The word “variant” to comic book fans elicits a wide range of reactions. From excitement and wonder to frustration and disdain. People often forget that there were variants in play long before publishers began over-saturating the shelves with various cover images. Yes, there was the classic Canadian or UK price variant, but I’m talking about the Newsstand vs. Direct Edition
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On the latest installment of Sit Down Sunday (hosted on Patrick Thomas Parnell’s YouTube channel Riot Press Productions), The Splintering founder Blake Worrell got another chance to discuss recent comic book news with both Parnell and The Shepherd creator Dr. Andrea Molinari. We discussed the latest drama with Diamond Comic Distributors, Mermaids, Parnell’s future plans for Johnny Phantasm, aliens in
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Given the recent passing of comic book legend Dennis O’Neil, we’re going to take the opportunity to review some of his work, starting with Batman: Death of Innocents – the Horror of Landmines. Written by O’Neil, illustrated by Joe Staton and inked by Bill Sienkiewicz, Batman: Death of Innocents is a 49-page one-shot published by DC Comics in 1996. The
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Gaming in the 1990s was the historical epicenter of the battle surrounding violence in video games, complete with U.S. Senate hearings, parents forbidding their children from visiting arcades for fear that they may catch a glimpse of a “fatality,” and so on. Yet even amongst all of that controversy, SEGA’s own Videogame Ratings Council (V.R.C.) still rated RoboCop Versus the
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Welcome back to The Splintering’s Monochrome May event! Today we’re featuring The Flash, THQ’s side-scrolling action game based on the short-lived superhero TV series starring John Wesley Shipp. Welcome to Central City – home to a herd of dastardly ne’er-do-wells known as the Rogues! Led by the maniacal Trickster, villains such as Mirror Master and Captain Cold are terrorizing the
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Welcome back to The Splintering’s Monochrome May event! Today we’re featuring IF – A Crime Anthology, a black and white anthology book published by Alterna Comics. With the title of A Crime Anthology, it might be expected that all of the the stories would be gritty or noir mysteries featuring “hard-boiled” detectives or Scorsese-esque gangsters, but this isn’t the case.
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Welcome back to The Splintering’s Monochrome May event! Today we’re featuring Splatto Comics’ Iron Sights, which was successfully crowdfunded into existence in 2018. Following up on his successful Jawbreakers: Lost Souls superhero book, independent comic creator and Splatto Comics founder Richard C. Meyer chose to go a very different route with his next project, Iron Sights. Co-written by Carlos Ivan
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Welcome back to The Splintering’s Monochrome May event! Today we’re picking apart Gunpowder on the Teeth Arcade for the Nintendo Switch. While I would have preferred to do a full review, I’m limiting my thoughts to “impressions” as I didn’t finish the entire game… read on to see why. Do you love the smell of gunpowder in the morning? Gunpowder
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“Early July, 1861. The war has started, and the first major battle is about to take place. The Confederate Army, under General Beauregard, is camped on the west bank of Bull Run, a stream in Virginia that flows into the Potomac River. The plan is to prevent the Union Army from getting to the railroad center of Manassas Junction… and
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In January, writer Michael Derrick launched an Indiegogo campaign for Grayskale, an all-new graphic novel about a superhero with the ability to exploit karma. We have interviewed Derrick previously about other projects, and we were fortunate enough to get a chance to discuss his new Grayskale campaign.
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Welcome back to The Splintering’s Monochrome May event! Today we’re featuring Gunman Clive, a retro-inspired side-scroller with a distinct sepia-tone aesthetic. Created by Swedish game creator Bertil Hörberg, Gunman Clive actually began its life as an Android mobile game. Thankfully, Hörberg ported the game to platforms that don’t require virtual buttons, starting with the Nintendo 3DS in December 2012. Get
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Scout Comics’ The Electric Black is a horror anthology series by Joseph Schmalke and Rich Woodall. The book centers around a dark, devious, and sinister antique shop – The Electric Black – that feeds off the wants and desires of its customers, all of whom come face to face with all manner of dark evils. The shop’s proprietor, Julius Black,
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At some point, aliens became a part of horror culture. Why did this happen, exactly? Was it the consistent appearance of Kodos and Kang in The Simpsons‘ Treehouse of Horror speicals? The release of Ridley Scott’s Alien film series? Or does it go even further back to Cold War-era sci-fi/horror flicks like Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Whenever it happened,
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Written by EL TORRES and featuring illustrations by Fran Galán, Tales from the Suicide Forest is a supernatural horror book set in Aokigahara. As such, the book is not based on any real-world examples of actual suicides, but it consists of disturbing accounts of people who find themselves in dark places.
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Last week, Splatto Comics founder and independent comic book creator Richard C. Meyer launched the latest crowdfunding campaign for Jawbreakers: Grand Bizarre, the latest installment in his highly successful superhero action series. Written by Meyer and featuring illustrations by Aaron Alfeche and colors by Color Channel, Grand Bizarre serves as an origin story for the Jawbreakers superhero team. Here’s the
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After making a few appearances in the pages of Alterna’s anthology series It Came Out on a Wednesday, Ski Suharski’s Legends of Log received its very own “One-Dollar One-Shot” book in January. It’s a great price for a quick read featuring a unique character, but what exactly do you get for your hard-earned buck? The Log character has appeared in
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Do we want our comics? Heck yes we do. But we also want to see lives transformed, and comic book dreams come true.
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A prime example of the current boon for action figure collectors is the Animal Warriors of the Kingdom (AWOK) line from Spero Studios.
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People whose best work will most likely be their first. Unlike most careers, the Hollywood path trends downward with the addition of experience.
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In February, writer CФMMIЭ МдЯK (aka Commie Mark) launched an Indiegogo campaign for Adventures of Kim Il Sung and Best Korea. Using actual historical photographs to tell the story, Adventures of Kim Il Sung is a graphic novel set in an alternate history where North Korea single-handedly wins the Second World War. The Splintering was fortunate enough to ask CФMMIЭ МдЯK
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The most recent retcon by Lucasfilm (LFL) elaborates on The Rise of Skywalker‘s Palpatine being an ill-formed clone. So, to follow their reasoning, our hero physically interdicts against her father who’s also her grandfather who’s developmentally disabled? Maybe he was drinking, too… At the minimum, he’s got to be in danger of the opioid crisis. Genetic deformity’s got to hurt,
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What’s needed is a cold, objective examination of the consumer and their connection to the comic book industry.
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In 2020, you have the opportunity to do something with a level of ease never before conceived in the history of mankind. The access available to your potential market at a relatively low cost opens the entire world to your grasp!
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Dear ComicsGate and Anti-CG Comic Creators: Hi, my name is Bobby Sharps and I’m a paying customer. Great news- there’s a lot to like/love about your IP’s. Though I’m starting to wonder if I like some of you. I’m too old for EVS to be my uncle or to directly participate in Warcampaign’s lampooning (I can find it really funny
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The foundations for a successful, new take on Sonic are present in Shattered Crystal, and it was a fun primer setting up the later release of the 3DS sequel, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice.
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The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) recently assigned Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II an M/17+ Rating. While this was completely expected for a violent zombie apocalypse game, the specific content descriptors indicate that The Last of Us Part II will feature both “Sexual Content” and “Nudity”. This may come as a surprise to those who have followed
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For the last two years, a collective of comic book enthusiasts from Pittsburgh has undetarken one of the the most ambitious independent superhero projects I’ve ever seen: Heroineburgh. Combining the talents of dozens of actresses and other creators, Heroineburgh started as a web series featuring the exploits of a large cast of superpowered characters. The project has expanded to a
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As January rolled in, my thought and reflection took me back into the past- reminiscing of all the oldies but goodies in everything… from movies to music, to classic books, and of course, manga. I was craving to rediscover the past by reading some of these oldies, so I grabbed my Sherlock Holmes, Jane Austin, and Mighty Atom (a.k.a. Astro
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Transhumanism meets a terrorist death cult called Yuri & The Red Skirts in the Cyborg USA comic by Rob Cacy and friends. Transhumanists dream of transcending the natural limitations of our species through physically invasive technological innovation. Yes, it’s real. But what kind of person is Cyborg USA writer Rob Cacy? He’s the kind who sends a Cyborg USA Christmas
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Picture November 1978 as Thanksgiving approaches. A little “science fiction western” released last May has enthralled the hearts of generations young and old. Grandparents snicker at this “new thing” reinvigorating the movie industry just being entertainment from their childhood. Parents enjoy the lack of nudity, “f-bombs,” and politically-driven lectures that infect most cinema. Dads look forward to buying cool Star Wars
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The Splintering 