This past weekend I attended the second Plastic City Comic Con. This year the show made the jump from a small VFW hall in Leominster to the mighty Wallace Civic Center in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. I saw my first concert at the Civic Center, and for decades the venue used to sub as the “Boston” leg…
Comics
“Independent punk rock master of darkness”
The good folks at Monkeys Fighting Robots were kind enough to do a Creator Spotlight write-up on me and highlight my recent comics Voodoo Bird and Crypt Zero. Writer Brandon Griffin described me as an “independent punk rock master of darkness”, which, y’know, I’ll take. Check out the feature here: http://www.monkeysfightingrobots.com/creator-spotlight-eric-radvon/
Logan: Here comes tomorrow
I still remember my first introduction to the X-Men. It was a Super Bowl sometime in the mid 80s, one of the Montana years. I was dragged along in tow with my family to a neighbor’s party. They had a son, older than me, and we were paired off as the adults engaged in their…
Colonial Comics: New England 1750 – 1775
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…
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,…
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…
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,…
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…
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.
2015 Eisner Awards Nominees + My Picks for Winners
The 2015 Eisner Awards nominations have been released! Check out the full list here. Just for fun, here are my picks for winners in each category: Best Short Story “Rule Number One,” by Lee Bermejo, in Batman Black and White #3 (DC) Love, love, love that this got nominated, and would love it even more…
Can Peter Parker Finally Grow Up?
It’s time to let go. It’s time to put the scrapbooks of teenage, wisecracking Peter Parker on the shelf. It’s time to hang-up the throwback perpetual bachelor fantasy. It’s time to put Spider-Man away. It’s time to let Peter Parker get old. I say this as a reader who came into funny books in the…
Comic Review: ANNIHILATOR #1
Grant Morrison’s done this all before, you know. The whole “metafiction starring a none-more-mod writer with a dark and magical alter-ego/creation slicing through the tenuous membrane dividing the real world and the world of creation because what is reality anyway, mannnn” thing. It’s been done. Morrison did it perhaps most notably in the The Invisibles,…
Comic Review: SOUTHERN BASTARDS #4
The first arc of Jason Aaron’s Alabama epic concludes with the full-speed-ahead force of a freight train in this week’s Southern Bastards #4. The issue is a dark, balmy action tale rife with firecracker dialogue, brutal violence, and the stifling, claustrophobic energy of a small town gone bad wrapped around each panel. The breathtaking issue…