TimeZone Comic Book Challenge & Reviews This Week

    First off, I gotta say I love off kilter comics that aren't your average Marvel or DC comics. They're refreshing and offer a new storyline. Not to say that the regular old Batman isn't cool, it is, but sometimes it's nice to change it up a bit. So if you've never tried something outside your Marvel or DC Comics safety net, then try it to this week.

    With challenges of every kind happening lately, I challenge all my readers to pick a new comic from a comic book publisher that isn't by Marvel or DC. Just this once! I can promise you won't regret it. Branch out your reading, and pick something from another company and give it a shot. The very least pick up one of the comics I'm reviewing. You never know, you may like them!

    Image's Wayward #1 has been boasted as a Buffy-esque comic, which I can see. Here's what I like about it: the main character Rori Lane (half Irish, half Japanese) moves to Japan and is thrown into a whirlwind situation on her first day. She thinks the monsters she saw, and the strange girl that came to her rescue were all part of her jet lag. Or is it? Without giving too much away, you have to check this book out if only for the mere fact that it immediately catches your attention. Rori also possesses a special power that she's unaware of. All stories begin with either someone returning from a journey, or start with someone going on a journey. I know I can't wait to go on this journey with Rori Lane, and see what kind of world is really existing in Japan.

    The second comic I had the liberty of reading was Hero Cats of Stellar City by Action Lab. I cannot tell you how adorable this comic is. It's title is pretty accurate. This is a story about cats that are superheroes, but no one knows it. The comic is told through the eyes of Cassiopeia, the main cat, and all her friends: Midnight, Belle, Rocket, Rocco, & Ace. It's not your average super hero comic book, but who wants average when you can dream up the impossible? I do think it's cute how Rocket thinks he's an alien cat, Belle can read minds, Midnight the Paws of Justice, Rocco is simply just a cuddly cat, and Ace is the leader. The art is just as compelling as the story. I'm definitely sticking with this comic to see where it goes.

     So I challenge all readers to pick up a comic this week from another publisher you normally don't read. Then I want you to come back here, or visit us on Facebook and tell us about it. Be sure to challenge all your friends who read comics to try something new, or get the ones who don't read comics to try at least 1. You can find all your comic book needs at Timezone Gaming in Fords, NJ. Don't forget to mention you read the blog, too!

New Comics Review: Robyn Hood, The Fade Out, Little Nemo

This is an interesting week for comic books. Three new titles hit the shelves, and are quite interesting to say the least. From Zenescope we have Grimm Fairy Tales Robyn Hood #1, IDW's Little Nemo Return to Slumberland, and Image's The Fade Out.

Grimm Fairy Tales Robyn Hood has gotten it's ongoing series after it had a 5 issue comic book set that took off well. The story so far is that Robyn Locksley, a New York native, was brought to the realm of Myst to save Nottingham from evil. Now in her ongoing series, Robyn has teamed up with a witch, Marian Quin, and returns to her hometown. (If you haven't caught on already, Robyn Hood is a woman in these stories.) Okay, here's what makes this an awesome comic: Robyn is sarcastic and witty, she's best friends with Marian, Marian possesses magical powers being a witch and all, there's humor, and lots of butt kicking. This is definitely a story you can sink right into. Robyn and Marian run an investigation service for "unusual emergencies," and when a wiccan named Sam comes to them for help, the girls are thrust into a magical crime scheme. There's a drug being sold on the streets, that's not your ordinary drug. It's clearly magical, and it sucks the soul out of the user. Someone called The Priest is making sure it's sold on the streets because he's harvesting souls for something, but what? Read it and find out!

Now everyone remembers the old movie Little Nemo Adventures in Slumberland. Well, he's got his own comic book now. Princess of Slumberland wants a playmate, so her servants try to bring Nemo back to Slumberland. One problem: he doesn't want to go. He doesn't even remember Slumberland or the Princess. He begrudgingly goes, but every time they try to bring him back, he wakes up. Will Nemo ever reach Slumberland? We'll know in issue #2.

Finally there's The Fade Out. I have to admit, at first the story is a bit confusing, which could be because the main character starts out hungover and confused about the previous night. Although, what makes this a great read is that it's done as a film noir. It has that old Hollywood feel. You know, the classics like Casablanca...that's the sort of style this has, which is great. It's a breath of fresh air. The story is about a group of people that work on a film: Charlie the screenwriter, Earl the movie star and womanizer, Val the starlet, Gil, a drunk writer, Dotty who's a publicist, and Phil the head of the studio security. The story opens up with Charlie, suffering from an intense hangover and unsure of what happened the previous night. He tries to remember the party he went to, but he can only remember a fight between two other people, and helping Gil who was drunk and in the back alley. When Charlie finds Val's dead body, he quickly wipes away all traces of himself and hightails it out of there. At this point it's safe to assume it was Val's house. Much of Charlie's memory is like a thousand pieces to a puzzle. He's told by Phil to deny that Val was at the party that he can't even remember. So now the studio is covering up what happened. Charlie reads the police report that claims Val committed suicide, which is not how he found the body. Charlie clearly has found himself involved in a murder, which is being covered up. Why? He even finds women's underwear in his pocket, but he has no idea how, or who's they are. One guess is that they belonged to Val. It's like a classic Whodunnit, but when you can't remember the night before and wake up next to a dead body, the odds don't look good. It's worth a read, so check it out!

You can find all these comics and others at Timezone Gaming in Fords, NJ.

DC Comics Take A Selfie

Yes, you read it right. DC Comics came out with Selfie covers this month for their comics. Not all the comics have Selfie variants, but we're taking a look at a few that come out tomorrow Wednesday, August 13th, 2014. You can find these and other comics at TimeZone Gaming in Fords, NJ.

Justice League United #4 features Supergirl, Stargirl and Miyahbin. They're striking the usual selfie pose like most teenagers do with their bestie's, whatever that means. Stargirl is holding bunny ears behind Supergirl's head. Miyahbin is striking a normal pose, which is what I usually do when people say "do something funny for the picture." What's wrong with just smiling for the camera? Mind you, Supergirl is smiling, but it looks like she's trying too hard. We can all relate to this selfie picture. The awesome part is the background. The girls are clearly in space because you can see the Earth and the surrounding universe. Pretty neat!

Batman #34 is actually comical. Obviously a kid who's a fan of Batman managed to get a quick picture in with him. Although, Batman looks kind of put off by it. Photo bomb much? I can see how Batman isn't much of a photo taker. Why so serious, Batman? Gees!

Green Lantern Corps #34 is...odd. Not sure what DC Comics was going with for this cover. It's like one of those bad pictures you take trying to get a good one, but you're just that terrible at taking selfies. We'll say it's the "I Suck At Selfie's" selfie, cause you know there are those.

Batgirl #34. Now, I'm partial to Batgirl, but who wouldn't be? She's awesome and kicks ass. Her selfie is confusing. Why does she have all those Batman comics on the floor? Do I sense a crush on the infamous Batman? Possibly, but what about the motorcycle? It's indoors obviously, but in a room with comics? DC will have to explain this one, cause it leaves much to be desired!

Superman Wonder Woman #11. Okay, now I'm not a fan of Superman, and Wonder Woman I have to be in the mood for, and I normally hate selfies, BUT I have to admit this cover is freaking cute! Yes, cute! It's the typical selfie picture of a boyfriend and girlfriend, but what's adorable about it is that there are kiss marks all over Superman's face. This cover won me over.

Harley Quinn #9. Oh Harley! Is there anything you do we don't like? Nope! Almost every cover with her on it so far has been incredible, but I love the concept for her selfie comic. She's framing herself and her pet beaver. Nothing about this cover makes sense, but nothing ever makes sense with Harley...or does it? You decide! This is my favorite selfie cover so far.

What do you think of DC Comics Selfie Variant covers? Let us know in the comments below!

New Comics Review: Jennifer Blood and Masumi

With DC Comics and Marvel deep into comic issues, this week we'll take a look at indie comics. So many people don't realize the amazing comics that are by other companies, with the exception of The Walking Dead. Indie comics are usually rated mature, which isn't a bad thing. It can often be quite refreshing to see some more adult themes. Two new comics out tomorrow August 6th at Timezone Gaming are:

Jennifer Blood by Dynamite appears with it's first issue. It's written by Steven Grant, and art by Kewber Baal. Speculation around the Internet leading up to Jennifer Blood's release, has been that she looks like a female Punisher. Well, I can attest to that. I was excited for this new comic, merely for the fact that it's a woman who looks like she kicks ass! Who wouldn't want to read that? Now days comics are embracing women and girls as their audience, so it makes perfect sense to bring more female characters into the fold. Now Jennifer Blood was a normal woman, married and with children, only she was murdering vigilante at night. In the opening we learn she also killed her husband, but we don't learn why. She's been on the run, and presumed dead. While in hiding, she discovers someone posed as her, which will now cause authorities to hunt her down. By the end of it Jennifer comes out of hiding, and we can only imagine where she'll be headed. One of the catchy elements to this comic is that Jennifer narrates throughout the issue. We get a look inside her head and emotions. I give it a 10 on a 10 point scale.

The second comic on the review list is Masumi Blades of Sin #1. It's published by Zenescope, presented by Grimm Fairy Tales, and written by Joe Tyler, artwork by Sergio Osuna. The Forward explains that Masumi Yamomoto that was trapped in a hellish dimension for about two hundred years. Now she's returned to earth in attempts to begin a new life. Well, just like with any story, her past comes back to haunt her when she finds out the man she loves was killed by a demon named Legion. She defeated Legion, but it merely trapped him within her samurai swords. She is sworn by the laws of the Yamomoto Clan to make sure Legion never escapes. This is also reflected in the cover, because her samurai swords show what looks like the reflection of demons. It's pretty cool if you ask me. Now, the one thing that's similar to comics we know is that Masumi has white streaks in her hair like Rogue, but...her main color hair is black. I can live with this, even though it bears resemblance to Rogue. I dig Rogue, so Masumi should live up to that, or better! Once the action starts, and it starts almost immediately, Masumi explains that her ancestor weakened Legions power by dividing it up into Deadly Sins. Okay...that's cool. I didn't expect that. Seven of these were let loose into the world, while the eighth was infused in her swords. The sins are Sloth, Gluttony, Lust, Greed, Pride, Envy, Wrath, and the one fused into Masumi's blades is Despondency. Masumi's family was also killed because of Legion, but a cousin of hers still remains. When Masumi visits her, she finds out that there is more going on than meets the eye. This comic is packed with beautiful artwork, an intriguing story that keeps you wondering what will happen next.

Definitely pick up both Jennifer Blood and Masumi this week. They may only be a short series, but still worth the read! It's especially good if you don't want to get too deep into a series, (like DC Comics New 52 that are up to issues 32 already.) Give them a shot and try something new. You might surprise yourself.

Till next time geek on, my friends!