Garen Ewing's The Rainbow Orchid Volume One
Written by Craig Johnson
""The Rainbow Orchid" is an ambitious blend of classic storytelling and cinematic artwork in which adventure, historical drama and legend are seamlessly intertwined. In Volume One, follow the story's hero, Julius Chancer, as he embarks on a hazardous quest for the rainbow orchid - a mythical flower last mentioned by the ancient Greek philosopher, Theophrastus, and steeped in legend. His epic journey takes him from 1920s Britain to the Indian subcontinent and its mysterious lost valleys..."
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Cerebus Archive #3 and other animals
Written by Craig Johnson
"Anyone who gives CV or myself any sort of cursory look or research will know I'm a big fan and advocate of Dave Sim in particular, and his superb comics series Cerebus specifically. From the earliest reviews and features at SBC, through to the agreement to rerun his fascinating take on the Gospel According to Mark, from organising the promo group when no-one else could be arsed to take charge, to being almost the lone defender of the faith (or so it seems) on the main yah..."
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Com.X's Newest Graphic Novel.....45
Written by Craig Johnson
" ..."
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When CV (and friends) Met....Gene Colan
Written by Craig Johnson
"
Early this year, I received a fax from Dave Sim, in which he notified me that legendary comic book artist Gene Colan would be the guest artist for the cover of glamourpuss #9 and that he would be doing an ongoing interior page of art called "The Glamourpuss Girl" for subsequent issues. Sim suggested that I ask the Yahoo glamourpuss volunteers to send questions to Gene about his work. Over the course of a week or so, three of u..."
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Dare you enter...The Dark?
Written by Craig Johnson
"When friend of CV, Chris Lynch, has a new comic out, you can betcha arse we'll make mention of it here....there will be reviews and more info on the book in upcoming editions, but for now have fun at the comic's website
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Marvel and Marvelman - the real reason Marvel have done what they've done (UPDATE: NOW WITH ADDED KITTEN, HONEST)
Written by Craig Johnson
"Watching and reading (mostly) ill-informed Internet commentary on the recent Marvel Comics announcement regarding their purchase of the copyright of the character Marvelman from presumed-but-not-proven creator Mick Anglo is an intensely amusing game to play - especially when one knows a few key facts most people ignore.
However, it's the speculation as to what Marvel will do next that's the most intriguing game, coupled with their announcement of a rush-released poster availab..."
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SDCC: Internet Meltdown Fails To Occur, Marvel Panel Bollox, Something Boring About Marvelman Too
Written by Craig Johnson
"Prior to the recently concluded (five minutes ago) Marvel Cup O Joe panel at SDCC, it was being hyped by all and sundry (well, Rich J anyway) as being the panel to bring the Internet to a halt. The one which will be the talking point of SDCC this year.
Your internet still working? Mine's fine.
And if this is the talking point of SDCC, then the talking point is "what a crock of shit" not anything special.
Ah yes, the announcement. Marvel will be re..."
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TRIPWIRE @ SAN DIEGO
Written by Craig Johnson
"Joel Meadows is quite possibly one of the nicest and most persistent men in British Comics- ever since I can recall, he and Tripwire have been at the cutting edge of comics journalism, deflating the pomposity of The Comics Journal, rising over the triviality of Wizard, with amusing, erudite, interesting content in each and every issue. Joel must feel that the gods are against him in some ways, because if there was any justice in the world, Tripwire would sell in its hundreds of th..."
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And now, after the return of Razorjack....the return of, er, Razorjack...
Written by Craig Johnson
"It's no secret to regular readers of CV how much I adore the work put out by Com.X back in the day, and especially the re-release of Cla$$war and Razorjack in recent plush editions. Both works have a special place in my heart, both are quality works of comics literature, but whilst Cla$$war received a hardback edition, Razorjack was only available in softcover.
At least, until now.
Feast your eyes on these puppies:
..."
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Terrible Endings (Noble Causes, Captain Britain & Berlin)
Written by Craig Johnson
"Reading three graphic novels lately has made me think about how many types of terrible endings comics can have, because all three series have terrible endings, but each in a different meaning of the word.
Noble Causes Archives first. When I wrote reviews for *that* other site, in the days when it was good and not the piece of crap it's turned into (I'm not that arrogant to state it turned to crap when I left - it was already turning to crap which is *why* I left), some ..."
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Taking The Piss - Ultimate Spider-Man #133 and Ultimatum #4
Written by Craig Johnson
"OK, ok, so it's no real news to know that Marvel only exist to rip you from every spare penny you have, but it's a smack in the face for them to:
(a) admit it so brazenly;
(b) publish shit like these two books at the price point they do.
Ultimate Spider-Man #133 is a four dollar book, promising the end of the series and forty pages to wrap it all up. Bendis had to have something special for this concluding issue, right, it had to be packed to the br..."
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Getting Eagle Award Vertigo at the Bristol Comic Expo
Written by Craig Johnson
"The Return of the Eagle Awards
Just before leaving for the Bristol Comic Expo on Friday night just gone, an email came pinging into the CV inbox announcing the return of the Eagle Awards, and with it came a moral quandry - what position should CV take on the Eagles?
After all, on the one hand we - and others - were excluded from being legitmately included on the ballot because "the powers that be" didn't believe we'd publicised the Eagles enough for th..."
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