Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jun 18, 2010 in
Comic Books,
Tech 
Sure it’s not Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, or even IDW, but if you haven’t read any of Boom! Studios’ comics since its inception back in 2005, you’ve really missed out on some amazing work. With licensed works based on films like Die Hard and 28 Days Later you really can’t go wrong — not to mention their outstanding line-up of original content that spans a variety of different genres. However, missing out can be easily remedied thanks to their recently released iPad app which promises to deliver roughly 50 titles straight to your iPad for a reasonable price. The app itself is built on the comiXology engine, the same engine used by other publishers such as Marvel and IDW. To download the app, or to learn more, check out the app store website. Read more…
Tags: Apps, Boom! Studios, Comic Books, iPad
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 14, 2010 in
Comic Books 
I was pleasantly surprised to see that on Wednesday BOOM! Studios be taking their first steps as a publisher and putting out a real book which will be a collection of New Yorker styled cartoons by Shannon Wheeler with the title I Thought You Would Be Funnier. On the surface creating a New Yorker cartoon seem dead simple — they’re black and white, not always exquisitely drawn and have to have a clever punchline. However just try coming up with a few of these on your own and you’ll see just how hard it is to do something original or even just funny. So the few artists that can get their work published are always worth taking a look at — and in this case Wheeler deserves your admiration as he paid his dues with the cult comic Too Much Coffee Man. Here’s a preview of his book which make me smile a few times: Read more…
Tags: Boom! Studios
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 13, 2010 in
Comic Books 
I really really wanted to like Cold Space — for starters the story is by Samuel L. Jackson and his Afro Samurai collaborator Eric Calderon. Yet while Afro Samurai looked amazing the artwork in this book by Jeremy Rock is a little bit on the stiff side. The layout of each frame has little to no action which is made even more boring by a lack of interesting mecha. I’m not sure that I’d blame Jackson and Calderon for the lackluster visuals, however I would say that Boom! Studios could have done a better job given the subject matter. Read more…
Tags: Boom! Studios
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 21, 2010 in
Comic Books 
A panel from this unreleased comic book series proclaims that CBGB “isn’t some stupid slogan on a t-shirt” however sadly the now owners of the brand have turned it into that. Once upon a time in the 70s CBGB was the club on the lower east side of New York City where punk rock really started (ha ha not England). Yet sadly a few years ago their rents went up, and by 2006 they closed their doors and then about a year later the owner Hilly Kristal died. Since then the brand has been turned into a cartoon and put onto anything, which now includes a comic book. This isn’t a shock as we live in a world of capitalism but punk rock should stand for the sprit of do it yourself, and this soon to be schlocked out comic misses the point entirely: Read more…
Tags: Boom! Studios, Punk
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 10, 2010 in
Comic Books 
I’ve been following Kill Audio for a few issues now and I’ve got to say that I’ve been really won over by the look of this book which is illustrated by Sheldon Villa and Chuck B. Except for some manga back in the day I haven’t seen many comic books that are colored with a two color combo — in this case blood red and black. It makes the comic stand out the minute you see it from the piles of bad full color but poorly photoshoped work you see every where these days. Add to that the fact the artwork has a unique style to it, and the result is that with Kill Audio you get to see something unique, which makes this reviewer happy. Here’s a preview of issue six which will be out today: Read more…
Tags: Boom! Studios
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 1, 2010 in
Comic Books 
Up until this point I’ve been mostly looking at the licensed comic books that Boom! Studios has been producing and while for the most part they’re good, they’re always in the shadow of the television show or book that they’re based on. So I’ve been quite impressed looking at Kill Audio which is an original book that they’ve put out: Issue #5 comes out this week and the artwork of Sheldon Vella is quite entertaining! What I love about his book is that it has its own style and the limited pallet of red and black is quite charming: Read more…
Tags: Boom! Studios
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 20, 2009 in
Cinema 
On paper it sounds like a good idea: Why not take the Philip K. Dick book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and make a graphic novel out of it? And that’s what BOOM! Studios has been trying to do for about seven issues of this comic book and they just can’t get it right. I’ve been looking at the previews for a while and something has always set me off about them. Then it struck with this latest issue — this isn’t a graphic novel based upon the novel, but a bad xerox copy of Blade Runner which was the famous film which was based upon the novel. Read more…
Tags: Blade Runner, Boom! Studios, Ridley Scott
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 9, 2009 in
Comic Books 
As a New Yorker I’d always assumed that 9/11 was the definitive defining moment of America in the 21st Century — but now I’m wondering if the flooding of New Orleans was maybe just as important if not more so. My thinking is that while for the most part NYC has picked up as a city and has gone that New Orleans is never coming back. Yes it may still be there in a small way, but it will never be a major city again. In terms of the psyche of America this is huge as that city was unique and pre-dated the United States itself. So it’s interesting to see this topic spread out from documentaries into the world of fiction. So Nola #1 caught my eye, and it’s worth taking a closer look at. Read more…
Tags: Boom! Studios
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 3, 2009 in
Comic Books 
Licensed comics never quite get the limelight that their original cousins always grab: There’s a cool factor to working on a Spiderman comic which may inspire a film, but there’s just no love for a comic book that’s based upon a toy or a pre-existing film or TV show. Yet while fandom looks down upon these books, they serve as an important “gateway drug” of sorts — attracting young and new readers into being the next generation of comic books fans. Recently I found myself guilty of this snobby fanboy mindset while looking at the work being produced by Boom! Studios — so I decided to give them a second chance and give them a serious look: And lo and behold I think they’re doing a rather decent job with their Finding Nemo and Muppets books! Read more…
Tags: Armand Villavert Jr., Boom! Studios, Erica Leigh Currey, Pixar, The Muppets
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 3, 2009 in
Comic Books 
As an art school graduate I admit that I really do judge a book by its cover — and this is even more true with comic books, because if you can’t get the cover right chances are no one cared about what went on the page. But in the case of Mr. Stuffins by I’ve been proved wrong, which is why I put some of the interior artwork at the lead of this article, because my fear is that the cover art might drive away my fellow fanboys (and fangurls) away from a comic book that looks pretty promising. Read more…
Tags: Boom! Studios, Mr. Stuffins
