Colonial Comics New England: 1750-1775 is here, and it is a great looking book. I’m humbled to be in the company of so many talented comic creators. The variety of styles, voices, and stories assembled by Jason Rodriguez and his team really makes this a unique and special collection. My contribution is titled “The Call…
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Running on Empty in Winter 2017
Hello from the depths of winter 2017. My mental, physical, and spiritual reserves are at their natural nadir. The days are rusty gears grinding away- not much goes easy, but the job is getting done nonetheless. It was 65 degrees yesterday, in February, and the warm wind was exhilarating in its apocalyptic wrongness. I’ve moved,…
Cheap Thrills of a Cheap Age
So you kick out 3 million. Does the factory reopen? Do the shops come back to the decimated main street you walked as a kid? Do the Cadillacs roll by blasting something by Brenda Lee? Is everyone smiling and happy? Are things the way they ought to be? Maybe you hear less Spanish at the…
Crypt Zero – Postmortem ramblings about making an indie comic
This is the afterword for Crypt Zero, produced by the writer version of Erik Radvon, and axed from publication by the budget-minded publisher version of Erik Radvon. It is presented here as a companion piece to the comic book. Welcome to the Land of the Living, Crypt Zero All living things share the same plodding…
All Good Things…
It was the 50th anniversary of Star Trek this past week. I didn’t have much time to revisit it, but all the headlines struck me as I went about my busy adult-life tasks. Star Trek is a live wire topic. Dropping the name alone is like lighting a bonfire, signaling to all that there is…
The Next Great Retrogaming Machine: Sony’s PlayStation 3
The retrogaming market has grown remarkably in the last decade or so, evolving from a ragtag hobby of sorts among yard sale and flea market scavengers to something approaching mainstream. Retail giant GameStop added “retro classics” to its online offerings last year, and smaller independent shops have also increased their stock of old video games….
21st Century Sound and Fury – Kanye West’s Saint Pablo Tour in Boston
Alternate Title: Reflections from an old dude at Saint Pablo’s Kanye came to Boston last night. It was the most 21st century thing I’ve ever seen. The TD Garden was bursting at the seams with humanity, it’s old 20th century confines ill-equipped for this new century’s offerings- its throngs of people, their passion, their unyielding…
No Man’s Sky – A Grand Failure
No Man’s Sky always sounded like something of a dream. Hop in a spaceship, explore a real-fake universe, traverse the stars using the next-gen power of Sony’s PlayStation 4. Like most dreams it only partially made its way into this reality, arriving like a faint echo. Instead of ushering in a new era of video…
Every Second Counts – DC Universe Rebirth and the Rebellion of Hope
I’ve left my house at midnight for some ridiculous things before- movies, video games, unwise culinary selections- but Tuesday marked the first time I did it for a comic. The book in question is DC Universe Rebirth #1, the much-hyped reset of the DC Comics universe under the hand of writer Geoff Johns and a…
Darwyn Cooke Forever
Art’s a two way street, or maybe more accurately, a double-edged sword. When you like the work of someone, like profoundly like it, you’re opening creaking doors within yourself and letting it in, right down to the cellar. Often there’s not even a conscious choice to it. All the intellectual discourse, all the snarky punditry,…
Sign of the Times – Localize Mother 3, WWE, and the Unbearable Lightness of Being an Internet Meme
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign? -Ancient Proverb Let it be known that I did it for the lolz. It was one of those things I thought maybe would make a handful of friends laugh. Some background: I’ve…
Comic Review: BLACK WIDOW #1
Black Widow #1 Review by: Erik Radvon Story by Chris Samnee and Mark Waid Art by Chris Samnee Color Art by Matthew Wilson Lettering by VC’s Joe Caramagna Cover by Chris Samnee & Matthew Wilson Publisher – Marvel Comics Cover Price – $3.99(USD) Release Date: Mar 2, 2016 Rating: 4/5 stars There’s a pendulum in…
Kill the Silver Age
I will never get tired of seeing Barry Allen die. Blame my age. My comic-reading vice (it’s an absurd habit, really) latched onto my central nervous system sometime in the mid ’80s. From the vantage of 2016, it was an extraordinarily strange time to come into the medium. The X-Men were dead rebels on the…
The Twilight Zone Election
I’ve followed American politics since before I could vote, finding it exciting and captivating, sometimes even fun. I naively and mistakenly thought I was accustomed to all the various tricks the murderous bloodsport had to offer, its unpredictable lurching, its penchant for absurd twists and turns. I should be used to it. The first election…
Roach Dude Election Special ’16 – aka Fun with Manga Studio
Hello internet. I just got Manga Studio 5 and a cheap Wacom tablet so I can make cheap comics for cheap laughs. Note: I’m a writer, and my artistic output illustrates that wonderfully. Don’t hate. Here are breakdowns of my first output, a patriotic mini-comic called ROACH DUDE ELECTION SPECIAL ’16.