Sleepless! Finally! Ellis says late 2011, so we’ll start holding our breath, now.

The story concerns the individual members of the KOWH rock band saving the world from the evil Professor Groofball by way of detective work, superhero powers, and good old-fashioned rock n roll. A shifting perspective accompanies shifting artists across the entire book, telling the story of LA detectives working an ethnic war between the russian, italian, irish, chinese, and japanese crime gangs; the president of the united states fighting crime wiht a ray that zaps criminals to the death planet, Professor Groofball and his messianic hostage; and superheroes Tony Whitfield and Cain Fonesca flying across the city to save them all in time to perform as The Kids Of Widney High in a concert that will teach the world about respect and love.

Themes about ability, caring, hope and respect for our fellow man abound in this fun romp through the eyes of some kids with special needs who have found a way to rock with the best of them while having a great time and setting an example for the rest of us. In the words of one member of The Kids of Widney High, “We may all be disabled, whether you have a physical disability of not. Some of us are disabled spiritually, emotionally, mentally. maybe all three!”

As a comic, this book shows off a range of artistic styles and talent that I found to be visually stimulating. Each artist draws the subject matter with an energy and intensity that isnt’ always found even in mainstream comic books. From line-drawn caricature  to sketch-like realism, the book captures a wide range of emotional beats. The story itself takes a couple of reads to fully “get” what’s going on, but I recommend the effort. Like most teen creative efforts, the writing represented here has the marks of talent in progress, with hints of greatness to be fully developed in the future. The themes and values espoused across all the story lines are fully realized and timely, though, making a second and even third read through enjoyable and worth the time.

The Kids of Widney High Comic shoots for the sky, and beyond, as do its real world protagonists. A reminder for us all to take a moment to realize how similar we all are, regardless of ability. These kids rock just as hard as anyone else, and now have shown that they can bring that energy and sense of fun to the comics world as well. Here’s hoping that we’ll see a second issue soon!

Be sure to check out their website here: http://comicsareevil.com/Pw and read more about them on Wikipedia here: http://comicsareevil.com/ha. Then be sure to check out the trailer for their very own movie, coming soon.

The distopian storyline is important. It gives us portents and lessons, disguised in the dramatic struggles of the individuals and society. Which is why this trope shows up so often in literature, movies and even comics. Our fears manifest on screen and pulp, our hopes entwined in the fates of heroes and outcasts.

And this is how One Live Beast begins, with the possible conclusion of events from our own history. The fear of terrorist attacks creates the environment needed for an authoritative government to take away the liberties of its people for their own good. Although we saw the start of this in the 9/11 attacks and passed laws, in Jeff’s America their are other attacks, far more devastating, which lead to martial law,  isolationism and an Internet propaganda-machine.

There is no doubt that Jeff is an intelligent and well-read man who wants to write an epic warning to those who will listen. And within his world there are at least a dozen important lessons that he could have written volumes on. However, Jeff brings them all to bear on the reader at once, making it difficult to focus and learn from just one.

The progression of the protagonist, Chris, is as rushed and complex as the world he survives in. At first he is a standard repairman who is in reality an underground hacker. This character profile alone would make him great: the whitehat hero against the technological oppression of the government. But when hacking into the government’s virtual-reality-based network, something goes wrong and now he has the ability to access technology with telepathic ease. And here as well this takes him from an ordinary hacker to a superhero level, able to match the advanced technology of the government with his own powers. But it doesn’t stop there. Chris’s abilities develop into energy based attacks, flight, strength and durability. Astounding, but so far still normal for a superhero comic. But finally Chris ascends to an even higher level of heroism, the story gains an entire mythos of Earth and aliens, of history and influence, that makes Chris a prophetic being in the same realm as Jesus. Another great idea, but one that should be developed on its own without over complicating the already well written story.

The art in One Live Beast has merits and drawbacks. There isn’t any color in the graphic novel, which is understandable since it was self published. The black and white works well for the stark realities of the book. The environmental details are extremely well done. The destroyed infrastructure is realistic and the newly constructed wall is domineering. The artistic portrayal of people isn’t as realistic and seems more amateurish. Perhaps their is a reason for this as his other collection, God Hates Us All, has some well-done abstract mixed-media art portraying highly professional representations of human beings. After reviewing some of the examples from the upcoming Book Two, there does seem to be some improvement in the style.

It is important to note that this is just book one and I hope that Jeff is able to produce the rest of his opus for our benefit. There is a lot of interesting story to be told, perhaps more than can be told, but I for one look forward to watching this mythos unfold.

Want to win a signed copy of this Trade Paperback? How about a signed “God Hates Us All” comic? Comment below and we’ll send it out to a random winner!

One who has not forgotten is Alan Moore, the Wizard of Northhampton, disciple of Roman god Glycon and acclaimed writer. Moore’s recent project, the zine Dodgem Logic, follows in a long history of rebellious, intelligent and critically-minded works. From the revolutionary V for Vendetta, the political From Hell and the psychological Killing Joke, Moore has often pointed his critical eye towards what lies beyond the ink and paper.

Moore starts the first issue of Dodgem Logic with a five-page essay on the origins, history and philosophy behind zines.

“It was the America humorist Henry Mencken who said that “Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one”, words that are if anything more true today than they were then, surrounded as we are by giant media empires and secretive leaders who increasingly prefer to operate behind the handy screen of ‘national security’.”

Moore is no stranger to those “giant media empires” having several disputes over the years with Marvel, DC and even Hollywood over the treatment of his work. Some of these conflicts involved interpretation of his vision, but it also involved ownership of that same vision, and it is this idea of ownership that Dodgem Logic and other zines attempt to address.

Dodgem Logic is truly a homage to the zines of old, with its amateur style of cut out text blocks, doodled cartoons and anarchistic articles.

Artistically, Dodgem Logic reminds me a lot of the drawings of my friends and other zines I have seen. There are several full-page comic strips, with their own messages. There is subtle art in the backgrounds and edges of the articles. Scattered throughout are provocative pornographic drawings, which Moore attributes as an important influence in the history of zines.

The articles in Dodgem Logic attempt to follow the heart of Moore’s desire to merge critical ideas with creative artistry. A comic by Claire Ashby teaches you how to practice urban guerrilla gardening, an homage against private property. Graham Linehan’s article discusses Twitter and what it means to the past, present and future forms of communication. The other articles cover the gambit of other creative arts; personal essays, fiction, music, even cooking and sewing.

At first I expected more from this independent zine, something more counter-culture, even more angry. But that is not what Moore is trying to do with this zine. He is, in his own words, “colliding ideas to see what happens.” This new project is not just about the roots of ownership and rebellion from the pasts of Moore or zine publications, but rather it is about the discovery of what may blossom from those roots.

Currently the zine is primarily a UK-only paper, but one of Moore’s independent publishers Top Shelf Comix is offering it for $6.

Dodgem Logic
Top Shelf Comix

Moon Girl – the new iPhone comic on Comics, by Comixology – is making the scene across the comicsphere. If you haven’t heard of it by now, what is wrong with you? Lucky for you, however, we have a direct line (we call it ‘email) to the creators, Tony Trov and Johnny Zito. We assume that these are their real names, but since they make comics, anything is possible.

We sat down with the gruesome twosome today and learned a bit more about them, their comic, and life in general. Honestly, it changed us. Here’s what we got:

1 – Who are you and what do you do for a living?

Tony: We are Tony Trov and Johnny Zito. The greatest hermaphroditic duo to come out of Temple University since Hall and Oates.

Johnny: We’re are also full time comic book writers and are known to run the most arrogantly awesome Twitter pages on the internet.

2 – How long (have you been) involved in comics?

Tony: We’ve been involved with comic as professionals since we started out on Zuda Comics way back in the year ’08.

Johnny: For those who don’t know, Zuda Comics is DC’s online imprint. Sort of like Thunderdome for comics.

Tony: Ten Comics enter. One is left standing.

Johnny: The Black Cherry Bombshells is our first series. It kicked butt and they let us have a second comic, LaMorte Sisters.

Tony: Which also kicks butt.

3 – What’s so dang special about your current project (Moon Girl)?
Tony – Moon Girl is a character from EC comics and is actually about 60 years old. In it, masked vigilantes wage a psychotic war against 1950’s bourgeois; it’s The Dark Knight meets Mad Men. Clare is a Russian Princess happily exiled to New York. When enemies from the past threaten her new life the repressed Warrior Queen fights back. In the media her secret, nocturnal adventures are attributed to a mysterious hero; Moon Girl.

Johnny – Champion of the counter culture, Moon Girl represents a movement of young people fed up with the corporatism and conformity of post World War II opulence. The urban legends of Moon Girl inspire the ‘Super Manifesto’ – a post human gospel. Fundamentalists subvert the establishment by dressing in bright technicolor clothes and taking futuristic new names. Extremists turn to violence and terror, expecting to shock the system into change. Only Moon Girl stands between them and us, anarchy and order.

Tony: It’s out on Comixology, which is an awesome iPhone and iPad application. If we did this interview an hour ago, I wouldn’t have said iPad.

Johnny: The thing that makes Moon Girl so special is the amazing art by Mr. The Rahzzah. He’s unreal.

4 – What other work or projects can we look forward to in the near future from you?

Johnny: We have two ongoing series over at Zuda Comics. ’The Black Cherry Bombshells‘ is the tale of ultra-violent girl gangs fighting for survival in a world where every man on Earth has been mutated into a flesh eating zombie. It updates every Monday. LaMorte Sisters is the story of Maddie, the new girl at the vampire orphanage run by strict catholic nuns. It updates every Wednesday.

Tony: Oh and did I mention they are free?

5 – If Superman was your best friend, what color tree would you be?

Johnny: I would be seasonal. Zito Red in the fall and Zito Blue in the spring.

Tony: I’m friends with Batman. So…you know…

A big thanks to Johnny and Tony, two mortals among men. Enjoy the gallery of stunning artwork below, and be sure to grab Moongirl from the Comics App.

Todd Sullivan sent us this example of his WebComic, Gadget Hovel. Here’s what he has to say for himself:

I’m thirty one years old (even if my art looks like a pre-schooler drew it) and I’ve been drawing GadgetHovel for about a year and a half; I’ve been cartooning in general for about 5 years.  For my “real” job I work on computers.  These days I work I.T. for a big organization here in Anchorage, Alaska (fixing people’s email, installing software, figuring out why users can only print in landscape from Office, etc.), but ten years ago I worked at CompUSA in the Tech Shop which is VERY similar to the fictional computer store that my comic takes place in.

Of course, we now have to share TODAYS GadgetHovel comic, as it’s very timely, and on a subject near and dear to our hearts:

Make sure to visit Todd and his characters at GadgetHovel often, and tell ‘em Comics Are Evil sent ya.