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[Comic Book News] Image Comics Unveils Incentive Variants for Rick Remender’s THE SCUMBAG

by Jason Bennett
written by Jason Bennett

FOUR RARE SCUMMY INCENTIVE COVERS REVEALED
FOR RICK REMENDER’S FORTHCOMING THE SCUMBAG SERIES

The forthcoming humor series The Scumbag by Rick Remender will feature four scumily rare incentive covers—a pretty scummy 1:10 by Tula Lotay, a scumtastic 1:25 by Yanick Paquette & Nathan Fairbairn, a 1:50 silver scum-foil by Jerome Opeña and colored by Moreno Dinisio, and an extra, super scumtacular 1:100 gold foil edition of the same Opeña cover, but GOLD like our hero Ernie Ray’s front tooth! All this stunning scumbaggery available this October from Image Comics.

In addition to these highly collectible and totally scummy variants, The Scumbag will feature a murderers’ row of Rick’s favorite all-star artistic talent rotating interior art duties on each issue, with Punisher superstar artist Lewis LaRosa on deck for issue #1.

THE SCUMBAG #1 - Cover A

THE SCUMBAG #1 – Cover A

The Scumbag is the story of Ernie Ray Clementine, a profane, illiterate, drug addicted, biker, with a fifth-grade education and the only thing standing between us and total Armageddon because this dummy accidentally received a power-imbuing serum making him the world’s most powerful super spy.

Ernie is a relic of a bygone era, the living embodiment of sex, drugs and rock and roll—so, this doesn’t make things easy for the spy organization that needs his help as they bribe, cajole, and manipulate Ernie to choose between his own self-interests and doing what’s right.

The Scumbag will join Remender’s growing Giant Generator Studios empire, alongside such salesbeasts as Death Or Glory with Bengal, Seven to Eternity with Jerome Opeña, Low with Greg Tocchini, Fear Agent with Jerome Opeña and Tony Moore, Tokyo Ghost with Sean Gordon Murphy, Black Science with Matteo Scalera, Strange Girl with Eric Nguyen, Deadly Class with Wes Craig, and more.

THE SCUMBAG #1 - Cover A

THE SCUMBAG #1 – Cover A

  • The Scumbag #1 Cover A LaRosa & Dinisio – Diamond Code AUG200010
THE SCUMBAG #1 - Cover B

THE SCUMBAG #1 – Cover B

THE SCUMBAG #1 - Cover C

THE SCUMBAG #1 – Cover C

  • The Scumbag #1 Cover C Blank Sketch – Diamond Code AUG208188
THE SCUMBAG #1 - Cover D

THE SCUMBAG #1 – Cover D

  • The Scumbag #1 Cover D Lotay 1:10 incentive – Diamond Code AUG208008
THE SCUMBAG #1 - Cover E

THE SCUMBAG #1 – Cover E

  • The Scumbag #1 Cover E Paquette 1:25 incentive – Diamond Code AUG208009
THE SCUMBAG #1 - Cover F

THE SCUMBAG #1 – Cover F

  • The Scumbag #1 Cover F Opeña & Dinisio 1:50 Silver Foil incentive – Diamond Code AUG208010
THE SCUMBAG #1 - Cover G

THE SCUMBAG #1 – Cover G

  • The Scumbag #1 Cover G Opeña & Dinisio 1:100 Gold Foil incentive – Diamond Code AUG208191

The Scumbag #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, October 21st.

The Scumbag #1 will also be available for purchase across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.

Publisher – Image Comics

Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of bestselling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has six individuals on the Board of Directors: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, Jim Valentino, and Eric Stephenson. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline Comics, Skybound Entertainment, and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

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[Comic Book Review] Image Comics’ DEADLY CLASS #37

by Adrian Care
written by Adrian Care

PopCultHQ received an advanced review copy of DEADLY CLASS #37 from Image Comics. Available March 6th, 2019, the creative team for this issue features writing from Rick Remender, art from Wes Craig, colors from Jordan Boyd, and lettering from Rus Wooton.

Here’s PopCultHQ’s Spoiler-Free Review of…

Deadly Class #37 - Cover A
Deadly Class #37 - Cover A
Deadly Class #37 - Cover B
Deadly Class #37 - Cover B
DEADLY CLASS #37
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Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Wes Craig
Colorist: Jordan Boyd
Letterer: Rus Wooton
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Cover Artists:
Cover A: Wes Craig
Cover B: Daniel Warren Johnson
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In Shops: Mar 06, 2019
SRP: $3.99
~
“NEVER GO BACK,” Part Two (of Five)

Get ready for the wildest night in Tokyo as Saya gets one chance to escape the clutches of her psycho Yakuza brother Kenji.

PopCultHQ’s Comic Book Review:
DEADLY CLASS #37

Held captive and broken in every conceivable way by evil upstart Kenji, turncoat Quan and brave Saya must find some way to escape before it’s too late for everyone.

Writing:

It’s a wonderous thing to follow a creator into their own properties and hear them speak with an undistilled voice. For them to weave in and out of each of their characters with such vision and clarity. To finish one heart-stopping, epic tale after another and circle back to remind you this is a fully functioning world with a story packed into every corner. To give a sense of scale to something as intimate as a personal betrayal. To lay it amongst the backdrop of high stakes adventure.

Rick Remender’s work bears the scars of his influences but in the best possible way. It’s pure indie comic books from a time when the underground was nascent and bubbling. It’s a thank you to Frank Miller’s ninja-clad, steam-infested urban nightmare. It’s a tip of the hat to Claremont, Louise Simonson, and Ann Nocenti’s New Mutants.

A writer so capable of this, Black Science, and mainstream fan-favorites like Uncanny X-Force, Uncanny Avengers, and Venom is a special thing. One who can not only capture from the zeitgeist, but have a hand in steering it. It is always a violent pleasure to read what Rick Remender is saying with Deadly Class.

Art:

Should it be possible to capture the essence of Frank Miller without aping his style? Can an artist convey the spirit of a Bill Sienkiewicz without looking anything like it at all? Is this testament to the strength of the connection between artist and writer? Can you stand arm-in-arm with the sensibilities of a creator like Paul Pope without bowing your head? Can you blend it all in with a Cyber Punk Anime melody?

Wes Craig is as vital to this book as Remender. You couldn’t split the two without sacrificing too much. On The Walking Dead, at times, it feels the book may benefit from a change in visual style. Grant Morrison has a great creative relationship with Frank Quitely, but he has turned out stellar work with a diverse range of artists. Remender and Craig are the perfect pair.

Craig understands the call for a visual melting pot of cultures in every storyline. Japanese Yakuza culture, 80’s punk scene, Latino street gangs. Setting stories by the docks, in the streets, at a school, Mexico. Things like this encourage virtuoso performances from only the artists who are talented enough for the task at hand. Craig is one such talent. His emotional range is only outdone by his action drenched in urgency. A pure storyteller invested in the stakes of each panel as much as the character themselves. Wes Craig is what they mean when saying an artist “breathes life” into the page.

Colors:

The synergy between all involved extends to the colorist on this book. Without the washed palette of Jordan Boyd, this book would also lose something crucial. The mastery over mood and the energy and character the color work bestows upon the story are from another plane entirely. It manages to capture the exact time period the comic is set while also looking like nothing you’ve seen. Boyd is capable of so much with work on superhero books like Winter Soldier and Ant-Man, cosmic fare like Star Wars legacy, and mystic work like Books of Magic. But it’s the stripped down, selective, yet detailed, color choices of Deadly Class that is his definitive work. If you ever need the perfect explanation of what the colorist adds to the book, why not just anyone can do it, Boyd’s work is all you need.

Letters:

Rus Wooton brings a lengthy list of experience to every issue of Deadly Class. Not only prolific within the Image brand (he also letters Outcast, The Walking Dead, Invincible, and East of West, to name a few) but also on seminal Fantastic Four and New X-Men runs. Wooton’s smash-mouth style employed in this issue really drives the indie comic sensibility of the work. It gives the action scenes an extra gear and illuminates finer actions like a crowd reacting or a finger snap. Completing the set, it really feels as though this book would lose something significant if the lettering was taken out of the perfect equation this title constantly delivers.

PopCultHQ’s Overall Assessment:

This is a title that will never take its foot off your throat. Even after achieving mainstream success and recognition and winding down its last epic Love Like Blood storyline. Like a tried and true hip-hop cliché, it’s on to the next one. The desperation of this issue seeps from the ink on every page. The genuine interaction and attention to detail between Saya, Quan, and the nefarious Kenji are a delicious feast of crime storytelling. There is heart and humour spread throughout too, just to show you how capable it is of twisting your emotions into controlled submission. If you’re looking for a strong issue of such a tightly-created comic book, issue 37 certainly is it.

PopCultHQ’s Rating:

4.5 out of 5 Stars

PopCultHQ Rating - 4.5 Stars

PopCultHQ Rating – 4.5 Stars

DEADLY CLASS #37 can be pre-ordered on ComiXology
and available at your local comic shop and
online retailers Wednesday, March 6th!

Comixology button

Buy Direct from Image Comics!

Print Edition Buy Now

Be sure to follow the creative team!

Writer- Rick Remender

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Artist – Wes Craig

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Colorist – Jordan Boyd

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Letterer – Rus Wooton

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Publisher – Image Comics

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Crime and Punishment: A Look at the Bullet-Riddled War Journal of Frank Castle

by Reptile
written by Reptile

Written by Adrian Care

You can always count on The Punisher to be in the wind long before the bodies get cold.

The second season of Marvel’s The Punisher series has just dropped worldwide on Netflix and, while Jon Bernthal’s animalistic and tortured portrayal of Frank Castle has been a success, Marvel is looking towards the impending Disney Plus streaming service.

Why is The Punisher only ever a cult-hero? Will we never get into anything longer than a hard scrap with, a quick brawl with Frank Castle?

The character has a history, in all mediums, of going off the grid, despite a vocal fan-base, a steady following.

Despite an ever-marketable look and appeal. An iconic logo so easily identifiable with the character that it raised eyebrows when appropriated by the blue lives matter movement. That white skull and black background that always makes for amazing cosplay, an awesome shirt, a cool looking movie one sheet.

Created by Gerry Conway, John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru and debuting in 1974’s The Amazing Spider-Man #129 with his iconic origin first told in 1975’s magazine Marvel Preview Presents #2. The Punisher began as a gun for hire, tasked with taking down Spider-Man. Frank Castle was an anomaly to the Marvel universe he was made for.

Tapping into the popularity of vigilante revenge movies like Charles Bronson’s Death Wish, Robert Blake’s Baretta, Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, through to the street violent Sylvester Stallone and Steven Seagal actioners of the 80’s, The Punisher was a darker exercise in escapism and wish fulfillment for readers that were looking for alternatives to colourful superhero hijinks.

A character so perfectly primed for the grim, gritty, and grown-up 80’s, the Punisher always made for iconic and tantalizing comic book covers. Think of him pointing a gun boldly into Cap’s chest on the cover of Captain America #241. Or filling Daredevil with bullets on the cover of Daredevil #183 (both drawn by the legendary Frank Miller).

Mike Zeck and Joe Jusko’s hellbent, crooked nosed, armed to the teeth warrior. Jim Lee’s militarized urban commando. These were pin-ups for boys from an era when playgrounds and living rooms came to life with imaginary wargames and re-enactments of action movies, where the only real casualties were the broken lamps and tipped over furniture before dinnertime.

Jon Bernthal & Punisher co-creator Gerry Conway

Jon Bernthal & Punisher co-creator Gerry Conway

The Punisher, essentially a G.I. Joe character spawned from the Marvel Universe was considered too dangerous for Saturday morning cartoons. The Publisher knew that kids would go ape for it, yet were not willing to greenlight something that would draw so much heat from parent groups. (When he would show up in the 1994 Spider-Man cartoon, he was diluted, not using his familiar arsenal.)

Ditto for video games. Tailor-made for the console war era, the character had a few cracks at side scrolling beat-em-ups, Final-Fight-style coin-ops, Operation Wolf-style shoot-em-ups, and a very adult Hitman-style game in 2005. But Marvel would be reluctant to go completely all-in with these.

Rightly so as times got darker and school shootings became a scarier reality
The Punisher was a bad-ass riding into the antihero-trend. The character you could still check out when you were supposed to be taking girls, cars, and sports more seriously than comic books.

The Punisher was a franchise player in the 90’s. Even if nobody treated it like the X-Men property, or with the same regard as Batman. The same affection as Spider-Man or Superman. At one time, Marvel was publishing Punisher, Punisher: War Journal, Punisher Magazine, Punisher Armory, and the underrated Punisher War Zone (with killer chemistry by Chuck Dixon and John Romita, Jr).

Granted, not much in the early 90’s was as good as Steven Grant and Mike Zeck’s Circle of Blood miniseries. But the early issues of Mike Baron and Klaus Janson’s run had the right spirit. The Punisher: Year One miniseries of 1994 is a genuine hidden gem and features early work by reliable names like Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Dale Eaglesham. Even the Punisher 2099 series, like most of the 2099 line, was an enjoyable and creative read.

At the very least, the design was awesome!

It’s funny to think that The Punisher really wouldn’t hit its straps for almost 30 years since its creation. When Garth Ennis, hot off proving he was an absolute superstar with Preacher, would bring his trademark over-the-top violence, humour, and heart, to 2000’s Marvel Knights miniseries Welcome Back, Frank (with Preacher co-creator, Steve Dillon, and Jimmy Palmiotti).

Ennis had written Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe in 1995, a popular one-shot that would later be reprinted at the height of Punisher’s resurgence.

Ennis just understood Frank Castle. He knew what made him tick and where his place was in the wider Marvel Universe. The two were made for each other. So much so that Garth Ennis is recognized as the definitive Punisher writer. He capitalized on the character’s history of constant relaunches and utilized this trick to tell constantly changing and evolving stories of crime families, international cartels, war stories, tales of all shapes, sizes, and seriousness.

Check out Garth Ennis’ Punisher: Born miniseries with Darick Robertson, or his Punisher: The End one-shot with Richard Corben, if you want to see the variety and creativity he infused in Frank Castle’s mythology. If you’re somebody who likes to have a collection of definitive runs on your shelf, grab Kitchen Irish, the Slavers, or Up is Down and Black is White from his excellent Punisher MAX series.

There has been a long line of great creators to work on The Punisher since Ennis’ almost decade-long tenure on the character: Matt Fraction, Rick Remender, Greg Rucka, Nathan Edmondson, and Mitch Gerads, to name some. Even though they are all solid runs, the shadow of what Ennis did with The Punisher is still glaringly apparent.

All creators since (and some before) Ennis have tried to tell new stories with the Punisher. For better or worse. Some, like Mark Millar, used him to great effect in Marvel’s Civil War. Some had their efforts hampered by having to include him in too many crossovers that weren’t suited to him. John Ostrander had Frank Castle join the mob. We had Franken-Castle, which probably would have worked better in miniseries format. Punisher: War Machine was a cool concept. But nothing with the staying power or constant evolution and adaptability of Garth Ennis’ work on the character.

No one can seem to get through the roadblocks that other Marvel characters are without.

the punisher

You can’t give a character, who is so willing to kill, a long-term arch-enemy. But what’s an iconic character without their nemesis? Without a strong rogue’s gallery? The Mafia is great, but ultimately faceless as an enemy.

Frank’s war origins need to be constantly updated also. That doesn’t always work as seamlessly as it did with transporting Tony Stark from the Vietnam war to the Gulf war. So, do you shy away from it when there’s so much integral to the story? (He must be a nightmare to edit in terms of continuity, not that that’s a deal breaker in today’s storytelling.) Do they lean into it and try to tap into the “Call of Duty” fanbase?

Is the hang-up with The Punisher that he was essentially an Image Comics character ahead of his time? Or better suited to the DC universe? He’d thrive in Gotham, as evidenced by Punisher Batman: Deadly Knights (1994) and Batman Punisher: Lake of Fire (1994).

Is it the failure of his forays into film that have dented his appeal? All three movies have their own quirky charms. Dolph Lundgren was perfect for a 1989 Punisher; the budget and the effort just weren’t there. Thomas Jane’s Punisher worked where it could use Garth Ennis’ story and failed where it couldn’t build from there. Thomas Jane’s Dirty Laundry short should have warranted him another shot at least (track that down online and enjoy). Ray Stevenson didn’t make a bad Frank at all, and the action and style of Lexi Alexander’s Punisher: War Zone shouldn’t go unnoticed.

It’s unfair, in a way, that we won’t get to see more of Netflix’s Punisher. Jon Bernthal is a great actor and does the primal undercurrent of Frank Castle’s war a huge justice. He was one of the best things about Marvel’s Daredevil season 2 as well. It would be interesting to see if a Disney-owned Marvel has as much interest in the property or if we’ve seen the best of it.

Jon Bernthal & Deborah Ann Woll

Jon Bernthal & Deborah Ann Woll

But the Punisher is too cool not to reappear. He’s too marketable not to merchandise. He’s a dirty, guilty pleasure, appealing to that revenge-fantasy, wish-fulfillment that none of us would openly admit we entertain.

Like the Lone Ranger, The Man with No Name, Phillip Marlowe, Sam Spade, Travis Bickle, Snake Plissken, and other hard-boiled, unshaved, two-fisted antiheroes, Frank Castle will show up again to serve his own brand of punishment.

The Punisher endures.

Because he’s just too tough to die.

Marvel’s The Punisher: Season 2 is available to stream NOW on Netflix.

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Comic BooksMovies / TVPop Cult News

Students. Swords. Secrets. Are you about to witness the next cultural phenomenon?

by Reptile
written by Reptile
Written by Adrian Care

January 2019 sees the launch of Deadly Class on SyFy. An adaptation of the
Image Comics title produced by comic book adaptation gods, the Russo brothers.

You know the Russo brothers. The brothers whose work in film went from taking over the Captain America franchise with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, to taking over the MCU outright with the superbly-executed Avengers: Infinity War. Those Russo brothers.

Deadly Class

Deadly Class

Now, you know Remender too. At Image Comics, he’s also given us Fear Agent and Black Science. At Marvel, a hugely popular run on Uncanny X-Force led to the launch of flagship Uncanny Avengers. He’s also had more than notable runs on Captain America, Secret Avengers, Venom, and The Punisher.

Wes Craig has lent his distinct artistic style to The Gravediggers Union, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and some Batman and Superman hidden gems.

But I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, right?

So why am I gushing over the work of these gents?

It’s because, if you’re paying attention, you’re about to have a front row seat to the next big thing. Deadly Class will be huge, popularity-wise. I’m talking maybe even The Walking Dead huge.

Follow SyFy’s Deadly Class on Twitter!

In an age where major comic book movies edge close to earning a billion dollars regularly, The Walking Dead remains as a monumental example of a comic book that crossed over into an even more successful TV series. Into the gaming world. Into merchandising. Clothes. Figures. Everything right down to the amazing pinball releases.

Deadly Class will be for Remender and Craig what TWD was/is for Robert Kirkman. It has everything going for it.

The self-contained universe, for starters, that is ripe for growth (a la Fear the Walking Dead).

RELATED: 15 Issues Packed Into DEADLY CLASS HC DLX Ed. (Book 2)

Material that can carry over directly from the page. Nothing since Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller brought us Sin City is so readily translatable from panel to storyboard to screen.

Kings Dominion has the potential to succeed in the way Hogwarts became synonymous for training young wizards. While the pop culture world waits in anticipation for the talked about John Wick spin-off series about The Continental, SyFy is about to beat them to it by bringing Deadly Class’s secret society high school for assassins to life.

If you thought people are going crazy for what Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has done with Riverdale and Sabrina, putting a subversive Twin Peaks spin on Archie Comics characters, then get ready for this. Deadly Class can dive deep into those same waters with abandon. Since season one, Riverdale has borrowed liberally from popular trends and tried and true movie tropes, fusing them into the once wholesome, pre-existing Archie-verse. Deadly Class’ stories have maintained that same spirit but executed with more originality for almost 40 issues (or 7 collected volumes). It’s riot at Riverdale, 90210 with guns and ammo. Gossip Girl with grime, grit, and guts.

Its pages contain diversity without ever feeling like it’s ticking off boxes or doing diversity for diversity’s sake. Every subculture is fairly represented and, rather than lean into stereotypes, it explores them. It uses them to get into the psychology of the characters and the dangerous worlds they navigate.

You read a lot about people’s affinity for Chris Claremont’s X-men and the influence it had on its readership. Deadly Class has a strikingly similar, intangible feeling.

People will eventually tire of the zombie aspect of The Walking Dead, but teen melodrama and well-written tales about the criminal underbelly seem to consistently have flag bearers in the eyes of pop culture.

Maybe the blockbuster trend in movies does bring in new audiences to the comic book medium. But if enough people can find their way to a copy of a Deadly Cass trade or issue, they’ll find a property with the franchise potential of Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, the Twilight saga. Who says the next big thing in young-adult fiction can’t put the word “graphic” before “novel”?

The comic book bubble isn’t in danger of over-saturation, or fatigue, or bursting at all. The audience is just waiting for that special material that can transcend the casual fan’s apprehensions about superheroes that still lingers. That can make the comic snob hold hands with the bandwagoners over material that truly has something for everyone.

When was the last time something came along and captured so much of the zeitgeist all at once? With such style? That worked so well?

Deadly Class is a property with crossover appeal and then some.

If you don’t believe, me read what Rick Remender and Wes Craig have created.

Believe what the Russo Brothers clearly know what they’re doing.

Deadly Class is the next big thing.

I’ll be back in a few months to say I told you so.

Deadly Class debuts on SyFy on Wednesday, January 16th at 10/9c. You can watch the pilot episode here!

Deadly Class issue #1 comes to life in this animated version of the comic featuring the voice talents from the show. Lana Condor as Saya, Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus, Benedict Wong as Master Lin, Luke Tennie as Willie, and María De Faría as Maria. Catch new episodes of Deadly Class Wednesdays at 10/9c on SYFY. Deadly Class premieres January 16 at 10/9c on SYFY.

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DEADLY CLASS DELUXE EDITION, BOOK TWO - THE FUNERAL PARTY
Comic Book NewsHCindependent Comic

[Comic Book News] Fifteen Issues Jam-Packed Into Image Comics’ Upcoming DEADLY CLASS Hardcover Deluxe Edition (Book 2)

by Jason Bennett
written by Jason Bennett

MASSIVE DEADLY CLASS HARDCOVER DELUXE EDITION
BOOK TWO HITS STORES THIS OCTOBER

Image Comics recently announced that issues #17-31 of the bestselling series DEADLY CLASS (soon to be a SyFy TV show) by Rick Remender (DEATH OR GLORY, SEVEN TO ETERNITY, LOW, BLACK SCIENCE) and Wes Craig (THE GRAVEDIGGERS UNION) will be collected into a massive  hardcover deluxe edition available this October.

Follow SyFy’s Deadly Class on Twitter!


DEADLY CLASS DELUXE EDITION, BOOK TWO: THE FUNERAL PARTY collects story arcs four through six of the ongoing, darkly humorous drama centered around the lives of ‘80s teens training in a secret academy to either become assassins or stand up and become humans.

DEADLY CLASS DELUXE EDITION, BOOK TWO: THE FUNERAL PARTY (ISBN: 978-1-5343-0841-1, Diamond Code: JAN188510) will hit comic book stores on Wednesday, October 10th and bookstores on Tuesday, October 16th. The final order cutoff deadline for comic book stores is Monday, August 6th.  It can be pre-orderd on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, IndieBound, and Indigo.

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS

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Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

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Deadly Class traile
Comic Book NewsMovies / TVTrailer

[Trailer] First Look at SyFy’s “Deadly Class” – New Series Based on Image Comics’ OGN by Rick Remender & Wes Craig

by Jason Bennett
written by Jason Bennett

SyFy’s DEADLY CLASS First Look trailer unveiled

From Deadline: “Deadly Class is based on the critically acclaimed Image Comics graphic novel by Rick Remender and Wes Craig, from The Avengers: Infinity War directors Joe and Anthony Russo, Sony Pictures TV and Universal Cable Production.

Follow SyFy’s Deadly Class on Twitter!

Adapted for television by Remender and Miles Orion Feldsott, Deadly Class is described as a coming of age journey full of ancient mystery and teen angst. Set in a dark, comic book world against the backdrop of late 80s counter culture, it follows a homeless teen recruited into a storied elite private school where the world’s top crime families send their next generations. Maintaining his moral code while surviving a ruthless curriculum, vicious social cliques and his own adolescent uncertainties soon proves to be vital.

Remender and Feldsott executive produce with Joe Russo, Anthony Russo and Mike Larocca (Spy). Adam Targum (Banshee) from Chipmunk Hill also served as executive producer on the pilot, along with Lee Toland Krieger (The Age of Adaline), who also directed.”

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS

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Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

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Death or Glory #1
independent ComicSecond Printing

[Second Printing] Image Comics’ DEATH OR GLORY #1 Races Back to Printers to Meet Demand

by Jason Bennett
written by Jason Bennett

SIZZLING DEATH OR GLORY SHIFTS INTO TOP GEAR WITH 2ND PRINTING

New York Times bestselling writer Rick Remender (DEADLY CLASS, SEVEN TO ETERNITY, LOW, BLACK SCIENCE, FEAR AGENT) and legendary superstar artist Bengal’s high-octane new series—DEATH OR GLORY—is headed at high speed back to print at Image Comics in order to keep up with massive customer demand.

Death or Glory #1 - Second Printing cover

Death or Glory #1 – Second Printing cover

In DEATH OR GLORY, readers meet Glory, raised off the grid in a convoy amid truckers—the last men and women fighting for true freedom on the American open road. Now, in order to pay for her beloved dying Father’s surgery, Glory has three days to pull off four dangerous cross-country heists with mob killers, crooked cops, and a psycho ex-husband all out to bring her in or die trying.

DEATH OR GLORY is a compulsively readable high-speed chase across the American West that exposes society’s dwindling freedoms and the price paid by those who fight for an untethered life.

Select praise for DEATH OR GLORY:
“A cocktail that’s equal parts Smokey and the Bandit, No Country for Old Men…
Unique and inspired. You won’t find anything like it on the shelves of your local comic store.” —The Oregonian
“Feels like the start of a Coen Brothers flick—Fast, slick, dark, and brutal,
Death or Glory is our new obsession.” —Nerdist
“Death or Glory is definitely a high-octane speed chase of a story with plenty of shootouts, but it’s also a reflection on what it means to live as part of the invisible underclass and how expensive poverty can be.” —io9
“A near-perfect graphic experience.” —Bleeding Cool
“We always love seeing a new creator-owned series from writer Rick Remender. That’s both because Remender seems like an endless well of high-concept science fiction ideas and because he has a habit of working with some of the best artists in the industry. Both qualities are in full effect with Death or Glory…Above all, we’re thrilled to see French artist Bengal tackling a long-form American comics project. This promises to be a gorgeous comic.” —IGN
DEATH OR GLORY #1, 2nd printing (Diamond Code MAR188743) and DEATH OR GLORY #2 Cover A by Bengal (Diamond Code APR180579), DEATH OR GLORY #2 Cover B by Totino (Diamond Code APR180580), DEATH OR GLORY #2 Cover C virgin (Diamond Code MAR188705) will hit stores on Wednesday, June 6th. The final order cutoff deadline for retailers is Monday, May 14th.

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS

`

Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

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Comic Creatorsindependent ComicInterview

[Creator Spotlight] PopCultHQ’s Writer of the Month – April 2018: Jason Martin

by Jason Bennett
written by Jason Bennett

PopCultHQ's Creators of the Month - April 2018

PopCultHQ is kicking off 2018 in a new way. Each month, we’ll be selecting Comic Book Creators of the Month and interview them for a spotlight article. For April 2018’s Writer of the Month, we chose Jason Martin.

Writer. Artist. Publisher. Action Lab: Danger Zone‘s Jason Martin has worn many hats throughout his career in the comic book industry. We at PopCultHQ selected Jason as our Writer of the Month for his exciting work in his VAMPBLADE series, which just kicked off its third season, and the Zombie Tramp Universe mash-up DANGER DOLL SQUAD, which has also just released a new volume with GALACTIC GLADIATORS. Both titles (issue #1 of each were released in April 2018) feature incredibly well-written storylines, while continuing to flesh out the characters and grow the shared universe at Action Lab. Both titles are a must-have and a must-read!

RELATED: [Comic Book Review] DANGER DOLL SQUAD Vol. 2: GALACTIC GLADIATORS #1

Take a look at Jason Martin’s bio, courtesy of his website:

Based in Beaverton, Oregon, comic book creator Jason Martin has worked in and around the comic book industry for over 10 years. Working both behind the scenes as a publisher, and as a creative in every aspect of comics.

Specializing in offbeat pop culture inspired fare, Jason first created and published his own comic book series, Super Real, and then published works for other creators under his own Super Real Graphics imprint. Jason currently works with Action Lab Entertainment and manages their mature readers comic book line, Action Lab: Danger Zone. Recent works of his own include the ongoing monthly series Vampblade, as well as PRINCE-S STARthief, and Night of the 80s Undead, and he also currently co-writes the popular Zombie Tramp ongoing series and Danger Doll Squad mini-series.

Jason has also worked as a freelance artist and has done work for clients such as Adult Swim, Upper Deck, and Topps.

When at home with his wife and chihuahua, they spend countless hours watching TV and movies, and Jason loves drawing those latest pop culture inspirations, often creating fan art for many of them to share online.

We had the privilege in chatting with the amazingly talented creator about his career in the comic book industry, his famous creation Vampblade and her longevity, his general advice to creators, and how things have changed in the industry over the last 15 years.

RELATED: [Comic Book Review] VAMPBLADE – Season Three #1

PopCultHQ Spotlight Interview

(l.-r.): Bill McKay, Dan Mendoza, Jason Martin, and Brian Hess

Writer of the Month – April 2018:
Jason Martin

PopCultHQ: How did comic books influence your childhood? What was the defining moment in your life that you knew, from then on, that you wanted to write comic books for a living?

Zombie Tramp vs. Vampblade #1

Zombie Tramp vs. Vampblade #1

Jason Martin: Comics were huge for me! It all starts with Star Wars, I was about 6 years old when that came out and rocked my world. Me and all my friends were obsessed… collecting the trading cards, buying the school supplies, playing with the figures night and day, and then one fateful afternoon there was a poly-bagged set of issues 1-3 of the Marvel Comics adaptation at the local Gresham Fred Meyers department store (in the toy section). I took those home and poured over them night and day, wearing them thin by tracing and drawing the Storm Troopers and Darth Vader. It was nirvana!

From there I started finding and reading other Marvel licensed/sci-fi comics like Micronauts, Rom Spaceknight, and Battlestar Galactica. Which eventually led to their superhero stuff, with Fantastic Four (l loved Herbie the robot from the cartoons), Layton and Michelinie’s Iron Man, The Hulk (also a TV show), and then later the Uncanny X-Men (my first issue was just after the Death of Phoenix)… which rocked my world.

And around then was the birth of the direct market and comic shops and I would live for that and the indie boom of the early 80’s. A solid 6 plus year run of living for comics which led to me doing my first comic series starting in 1983 (at age 12)!

Super Real #1

Super Real #1

PopCultHQ: You’ve been writing for over a decade, from 2005’s SUPER REAL to this month’s release of DANGER DOLL SQUAD: GALACTIC GLADIATORS and VAMPBLADE’s third season. How has your writing style changed since you released SUPER REAL?

Jason Martin: Well, as I mentioned I started writing my own comics as a pre-teen, but then when I turned 16 and got a car and a social life, I pretty much stopped reading comics and then eventually stopped drawing after high school. Fast forward a decade or so and I’d regretted not pursuing my artistic side, and fell back into comics starting back in 1994 – I was at the beach with my girlfriend and knew the local little store used to have comics, so I grabbed a Joe Madureira Astonishing X-Men and it lit the fuse again big time! So I started drawing and sketching again (and reading comics like a fiend again too), and then cooking up new ideas for a comic concept, which eventually became Super Real.

So yeah, this year’s San Diego Comic Con will actually be my 15-year anniversary of starting out in comics. It was the first show I ever did, and debuted an ash-can preview of Super Real in 2003. I then eventually self-published that (doing everything on the book creatively), which led to me publishing books for some other creators, and then that led me to Action Lab.

Night of the 80's Undead #1

Night of the 80’s Undead #1

Since then we published my creator-owned series Night of the 80’s Undead with artist Bill McKay, and it was around this time that I started primarily writing (in addition to working on the business side of things). So when we launched Zombie Tramp from Dan Mendoza as an ongoing monthly in 2014, I started out co-writing that because Dan was still working a full time day job. The book was quite popular and a big seller for us, so when we started talking about potentially launching a concept to compliment it, we discussed the many concepts I had and picked Vampblade as it was a good fit for that (with some retooling to make it more in the horror genre somewhat).

PopCultHQ: What changes have you, personally, seen transpire over the years with the industry?

Jason Martin: Well, like I mentioned, I’ve been around, so quite a bit. I will say, obviously, we’re currently seeing a boom in creator-owned content, and then of course an explosion in variety too. Which is all great. Though, when I started out in the early 2000’s with so much less of that, it was perhaps easier to get noticed. Now it’s just tougher to get seen with such an embarrassment of riches in terms of content. Plus, when I started, it was really at the dawn of comics going mainstream, and they were still kind of forgotten and misunderstood by the general public. So that has radically changed in that time too. It’s a totally different landscape today overall.

Super Real vs the Comic Book Industry

Super Real vs the Comic Book Industry

PopCultHQ: Vampblade, a character first debuting in Super Real Special Volume 1: Super Real vs The Comic Book Industry back in 2007, is now heading to her third volume at Action Lab’s Danger Zone imprint. To what do you attribute the success and longevity of the character?

Jason Martin: Well, it’s a lot of things really. First, it’s set within the same shared universe as Zombie Tramp, and you can’t discount the exposure that brings. And then of course I’ve also had the good fortune to work with some truly amazing and talented creators. I mean, artists that I would go nuts for as a fan. I’m a huge fan of stylized artwork, and that’s part of the house style we have, and part of what’s different about our in-house universe of books. So much of what’s out there embraces an older, safer aesthetic stylewise, that it really helps our books stand out. And then, to be able to have artists like Winston Young, Marco Maccagni, Celor, and now Marcelo Costa on our roster and bring these books to life? That’s huge!

It doesn’t matter how good the script, concepts, characters, ideas are, this is comics, a visual medium, so you have to have talented artists to bring it to life. And I’m very fortunate in that regard!

Vampblade (2016) #1
Vampblade (2016) #1
Vampblade '98 #1
Vampblade '98 #1
Vampblade - Season 2 #1
Vampblade - Season 2 #1
Vampblade - Season 3 #1
Vampblade - Season 3 #1

PopCultHQ: What do you enjoy most about attending and appearing at conventions? How do fans of your work respond when meeting you in person?

Jason Martin: Conventions are great. As creators we spend so much time on our own… at home, alone, building these worlds and stories. So going out to the shows not only allows us to connect with other like-minded creators, but we also get to connect directly with the fans, and there’s nothing better than that!

Zombie Tramp (2014) #1

Zombie Tramp (2014) #1

And then fans, in terms of connecting to a writer, as someone who’s an artist too and does art and has had fan interaction from that, it’s a bit different. More low key. People connect to art more viscerally, on more of a gut level, so they get more excited over that. It’s just that you find the really openly excited fans are fewer and further between for the writing.

PopCultHQ: What is the most challenging aspect for you when it comes to writing a miniseries? What is the most challenging aspect for you when it comes to writing an ongoing series?

Jason Martin: For a mini-series it’s fitting everything you want to do within the story arc. Otherwise they’re the same, as everything is written in similarly lengthed arcs, but in an ongoing series you have the luxury of working in any ideas you can’t fit in the first arc down the road.

For an ongoing series, once you get going, it’s really keeping the scripts ready on time month in and month out. As an artist/creative type you tend to want to follow your muse, but when you have X amount of books due a month, you have to resist that and stay focused.

PopCultHQ: What has been the most important and/or valuable piece of advice you’ve received as a writer in the comic book industry?

Super Real vs the Movie Industry

Super Real vs the Movie Industry

Jason Martin: Well, I don’t know that I’ve really received any advice like that, but there are a couple things come to mind here as general good advice…

1) This is the comic book industry, and we as creators can get really attached to concepts that we create, but the reality of the market is, chances are the majority of things will simply not find a sustainable audience. So you have to be willing and able to work on many different ideas and not tied too much to any one thing. And,

2) As a comic creator you meet so many aspiring creators, and I always like to tell them, the beauty of comic books is that literally anyone who has the desire and passion can do them. And that’s especially true even more so today with digital, comic con proliferation, and crowdfunding. Get out there, start out on the path, see where it takes you!

PopCultHQ: On top of VAMPBLADE and DANGER DOLL SQUAD V.2, what’s on tap in 2018 for Jason Martin? Any conventions and signing appearances lined up?

Danger Doll Squad-Volume 2 #1

Danger Doll Squad-Volume 2 #1

Jason Martin: Yeah, 2018 started really big for me with season 3 of Vampblade and the Danger Doll Squad: Galactic Gladiators mini, but I do have some new personal projects in the works for Kickstarter. I did a book there a little while back, PRINCE-S STARthief, and I have a couple more lined up this year (soon!).

And then yes, I like to get out to about 10 shows a year give or take. Mostly in my West Coast/Pacific NW region, but then also a couple outside that too each year. I’m at San Diego Comic Con every year – this July will be my 15th anniversary exhibiting there! And I have Rose City Comic Con this September. But I plan to line up some more shows…

PopCultHQ: If you had the power or ability to make one change in the comic book community or industry, what would it be? 

Jason Martin: Find a way to get them in front of more people. With the movies becoming bigger and bigger, and things like The Walking Dead and other comics on TV, we still need to bring more eyeballs to the medium. For as huge as comics have become in other media, they haven’t followed suit in terms of distribution/sales.

PopCultHQ: Which other writers are you reading right now? If given the opportunity, is there a writer currently producing comic books that you’d like to work with (in any capacity)?

Jason Martin: Well, to be honest, I’m more of an art guy. To me, comics are first and foremost a visual medium. So I’m drawn to works that excite me artistically. That said, there are writers that I do love. I’m a big fan of Mark Millar and Grant Morrison, I’ll read most anything they do. I really like what Jason Aaron has done with his Marvel titles, and always enjoy Brian K Vaughan and Rick Remender too.

And I really enjoy working with other writers, and collaborating with artists and creators, so I’m always up for more of that!

~~~~~

Special thanks to Jason for making time to speak with PopCultHQ.

To find out more about our April Writer of the Month,
be sure to follow Jason Martin online!

Writer/Colorist – Jason Martin

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Deadly Class 1
Comic Book NewsDigital Comicsindependent Comic

[Comic Book News] SyFy’s Adaptation of Rick Remender & Wes Craig’s DEADLY CLASS Sparks Huge Digital Sale from Image Comics

by Jason Bennett
written by Jason Bennett

IMAGE COMICS CELEBRATES THE FORTHCOMING SYFY ADAPTATION
OF DEADLY CLASS WITH DIGITAL EDITION FLASH SALES

In celebration of SyFy Channel’s forthcoming TV series adaptation of Rick Remender and Wes Craig’s bestselling DEADLY CLASS, Image Comics is pleased to announce Google Play and ComiXology digital sales going on now through Monday, April 23rd.

It’s back to school for fans of DEADLY CLASS! Stock up on digital editions of the bestselling series by Rick Remender and Wes Craig and binge-read the series before the forthcoming SyFy TV show airs. Bone up on this ’80s punk-influenced story about a school for assassins—because at King’s Dominion High School for the Deadly Arts, the dagger in your back isn’t always metaphorical.

SyFy ordered DEADLY CLASS to pilot in September of last year, and Remender and Miles Orion Feldsott adapted the popular series for television. They will also serve as executive producers alongside Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, and Mike Larocca. Adam Targum from Chipmunk Hill also served as executive producer on the pilot, along with Lee Toland Krieger, who also directed. Sony Pictures Television and Universal Cable Productions will produce.

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS

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Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

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Comic Previewsindependent Comic

[Preview] Race to Your LCS and Order Image Comics’ DEATH OR GLORY #1 by Rick Remender & Bengal (FOC 4/9)

by Jason Bennett
written by Jason Bennett

BUCKLE UP—DEATH OR GLORY
KICKS COMICS STORYTELLING INTO OVERDRIVE


New York Times bestselling writer Rick Remender (DEADLY CLASS, SEVEN TO ETERNITY, LOW, BLACK SCIENCE, FEAR AGENT) and legendary superstar artist Bengal’s hotly anticipated Image Expo 2018 announcement—DEATH OR GLORY—will be flooring it into stores this May at Image Comics.

DEATH OR GLORY #1 Cover A

In an interview with Comic Book Resources about the new series, Remender said: “It’s very grounded. There’s a little bit of a heightened reality in that Glory is going to upset a number of different criminal organizations, and colorful shady figures end up in pursuit. We’re also looking at the effect the dying trucking industry, all the jobs self-driving cars will make redundant, its effect on her family and friends. Human resistance against the technology that’s eating up so many of our jobs…Glory’s world is crumbling in more ways than one. I really romanticize the idea of a convoy, this band of brothers and sisters, the last free people in the country, and now their way of life and that piece of the American mythology of the highway is in jeopardy.”

DEATH OR GLORY #1 Cover B

DEATH OR GLORY #1 Cover C

In DEATH OR GLORY, readers meet Glory, raised off the grid in a convoy amid truckers—the last men and women fighting for true freedom on the American open road. Now, in order to pay for her beloved dying Father’s surgery, Glory has three days to pull off four dangerous cross-country heists with mob killers, crooked cops, and a psycho ex-husband all out to bring her in or die trying.

Bengal and Remender worked for years cultivating an idea for a story centered around a driver or pilot. Bengal added: “There was this woman, who was defined very differently at first, who evolved as ideas kept going between Rick and me. That’s how Glory was born, and everything clicked and made sense as the story developed. Rick structured her world so perfectly, so clearly, that I could dive into it even though it’s a story that takes place in an environment I’ve never visited in person, with people I’ve never met. I tried my best to use both the lore of America’s free truckers from movies and books, and the ton of realistic references I could find, or that Rick shared with me. Add to that my love of cars, and we were rolling! I used my humble skillset to try to render a dynamic, efficient storytelling, literally like filming an action movie. I hope it will work and readers will be taken by the flow!”

DEATH OR GLORY promises readers a high-speed chase across the American West that examines society’s dwindling freedoms and the price paid by those who fight for an untethered life, in this special double-sized first issue with 40 pages of story.


DEATH OR GLORY #1 Cover A by Bengal (Diamond Code MAR180577), Cover B by Duncan Fegredo (Diamond Code MAR180578), and Cover C by James Harren (Diamond Code MAR180579) will hit stores on Wednesday, May 2nd. The final order cutoff deadline for retailers is Monday, April 9th.

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS

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Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

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