Comic Book Review - Herald: Lovecraft & Tesla - Issue 1 - Action Lab Comics

Written by: John Reilly

Art by: Tom Roger & Dexter Weeks

Nikola Tesla is investigating the mysterious disappearance of Amelia Earhardt.  Feeling that this is more than what it seems, Tesla goes to someone who is believed to be somewhat of an expert in happenings that are out of the ordinary; H.P. Lovecraft.

While the story feels a bit rushed, I kinda get it.  We are dealing with unbelievable circumstances and working with some of the most well known names in science, literature, aviation and even magic(Harry Houdini is in this as well!).  All in all, this is a fun book to read.  Nikola's inventions, tentacled monsters and all around a great time.  

I believe this is a three issue story-arc so I understand moving the story along a bit more quickly from that aspect as well.  I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next as Tesla and Lovecraft search for answers in their adventures together.

Drawn Out: Introduction to the New Artwork Blogs

A question was posed by Handsome J. on the Maskerpiece Theatre Fan Page on Facebook about what everyone would like to see from our blogs.  We were met with some great suggestions including more artwork.  As a group we should have figured that to be the case as the original comic book, "Twisted Magic," is one of our most popular postings.  

With all this being typed, I plan to post more of my drawings on here. 

I had never drawn Chewbacca(at least to memory I hadn't), and a really good friend commissioned me to draw the Wookie for her Star Wars loving sister.  I decided to do a practice run digitally using my Wacom tablet and Manga Studio 5 software. This was my first attempt.  Chewie has become much improved the works that followed this one.  They were not done digitally and have yet to be scanned.  

I was doing a lot of drawing for a series I am working on but at the end of the day I wanted to draw something fun.  Rancid is my favorite band and I wanted to draw someone enjoying the music.  The skulls were added because the lead singer Tim Armstrong  includes skulls in much of his amazing artwork.  This picture and the next one were also drawn with a Wacom tablet and using Manga Studio 5 as the software.

Kevin Moyers and I are working on a comic book series called Blasto the Clown.  We have a post of the first book here in the Maskerpiece Theatre blogs and also on YouTube, complete with voices and sound effects.  I sketched this one before work one day.  There is a bit of a tease of a future character sneaking his tentacle over the bathroom stall. 

You can read more of my blogs here on Maskerpiece Theatre and also on http://cinemaheadcheese.blogspot.com/

Please let us know your thoughts and or artwork suggestions in the comments below.

Comic Book Review - Constantine The Hellblazer #5 - DC Comics

Written by: Ming Doyle & James Tynion IV
Art by: Riley Rossmo & Scott Kowalchuk

John Constantine must face his first love who is now a tentacled monster that has been killing the ghosts of John's past.  He implores the help of his friend Georgie in hopes of stopping Veronica from killing anyone else.

This is the conclusion of this story-arc and it is very John Constantine.  He goes through all the research to find out what can be done to stop Veronica.  Even when he does find the only way, he still finds his own way at the end(much to the dismay of Georgie).

Issues 1-5 made for an excellent jumping off point for this comic book series.  I'm hoping it continues because this feels much more like a Constantine comic book than some of the recent iterations.  Plus the art has been incredible and totally fits the stories being told.  $2.99 for each book isn't a bad price point so go check the back issue bins and get caught up on this series.

Please comment below to let me know what you think of Constantine The Hellblazer,

You can read more of my blogs here on Maskerpiece Theatre and also on CinemaHeadCheese.blogspot.com