Webcomic of the Month! April: Sorcery 101
Webcomic of the Month! May: Let’s Be Friends Again
Long Beach Comic Expo 2015
ComiXology Reviews: The Dead
Interview: Kel McDonald talks Misfits of Avalon
ComicAttack.net’s Best of 2015 Comic List & Fan Poll!
ComicAttack.net’s Best of 2015 Fan Poll Results!
AnimeNYC: See you next time space cowboy!
Tapas Media Interview Featuring Kan
Tapas Media Interview Featuring Ivy Song
Tapas Media Interview Featuring Lord Vincent
Webcomic of the Month! April: Sorcery 101
Welcome back for another Webcomic of the Month! This month we’re continuing the Kel McDonald works with Sorcery 101! This has been a favorite series of mine. Stories with mages, werewolves, and vampires can always draw me in, but only a few ever keep me and I’ve been with this one for a long time. It’s drawing close to ending, but I was lucky enough to get to interview Kel McDonald about it before it’d enter our “Great webcomics that have ended/no longer update” category. So let’s get right into that interview!
ComicAttack: If Sorcery 101 was made into a live action TV show or movie, do you have any choices for who would play some of the cast?
I never really play the who should play who game with Sorcery 101. I sometimes think about what their voices sound like, but I honestly never super pin it down.
CA: Is there any mythology or folk lore you wanted to fit into the series but couldn’t find a place for it? If so, what was it?
What type of magical creatures there are in the Sorcery 101 world isn’t very flexible. So some weirder creature from mythology that couldn’t easily disguise itself as a person, or any creature that is kinda evil for the sake of evil doesn’t fit in Sorcery 101. The whole idea of Sorcery 101 is to focus more on the individual rather than some force of evil doing evil. So like Seth isn’t an amoral sociopath because he’s a vampire. He’s all those thing because he is Seth.
CA: Do you have a favorite character in the series?
I don’t really have a favorite, but I do have duos that I like to write. Like I have a fun time writing whenever Danny and Seth interact. Or when Jeff and Connor are goofing off.
CA: Of the different supernatural entities you have in the series, which would you want to be if you lived in that world?
Probably a mage. Only that controls water.
CA: What’s been your favorite chapter of Sorcery 101?
Enemies pt 1 & 2.
CA: Let’s say Danny gets an action figure. What kind of accessories and actions does his toy come with?
He comes with cigarettes and a spell book. The action he does is light his tie on fire.
CA: You’re a fan of the Dresden Files, you did those great drawings from the early books. What is your favorite book in the series thus far?
The answer is clearly a Zombie T-Rex.
There you have it! I want to thank Kel McDonald for doing this interview. I hope you all enjoyed reading it. If you haven’t checked out Sorcery 101 yet, please do. It’s a fun series and you’ll soon (too soon!) be able to read it from start to finish. See you next month!
Dr. Alexander Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
Webcomic of the Month! May: Let’s Be Friends Again
Welcome back to Webcomic of the Month, and this month we have a long time favorite of mine, Let’s Be Friends Again! Currently it isn’t updating, but I hope that hiatus ends sooner than later. Since it’s not updating right now, though, it falls under great comics that aren’t active. Hope that title goes away so we can all get more comics.
Let’s Be Friends Again was created by Curt Franklin and Chris Haley. As of September of last year, the series is now made by Eugene Ahn and Chris Haley. Chris’s art is great at switching into other styles like that of Charles Schultz or Jack Kirby. The comic is mostly about comic books, but can also jump into just about any topic its creative team wants to talk about. The interaction between Curt and Chris or Eugene and Chris is great, it’s one of the only comics I can think of to make a story arc to “explain” the transition for part of its creative team.
These two frequently make comics about parts of the comics industry that I find myself feeling or struggling with, whether it be a convoluted plot in a current series or the climate of the comics industry. They know how to either make me laugh and then feel sad along with them, or get a warm fuzzy feeling from the points they make. The humor can get extremely crude on occasion, so if that’s not your thing the titles can usually give you a heads up for each strip.
One day you could have a strip that is a silly joke about Wonder Woman’s invisible jet getting keyed, and then the next week get them slamming a terrible comic. I love when the comic also pokes fun at just life in general; they have one about a certain brand of five dollar pizza that’s very true, go look it up.
I enjoy this comic a lot and hope that maybe some of you can, too. If you like comics a lot but don’t necessarily love the direction some can take, this is likely for you. They love joking about the X-Men and how convoluted their stuff gets, but sometimes they just like to laugh at the simple things, and I’m right there with them too.
drbustos@comicattack.net
Long Beach Comic Expo 2015
Con season in southern California is starting to pick up steam! Long Beach Comic Expo is the first of the season for many residents. The con is still relatively young but it’s got a strong following and it doesn’t show signs of slowing down. LBCE was nice enough to allow me in so I return with pictures for you. The con floor was busy but never felt too crowded so that was always nice. There were sections that could get pretty packed but you could always find a spot that didn’t feel cramped. The area where the Cosplay Corner was frequently was one of the busier areas. It was even shark infested. There was a free to play set up for Street Fighter 2 and the screen they had was huge so you could see what was going on from about one hundred feet away. There was such fun cosplay and it was almost overwhelming, I couldn’t get all the pictures I wanted because that would mean I’d still be trying to take photos of people right now. These were some of the shots I could get. I wish I could have gotten more but I’m glad I could get these few. Big fan of Luke Cage so I was glad I could get him. Loved seeing Gravity Falls represented and I rarely see Ace from the DC Animated Universe so I was ecstatic. That Midnighter cowl was great and those twins always have top notch costumes and those wheels were magnetically attached. This con makes me excited for what I’m going to see for the rest of the year in cosplay.
Overall it was a fun convention and a promising start for this year’s cosplay. I look forward to returning later this year for Long Beach Comic Con. Hope to see you there!
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
Interview: Kel McDonald talks Misfits of Avalon
Are you a fan of magical girls? Do you enjoy a good transformation and dealing with strange monsters? Have you heard of Misfits of Avalon? It’s the comic series by Kel McDonald where some of the last people you’d want saving the day get the power and responsibility to do just that. Kel was nice enough to take some time to answer some questions about the series.
Who’s your favorite character that we’ve seen thus far?
Elsie because she is super fun to draw and is very expressive.
Do you have your own magical girl name and power?
No.
Favorite magical girl series?
Sailor Moon cause I just love how diverse the cast is. I like how it gives little girls watching not just different types of girls to relate and connect to but at the same time showing Usagi be not very together. So it’s letting girls know that it’s okay if they aren’t as smart as Mercury or strong as Jupiter, they can still do great things. There is a reason it’s the first magical girl anime most folks think of.
What drew you to using this folklore for the series?
I picked King Arthur mythology as a theme because that helped give structure to the story as a whole. I basically tried to think of a theme for the team and as soon as I decided on King Arthur and Avalon myths everything just clicked together and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
Were there any other mythologies you had thought about using for the series?
Not really, like the story didn’t really form until I decided on King Arthur myths. While I played with other theme ideas none of them seemed to have a story with them and they weren’t myth based.
Did you always picture the book in black and white?
Yes, because I honestly don’t really like working in color. I find black and white more satisfying.
If the Misfits of Avalon got toys, what kind of things would you want them to be able to do?
I guess Morgan and Kimber’s would shoot plastic bits of wind and fire. Rae and Elsie would have some switch that moved their arm with their weapon in hand.
What’s your favorite moment in the series thus far?
Probably when Elsie isn’t listening to Cu and is saying “The dog is talking” over and over.
I want to thank Kel McDonald for the interview and all of you for reading. Check out the comic’s new story arc at the website and get the first trade by Dark Horse Comics.
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
ComicAttack.net’s Best of 2015 Comic List & Fan Poll!
Once again it’s that time of year for our Best Of… Fan Poll where YOU decide who comes out in the top five in each category! After submissions taken from the CA.net staff and fan emails you’ve got a lot to choose from this year and some hard decisions to make here. The fan submissions cover the wide range of talent that fills the industry from indie to mainstream so you might even find something new to get into!
What new title blew you away? Is there a manga that you just couldn’t do without this year? Which artist made your eyes jump out of your skull and dance all over the place from their work? Get your votes in here and let us know who you think should come out on top!
Editor’s note: Click here for the results of the CA.net Best of 2015 Fan Poll!!
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If you believe there’s something we’ve missed, send your nomination to infinitespeech@comicattack.net with “Poll Suggestion” in the title. Please specify a category and be clear in your nomination.
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Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net
ComicAttack.net’s Best of 2015 Fan Poll Results!
The fans have voted and the top five in each category are all in for the Best of 2015 Fan Poll! It was an intense voting process only made better by the fan participation and sheer number of nominees submitted for this year’s poll. It was a fantastic variety of talent from across the comic industry with some familiar names along with some new additions we didn’t see last year!
The breakout category was “Biggest Surprise Good Read” which consisted of titles from several different genres of comics and the most collection of votes. There were several surprises to come out in some categories and we even have a new number one for “Best Publisher” which according to several fans, is very well deserved. Also, it’s looking like another great year for creator owned projects just from the sheer number of submissions that came through. Once again proving that it’s not all metahumans and mutants from the Big Two that comic fans are craving either!
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BEST ALTERNATE MEDIA (TV)
1. JESSICA JONES (S1)
2. DAREDEVIL (S1)
3. THE FLASH (S2)
4. THE WALKING DEAD (S6)
5. AGENT CARTER (S1)
BEST ALTERNATE MEDIA (NOVEL)
1. STAR WARS: JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS: SHATTERED EMPIRE by Greg Rucka & Marco Chechetto
2. BLACK WIDOW: FOREVER RED by Margaret Stohl
3. DEADPOOL: PAWS by Stefan Petrucha
4. BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT – THE RIDDLERS GAMBIT by Alex Irvine
5. THE SUPERHERO COSTUME: IDENTITY and DISGUISE IN FACT and FICTION by Barbara Brownie & Danny Graydon
BEST ANIMATED SERIES
1. STAR WARS REBELS
2. STEVEN UNIVERSE
3. ADVENTURE TIME
4. TEEN TITANS GO!
5. MARVEL’S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
BEST COLLECTED EDITION
1. DEATH VIGIL Vol 1 (Top Cow)
2. CONCRETE PARK Vol 2. “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” (Dark Horse)
3. WAYWARD DELUX BOOK 1 (Image)
4. BOUNCE Vol 1: FIRST ROUND OF SHOTS! (Bounce! Comics)
5. CHRONONAUTS Vol 1 (Image)
BEST COMIC BOOK MOMENT
1. Jane Foster revealed as the new Thor
2. Eternal Warrior defeats the entire Unity team
3. Doctor Doom kills Thanos by ripping out his skeleton in Secret Wars
4. Pre New 52 DC Characters returning during the Convergence event
5. Batman becomes a New God.
BEST COMIC BASED MOVIE (Live Action/Animated)
1. AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
2. KINGSMAN: SECRET SERVICE
3. ANT-MAN
4. JUSTICE LEAGUE: THRONE OF ATLANTIS
5. BATMAN vs ROBIN
BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL
1. SUNSTONE (Image)
2. CONCRETE PARK Vol. 2 “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” (Dark Horse)
3. SANDMAN: OVERTURE (Vertigo)
4. BATMAN: EARTH ONE (DC)
5. NIMONA (Harper Teen)
BIGGEST SURPRISE GOOD READ
1. DIVINITY (Valiant)
2. BLOOD & GOURD (Dead Peasant)
3. DEATH VIGIL (Top Cow)
4. BAT-MITE (DC)
5. JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS (IDW)
BEST COLORIST
1. DAVID BARON (Divinity)
2. TONY PURYEAR (Concrete Park)
3. TAMRA BONVILLAIN (Wayward)
4. JUSTIN PONSOR (Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man)
5. IVE SVORCINA (Secret Wars)
BEST INDIE ARTIST
1. MICO SUAYAN (Bloodshot Reborn)
2. STJEPAN SEJIC (Sunstone)
3. TONY PURYEAR (Concrete Park)
4. FIONA STAPLES (Saga)
5. ERIC POWELL (Big Man Plans)
BEST INDIE WRITER
1. MATT KINDT (Ninjak)
2. ERIKA ALEXANDER/TONY PURYEAR (Concrete Park)
3. BRIAN K. VAUGHAN (Saga)
4. KURTIS J. WEIBE (Rat Queens)
5. GAIL SIMONE (Red Sonja/Swords of Sorrow)
BEST BIG 3 ARTIST
1. GREG CAPULLO (Batman)
2. MARGUERITE SUAVAGE (DC Bombshells)
3. STUART IMMONEN (Star Wars)
4. NICOLA SCOTT (Wonder Woman)
5. IVAN REIS (Cyborg)
BEST BIG 3 WRITER
1. G. WILLOW WILSON (Ms. Marvel)
2. GAIL SIMONE (Secret Six)
3. DAVID F. WALKER (Cyborg)
4. SCOTT SNYDER (Batman)
5. JASON AARON (Thor)
BEST LICENSED SERIES
1. JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS (IDW)
2. AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER (Dark Horse)
3. BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (BOOM!)
4. SAMURAI JACK (IDW)
5. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (IDW)
BEST EVENT SERIES
1. BOOK OF DEATH (Valiant)
2. SECRET WARS (Marvel)
3. DARKSEID WAR (DC)
4. CONVERGENCE (DC)
5. NEW 52: FUTURE’S END (DC)
BEST MANGA
1. ONE-PUNCH MAN (Viz Media)
2. ATTACK ON TITAN (Kodansha Comics USA)
3. NARUTO (Viz Media)
4. ULTRAMAN (Viz Media)
5. TOKYO GHOUL (Viz Media)
BEST ANIME
1. ONE-PUNCH MAN
2. GHOST IN THE SHELL: THE NEW MOVIE
3. DRAGON BALL Z: RESURRECTION ‘F’
4. GANGSTA
5. MY LOVE STORY
BEST ALL-AGES TITLE
1. LUMBERJANES (BOOM!)
2. INVADER ZIM (Oni Press)
3. PRINCELESS: THE PIRATE PRINCESS (Action Lab)
4. MOUSE GUARD: LEGENDS OF THE GUARD VOl 3 (Archaia)
5. ADVENTURE TIME (Kaboom!)
BEST ONGOING INDIE SERIES
1. BLOODSHOT REBORN (Valiant)
2. CONCRETE PARK (Dark Horse)
3. RAT QUEENS (Image)
4. WICKED + DIVINE (Image)
5. RED SONJA (Dynamite)
BEST NEW INDIE SERIES
1. DIVINITY (Valiant)
2. SWITCH (Top Cow)
3. IMPERIUM (Valiant)
4. NIOBE: SHE IS LIFE (Stranger Comics)
5. MONSTRESS (Image)
BEST NEW SUPERHERO COMIC
1. WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR (Valiant)
2. DOCTOR STRANGE (Marvel)
3. CYBORG (DC)
4. SECRET SIX (DC)
5. WE ARE ROBIN (DC)
BEST ONGOING SUPERHERO COMIC
1. X-O MANOWAR (Valiant)
2. MS. MARVEL (Marvel)
3. BATMAN (DC)
4. THOR (Marvel)
5. CYBORG (DC)
BEST PUBLISHER
1. VALIANT
2. IMAGE
3. MARVEL
4. DARK HORSE
5. DC COMICS
So there you have it! Some of the best in comics, creators, manga, movies, and more to come out in 2015! Here’s hoping that 2016 gives us even more to look forward to and plenty of new stories to get excited about. But maybe the best part about all of this is finding a new title or creator to check out and enjoy!
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Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net