arcana.com

Avengelyne, one of Rob Liefeld’s post-Image breakup works, is a fallen angel who fights demons and other baddies on Earth. Koni Waves is an investigator of the paranormal who has fought her fair share of supernatural villains in her past. But when an investigation ends up with Koni getting possessed by a demon, the two not only meet, but also engage in an all out battle.

It’s been about nine years since Avengelyne was in a comic book and almost three years since this comic book was first announced. This is a long time to wait if you are fans of these characters or just fans of scantily clad demon hunters. But fans of Avengelyne should pick this one up because there will be important information revealed about her future in the comic.

Full story here:

http://www.brokenfrontier.com/columns/p/detail/no-girls-allowed-redux

Arcana Comics founded by Sean O’Reilly, began as a studio in 2004, and has since become Canada’s largest comic book publisher and an innovative leader in developing content in various mediums. Working in websites, comics and graphic novels, video games, short-form animation and live action shorts, toys and merchandise, as well as feature length films.

In 2006, Arcana held a talent search for contributions, that was open to writers, pencillers, inkers, letterers, and colorists/greyscalers, to create macabre stories of psychological horror. In October of the same year Arcana debuted their Dark Horrors Anthology, which consisted of not only Arcana talent, but also the lucky winners of the talent search who submitted stories online at Arcana’s forum.

Continued here:

http://openbooksociety.com/article/arcana-dark-horrors-anthology-review-02-24-10/

Bruce Brown of Springfield first discovered comic books as a child.

A specialist recommended them to Brown’s parents to help their son overcome some reading difficulties.

“My mom started taking me to the comic shop on a regular basis. I don’t think she thought decades later I’d still be doing it, but I just love it,” said Brown, 45.

Now he not only enjoys reading comic books, he writes them as well.

Five years ago, Brown wrote his first comic book script for a contest sponsored by Marvel Comics, the publisher that unleashed Spider-Man, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk upon the world. Brown didn’t win the contest, which would have resulted in his story being published, but he did receive some positive feedback from the person who reviewed his work.

Continued here:

http://www.sj-r.com/features/x531836052/Longtime-comic-book-reader-is-now-an-author

Open Book Society is please to announce a new feature that will be starting in February; Graphic Novel and Comic Reviews.

Our first foray will be with Arcana Comics title “Dark Horrors Anthology“. Published in 2006, Dark Horrors brings together a collection of horror short stories akin to Tales of The Crypt. Arcana held a talent search on their forum, which was open to writers, pencillers, letterers, inkers, and greyscalers/colorists who think they had what it took to create macabre stories of psychological horror. The lucky winners had their art and stories published in this book.

Continued here:

http://openbooksociety.com/article/comic-and-graphic-novels-reviews-01-30-10/

Adding to lore of Lovecraft, by creeps and bounds
by Julia Keller

One of my favorite scenes in “Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom” — and there are many contenders in this splendid new graphic novel by Chicago native Bruce Brown — occurs when young Howie stands before a gigantic, green, grotesque and multi-tentacled monster.

The monster says, “You saved my life, Master Howard. I am your humble servant. My name is Thu Thu Hmong.”

Generally, such encounters ring with grim portentousness. Child and creature, after all, are forging a bond that may save civilization — or see it perish at the behest of a terrifying, all-powerful villain. Surely a manifesto is to follow, a bombastic declaration filled with passion and conviction, or at least a decent blood oath or two.

But hearing his new friend’s odd moniker, the kid replies, “I’ll never remember that.” They agree that Thu Thu Hmong will hereafter be known as “Spot.”

Continued here:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/ct-ae-0124-lovecraft-lit-life-main-20100122,0,6140639.column

Recently I became worried when I saw little Cthulhu-themed toys appearing as geeky gifts. Small plastic creatures from the netherworlds of H.P. Lovecraft should stay where they belong. However, with Lovecraftian horror making a comeback of late, perhaps I was a bit hasty in my assessment of these strange little tsotchkes. Maybe there’s room in the realms of the Old Ones and the Deep Ones to ensnare unsuspecting victims new blood a new generation of fans by enticing them with toys!

In that vein, I recently had the opportunity to review a new Lovecraft-inspired graphic novel from author Bruce Brown and illustrator Renzo Podesta – Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom. The title sounds so innocuous… and when you see the cover with a boy and this strange looking green creature, you wonder what kind of a journey this kid might be taking…

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http://blogcritics.org/books/article/comic-review-howard-lovecraft-and-the/

As an architect of a genre once dubbed “weird fiction,” the creative engineer Howard Phillips Lovecraft envisioned a vast bestiary of creatures still highly regarded in pop culture and lore today. But the monster fabled as the Cthulhu earned its place as one of H.P. Lovecraft’s most notable and infamous fictional designs. In a new graphic novel from Arcana’s line comes Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom, an all-ages book that weaves the mythos from the very beginning—spotlighting Howard Lovecraft as a child swept up by a magical world beyond imagination.

Continued here:

http://www.onemetal.com/2009/12/29/howard-lovecraft-and-the-frozen-kingdom/

When asked about the recent Bloodstrike back-up story that was featured in Image United #2, acclaimed comic creator, Rob Liefeld, had this to say:

Nrama: Just like there’s new members of the comic team, there’s also new members of the creative team – you’ve got Mark Pouton scripting and art from Marat Mychaels, Jeremy Roberts & Mike Capprotti. How’s you get this team together – you told us a bit, but I want to know more?

Liefeld: Yes, I wrote the story, handed it to Marat and started scripting the story, got overwhelmed in deadlines and called Mark Poulton who is a long tenured member of my message boards and has showcased his work for Arcana the last 5 years on books as diverse as Koni Waves and Velvet Rope. He has a great passion for the Extreme Library as well, he was a natural choice and he did a great job polishing and completing the assignment.? ?

The full article can be read here:

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/091223-Liefeld-Bloodstrike.html

“After visiting his father in Arkham Sanitarium, young Howard Lovecraft ignores his father’s warning and uses the legendary Necronomicon to open a portal to a strange, frozen world filled with horrifying creatures and grave danger. Alone and scared, Howard befriends a hideous creature he names Spot who takes him to the castle of the king where he is captured and sentenced to death.“

Artwork: 3.0 out of 5
The overall look and feel of this book is really nice. The only thing that got me to not judge it so highly was the handling of the characters from panel to panel. They were not as consistent as I would have liked. Now that being said a lot worked really well on this book. I loved the wide eyed children as a way to express their age. The colors were spot on to set the mood and I was never left wondering what I was looking at. I was also a big fan of the cover and chapter artists pages. I think it was a cool way to showcase different looks for the story.

Story: 3.5 out of 5
I didn’t expect what I just read. So is that good or bad? If you ask me it’s good, because I am not a big Lovecraft fan. Not saying I don’t like the genre…

Continued here:

http://fromthetomb.wordpress.com/2009/12/12/howard-lovecraft-and-the-frozen-kingdom-review/