.
After several months of living in the dojo, Kenshin discovers that his successor as assassin of the shadows, Shishio Makoto, plans to conquer Japan by destroying the Meiji Government, starting with Kyoto. Feeling that his friends may be attacked by Shishio's faction, Kenshin goes to meet Shishio alone in order to defeat him. However, many of his friends, including a young Oniwabanshū named Makimachi Misao, decide to help him in his fight. He decides to accept their help and defeats Shishio in a fight, who dies in the process due to the rise in body temperature caused by his burns. The anime adapts the manga until this part, later featuring new story arcs which were not featured in the manga.
When Kenshin and his friends return to Tokyo, Kenshin finds Yukishiro Enishi, who plans to take revenge by killing his friends. At this point it is revealed that, during the Bakumatsu, Kenshin used to be married to a woman called Yukishiro Tomoe, who initially wanted to avenge the death of her fiancé, whom Kenshin had killed, but instead both fell in love and got married. When it was discovered that Tomoe was part of a group of assassins that wanted to kill Kenshin, Kenshin blindly swings his sword, killing both his assailant and Tomoe, who jumps in at the last minute to save Kenshin from a fatal attack. Wanting to take revenge for the death of his sister, Enishi kidnaps Kaoru and leaves behind a tortured figure bearing a stunning resemblance of the girl for Kenshin to find and momentarily grieve over. Once discovering that Kaoru is alive, Kenshin and his friends set to rescue her. A battle between Kenshin and Enishi follows and when Kenshin wins, he and Kaoru return home. Five years later, Kenshin has found true peace; he is married to Kaoru and has a son named Himura Kenji.
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Fear Agent Complete Series
Fear Agent is a science fiction comic book series by Rick Remender with art by Tony Moore and Jerome Opena, who alternate on story arcs. The series is published by Dark Horse Comics and previously by Image Comics.
The series stars the rugged alcoholic Texas spaceman Heath Huston, the supposed last Fear Agent, in a series of fast-paced adventures. The series is notable for its emphasis on action, adventure, horror, and plot twists rather than realism or scientific detail; Remender claims in the first issue that "science fiction has lost its stones" and that Fear Agent is his attempt to fight that trend. Many incidents in the early issues are unexplained until many issues later to reinforce this.
The series launched in October 2005, published by Image Comics. It ran for 11 issues. In September 2006, Dark Horse Comics announced that Fear Agent would be moving to Dark Horse. The company reprinted the first trade paperback collection (originally published by Image), released on April 28, 2007. The second volume followed on May 30th, 2007.
On June 13, 2007, Dark Horse began Fear Agent: The Last Goodbye, a four-part mini-series telling of the alien invasion and creation of the Fear Agents by way of flashback after issue 10's events.
After completion of The Last Goodbye and a one-shot "Tales of the Fear Agent: Twelve Steps in One," Dark Horse resumed chronological numbering for the series with number 17, making "The Last Goodbye" issues 12-15 and the one-shot #16.
The series went on a hiatus with issue #27 (cover dated June 2009), following Remender signing an exclusive deal with Marvel, but restarts in July 2010 for the last five-issue storyline "Out of Step".
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The series stars the rugged alcoholic Texas spaceman Heath Huston, the supposed last Fear Agent, in a series of fast-paced adventures. The series is notable for its emphasis on action, adventure, horror, and plot twists rather than realism or scientific detail; Remender claims in the first issue that "science fiction has lost its stones" and that Fear Agent is his attempt to fight that trend. Many incidents in the early issues are unexplained until many issues later to reinforce this.
The series launched in October 2005, published by Image Comics. It ran for 11 issues. In September 2006, Dark Horse Comics announced that Fear Agent would be moving to Dark Horse. The company reprinted the first trade paperback collection (originally published by Image), released on April 28, 2007. The second volume followed on May 30th, 2007.
On June 13, 2007, Dark Horse began Fear Agent: The Last Goodbye, a four-part mini-series telling of the alien invasion and creation of the Fear Agents by way of flashback after issue 10's events.
After completion of The Last Goodbye and a one-shot "Tales of the Fear Agent: Twelve Steps in One," Dark Horse resumed chronological numbering for the series with number 17, making "The Last Goodbye" issues 12-15 and the one-shot #16.
The series went on a hiatus with issue #27 (cover dated June 2009), following Remender signing an exclusive deal with Marvel, but restarts in July 2010 for the last five-issue storyline "Out of Step".
Download Link :
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