Arcana Studios:

Believe it or not, I’m walking on air. I never thought I could feel so free. I’m also a little surprised that, after 25 years, The Greatest American Hero is returning, thanks to the original star of the show, William Katt. Christopher Folino, Sean O’Reilly & Derek McCaw team up to bring the six issue limited series about an unlikely hero with a supersuit he can barely control (Nov).

Bringing together the popular mediums of music, mysery and pacific rim girls, Koni Waves Volume Two: Ghouls Gone Wild stars the gold-selling recording artists Adema as they travel to the island of Lanai to shoot their new video. While there, they hire Koni to work security, which is a good thing since an evil sorceress has been raised from the dead and is attacking the band. (Nov)

This is an undead tale that merely uses zombies as a prop in a much larger story. It’s not about a zombie holocaust or anything like that. Writer Aaron Thomas Nelson uses zombies as a metaphor for trauma suffered from those who take part in military combat. This is a thickly nuanced story commenting on the horrors of war and how it can make one hollow on the inside; zombie-like, if you will. That doesn’t mean it’s completely cerebral. The story doesn’t hold back in the @$$-kicking department…

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This book collects the first six issues of the comic series. Payback aka Walter Looke is shown right away and leaves no doubt he is one of the baddest of the bad. In this prison San Tiburon the prisoners and guards are and have to be tough. This prison is run as if it could really exist. This is how a prison for super powered criminals would be. No big fancy machines just a well run jail with what is mecassary to hold these special inmates. Jason Brody is the new Captain of the violent crimes section of San Tiburon he is a good man, a family man. Also one who is good at his job. The scenic scene as we first see Jason arrive is simply beautiful. The variety shown on the inmates who are not exactly human looking is imaginative.

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http://forums.jazmaonline.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=799

Ian makes his triumphant return with this latest episode of the PCZ Comic Review. This time around, he delves into a more kid-friendly world with a look at the ‘Clockwork Girl’ hardcover by Arcana Comics. Watch this episode to learn more about the friendship of mutants and robots!

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Hi,

After our correspondence on then the final issue would be out, I just had to let you know how much my 8 year old son and his 50 year old dad enjoyed reading this together. I’ve enjoyed sharing this artform with him since he was quite young, and we’ve had a lot of great reading experiences together, but this just may be my favorite. The art, story, characters, pacing, and dialogue were all just right, so memorable and affecting. And what a beautiful message on the healing power of love and friendship, not at all cliche or overdone, but embedded so naturally within the story and the characters. I look forward to giving the trade paperback as gifts, and hope you will keep all ages titles like this coming out. Comics and kids don’t go together as naturally these days as they did when I was coming up, and material like this is vitally important in keeping this unique artform alive and thriving for another generation.

Best,
Rick Brown
Jamestown, NC

Rama is a modern, Western retelling of the Hindu story, “Ramayana”. It is a tale of good over evil, and a way of enlightenment. The author, B. Albers Jackson, went through great pains to ensure his telling would be true to the spirit of the story and that the art would be fitting and symbolic. To that extent, it is very well done!

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http://www.sequentialtart.com/reports.php?ID=6183&issue=2008-09-01

Sci-fi/Fantasy/Romance at it’s comic-booky best, The Clockwork Girl is simply beautiful. The art, the story, the very feel of the book is beautiful. A modern fairy tale, it blends Romeo and Juliet with Frankenstein, and a adds just a dash of Wizard of Oz. Not only is the art gorgeously rendered in animation style, but the light, fun story is tender and lovingly written. This is the story Tim Burton would come up with if he wasn’t so…

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http://www.projectfanboy.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1434

This issue collects the first six chapters in what could be a great story surrounding the prison for super criminals.

The official hype “Less than 30 miles off the coast of Florida is an island. And if you’re one of the few that get to see it… it’s likely you will never leave. This is San Tiburon. Home to beautiful white sandy shores, crystal-blue waters… and the world’s most dangerous maximum-security penitentiary. For 185 of the world’s most dangerous super-powered criminals, it is their final home. They will reside within these walls until their sentence is served… or they meet their end. There are no escapes. There are no bargains or compromises. There is only San Tiburon.”

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http://comicsand.blogspot.com/2008/09/spotlight-review-corrective-measures.html

Richard: How did “Ripperman” end up at Arcana?

Joe: I kept in touch with Sean O’Rielly (Arcana’s owner) after Shadowflame and showed him a few of the new pages. He liked the concept and the art. It actually worked out really well. I am really excited to get Ripperman out there in a big way. The first printing of Ripperman was pretty small and we’ve sold out of that. This will be a whopping 150 pages and in color!. 75% brand new material.

Richard: Where did the idea for “Ripperman” come from?

Joe: 1987. I’ve told this a few times to people but here it is. When I was a kid (16-17 years old) I started to doubt a lot of things that I was taught. One was that people got what they deserved. He is definitely an anti-hero of sorts. Ripperman is the realization that the world needs a killer of killers. A punisher of people who would prey on the weak or down-trodden.

Richard: Who exactly is Ripperman?

Joe: Ripperman is a man that was created by both God and the devil to rid the world of beings that would have otherwise escaped their deserved ends.

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http://www.jazmaonline.com/interviews/interviews2008.asp?intID=176

Penance: Trial of the Century, a four-issue mini from Arcana Studio by Ryan Foley and Gian Fernando (credited in the book as GOOF), pulled this off in its first issue this week. The book initially caught Aaron’s attention because of the “Penance” part, which of course is the current name of Thunderbolt and former New Warrior Speedball in the Marvel Universe–in the Arcana book, Penance is in fact the name of a superhero, and within the first few pages, he allegedly causes the death of another mask called Justice, which also happens to be the name of a former New Warrior–I’m not totally sure how that all works copyright-wise, but I guess they are just nouns.

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