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Mark Poulton has been making waves (pun most certainly intended) recently with his Hawaiian supernatural PI book Koni Waves with Arcana Comics. But the big news is that he’s recently become Vice President of Operations for Arcana. Being a man with a lot to talk about, we caught up with him to check out what he had to say about the future of Arcana, their plans for San Diego Comic Con, and his seemingly endless list of upcoming projects!

Matt Grant: First off, Mark, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here, we really appreciate it!

Mark Poulton: No, problem. It’s my pleasure.

MG: So, there’s a lot to talk about, but let’s start off with the basics: How did you get into comics, and at what point did you realize that you wanted to create them?

MP: I started collecting comics when I was 12. GI Joe #34 was my first comic. I’ve been hooked ever since. Some of my favorite comic books are Amazing Spider-Man, Booster Gold, Cable/Deadpool, GI Joe, Justice League, Witchblade, Youngblood, and Rob Liefeld’s New Mutants/X-Force run.

Working in comics was something I thought about ever since I started collecting. I always thought I would be an artist though. It wasn’t until college when I started taking some writing classes that my focus shifted. I really started enjoying writing and I ended up optioning a screenplay a few years after college. The script bounced around in development for a couple of years and never got past that point. During that time, I was developing Koni Waves with my friends. It was moving along slowly I think mostly because I was more concerned with my screenwriting, but once I moved my focus back to comics things really took off. We pitched Koni to a few companies and received a lot of interest, but ultimately decided to go with Arcana because we thought they seemed like a company headed in the right direction. I’ve been making comics ever since.

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“Corrective Measures deliver a real shiv to the ribs right from the first page. A prison story like no other, with captivatingly brutal dialogue, some great, detailed art and characters that make you happy to stay in the right side of the law. Grant Chastain’s storytelling skills really make me want to see what he does next.” — Chris Ryall, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, IDW Publishing

“Tense and powerful… A fantastically enjoyable read!” — Zander Cannon, Publisher/Writer, DC Comics/Big Time Attic

The Clockwork Girl #4 (Arcana Studios/Arcana Kids)
By Kevin Hanna, Sean O’Reilly & Grant Bond

One of the truly great young readers’ miniseries in recent years comes to its conclusion here. The Machine Man, creation of Tesla’s father, has come to seek out Huxley, uncaring of the friendship that Tesla and Huxley have forged. When someone else takes the brunt of the Machine Man’s attack, though, Huxley’s rage may spell the end of everything. From the beginning I’ve been comparing this story to Romeo and Juliet, but it’s never been more pronounced than it is in this issue. Until now, the comparison was just thematic, but now the writers seem to use the climactic sequences of that play as a plot blueprint (although the story of Tesla and Huxley has a very different ending). It’s a powerful story in any medium or genre, and it works as well here as it ever did. Bond and Hanna’s artwork is really wonderful here as well — inventive, magical characters, beautiful colors, and rich backgrounds and worlds. And you know what else? Arcana did the whole thing for less than two bucks and issue. All the bigger publishers trying to put out comics for kids could learn a lesson here. As for the readers — if you haven’t read this magnificent series, the graphic novel is coming out soon.
Rating: 4.5/5 –Blake M. Petit

Check out the new animated trailer for the Arcana graphic novel, The Horsemen!

http://xndyou.com/play.php?vid=161

Review of Barbara Albers Jackson’s Rama, The Legend (Los Angeles: Arcana Studio, 2008).

As both a professor of chemistry at Tennessee Tech University and an award-winning screenwriter (for her film Forgotten Son, most recently), Barbara Albers Jackson has already proven herself to be multitalented. Her latest writing project, Rama, The Legend, demonstrates yet another facet of her versatility. It’s a graphic novel.

For those not familiar with this relatively new term, a graphic novel is a comic book thick enough to need a bookmark, according to Pulitzer-prize-winning graphic novelist Art Spiegelman.

Rama, The Legend retells the ancient story of Rama, who was first introduced over two thousand years ago in the Ramayana. Rama is a key figure in Hindu culture and religion, the epitome of virtue and a model for righteous living, or dharma. His devotion to truth served as an inspiration for Gandhi during India’s independence movement.
As the perfectly handsome eldest prince of Ayodhya, Rama gains favors from the gods and wins initial fame by singlehandedly defeating an army of demons. Flying monkey warriors, a self-serving stepmother, a shapeshifting temptress, and a floating city all play roles in Jackson’s book. While Rama travels abroad in exile, his profoundly beautiful wife is abducted by Ravana, the ten-headed demon king. The book’s climactic battle is a wild fantasy of arrows that turn into serpents and eagles, invisible flying chariots, and a flying mountain, along with a resurrection or two.

Like most Americans who are not Hindus, I was mostly unfamiliar with Rama’s story before reading Jackson’s book. Some of its elements remind me of Homer’s epic poem, the Odyssey. When Rama strings the impossibly inflexible Bow of Shiva to win his wife, I think of Odysseus stringing a bow to win back his own estranged wife, Penelope. Late in the story, when a band of Rama’s colleagues fall victim to an enchantress’s temptations to stay in her paradise rather than continue on their quest, I think of Odysseus’s similar delay on Circe’s island. Unlike the hotheaded Odysseus, however, Rama is a model for ideal behavior at all times. The primary value expressed in the story of Rama is honor—behaving honorably and keeping one’s promises and obligations, even at great cost.

While the book’s castles and customs locate the story thousands of years ago, Jackson introduces contemporary elements that freshen the tale for today’s readers. Her wisecracking crow, for example, provides charm and comic relief. Jackson’s strength as a storyteller lies in establishing relationships through dialogue; she builds believable conversations between husband and wife, between family members, and between friends.

Jackson’s collaborator, Ashok Bhadana, provides beautiful, vibrant, color-saturated illustrations to complement the exotic story. The layout of panels helps to showcase the actions on each page, especially during battle scenes. While thin lines provide specific visual details, each scene has an expertly air-brushed, almost three-dimensional quality.

While the story’s plot includes battles, no graphic violence is depicted. This is an all-ages book for anyone who enjoys timeless stories of virtuous behavior, with plenty of fantasy elements. Professor Jackson unveils Rama, The Legend at a book signing at Poets On The Square in Cookeville on Sunday, June 15, from 1:00 to 3:00.

–Tony Baker, Tennessee Tech University Associate Professor of English

COOKEVILLE — What happens when you cross an American screenwriter, Canadian and Indian illustrators and an ancient Hindu epic? You probably didn’t guess it, but it’s “Rama: The Legend,” a new graphic novel by Barbara Jackson.

She’ll be signing copies at Poet’s on the Square from 1-3 p.m. Sunday, June 15.

“It is my 21st century western interpretation of the Ramayana, an Indian epic passed on for millennia,” said Jackson. “It was written in Sanskrit by the poet Valmiki in the time frame 1000 BCE to 200 CE. It was composed of 24,000 verses.”

Though the Hindu legend inspired Jackson’s story, she quickly points out that she is no expert on the Ramayana or Hindu.

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This week’s Pop Culture Zoo Comic Book Review showcases the adventures of a demon hunter known as Kade. The limited edition Kade box set by Arcana Comics includes a bevy of gothic goodness, including the Kade: Identiy trade paperback, Kade: Sun of Perdition #1-4 as well as a nifty poster.

Watch the video review here:

http://popculturezoo.com/archives/525

I went into the second issue of Ezra wishing that I didn’t have to read it – the first issue left a sour taste in my mind. HOWEVER, I’m glad I did read it! The second issue is significantly better than the first, improving on many of the negative things I stated about the original.

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Where do super villains go when the good guys catch ‘em? Well they go to San Tiburon Federal Correctional Institution of course. Wow that was definitely a mouthful, maybe they should just rename it to “Super Jail”. Nah….

Corrective Measures is the HBO show Oz on steroids… errr superpowers as it were. Not a whole lot of super powers are actually used in the title though as a result of the restraining necklaces that the inmates wear to nullify their powers and provide a little shock treatment if the occasion arises.

All in all, the book was good. The art was well drawn and the storyline was decent. The title is geared toward more of an adult audience, with an abundance of swearing and racist comments from inmates or prison guards, etc and probably not something you want your kid reading, but you probably wouldn’t let your kid watch Oz either… doesn’t mean it ain’t worth the read. It’s interesting to see how Chastain takes on touchy subjects like racism yet can still make you laugh at witty comments thrown into the conversations.

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Kade Sun of Perdition #1 is a prelude to the story of Kade, a sort of half human half angel character who hunts demons. Set with the classic “fallen angel” back drop, Kade SOP features some of the most stunning artwork I’ve seen in a long time. The painterly style is rendered in such detail that the visuals themselves will draw you out of the story, and the book becomes more of a still framed story board where the words become irrelevant to how much you enjoy the title.

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