A sickness resides in the house of Usher. Its history is cursed, its tenants plagued by abominable love, and it’s hallways lined with coffins and the rotted dead.

The Fall of the House of Usher #1 is Richard Corben retailing of the classic Edgar Allan Poe story, Just like the original it tells of Allen ( Narrator in the Original) experiences in the house of usher when he vists an old friend Roderick Usher. Corben stays true to the original by making it dark and creepy, like poe’s adaptation it’s about a man visiting an old friend only to find out that he’s become mentally unstable for example there’s a scene where Roderick has his sister posing nude and maliciously scold’s her the entire time, it’s a tale of obsession and how it effects your mind. While there are some similarities to poe’s version there’s also differences, one them being the fact that Corben combine another one poe’s short story The Oval Portrait which also deals with obsession

For the character design, Corben uses a caricature art style making the characters look almost clay like. His Roderick Usher who has a oversize nose that takes up half his face and big ears to go along with it. Sometimes the artwork is a little inconsistent in some panels Roderick almost looks like Hugo Strange of Batman; the color scheme throughout the comic is dark and smooth with a earth-Tone feel to it.

Final Thoughts: Because I’m unfamiliar with Richard Corben’s recent and past work, I can’t really say if this is his best or worst comic he has done, But I can say that it is a nice adaptation one that Poe fans should give a read.

Links: Preview | Pre-Order
Release Date:  May 15, 2013

Story:	4.0/5.0
Art:	4.0/5.0
Dialog:	4.0/5.0
Overall:	4.0/5.0

DARK HORSE SUMMONS 

CONAN AND THE PEOPLE OF THE BLACK CIRCLE!

Beloved Hercules and Hulk team, Van Lente and Olivetti, reunite!

Dark Horse announced today that two of the hottest names in comics, writer Fred Van Lente and artist Ariel Olivetti, will reunite for a Conan epic like no other!

In Conan and the People of the Black Circle, a four-issue miniseries set a decade after the current Conan ongoing series, fans will find Conan like they’ve never seen him—fully painted by Olivetti!

“I’m thrilled to be working from one of the best Conan stories Howard ever wrote, with the most interesting female lead and one of the Cimmerian’s most compelling adversaries,” stated Van Lente. “But what I’m most excited about is seeing what Ariel Olivetti does with my scripts—he was born to draw Conan, and his painted artwork should attract anyone who doesn’t know anything about Conan or Robert E. Howard but just loves things that are awesome.”

Assassins, dark magic, and a beautiful noblewoman mean trouble for the Cimmerian barbarian unlike he’s ever seen in this full-tilt escapade through the mountains of Afghulistan!

With The Legend of Conan in development with Universal Studios, Dark Horse’s Conan is essential reading.

Conan and the People of the Black Circle #1 is on sale October 16 in comic shops everywhere.

Massimo Carnevale Cover

Writer: Brian Wood
Artist: Davide Gianfelice
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Cover Artist: Massimo Carnevale
Published by: Dark Horse Comics

This new adventure for Conan and Belit starts in the city of lanthe,Ophir a place with vast mountain ranges and forests that is said to have Ancient beasts leaving within the shadows. It also seems to be a city for the wealthy, with the rich living up top where domes and towers that has ruby rooftops; the lower part of the city is for those who seek out more personal pleasures. As Conana and Belit enjoy the lavish lifestyle that they’ve built form themselves and unknown me comes to and presents to them a pill with is called the “Yellow Lotus”, he promise that it will grant their minds pleasures and experiences that they have never had before. A reluctant Conan declines but is quickly convince by Belit to take the Yellow Lotus and enjoy it with her, as they sit with their eyes closed.

In a dreamlike state Conan and Belit are running through the woods, she talks about how when she was a little girl the woods frighten her, at the same time Conan with bow in hand ask Belit how did they get there and how he’d get a bow, as they continue to walk deep in the forest, they come across Argus and its Captain Tito and the rest of his crew form Messantia are all slaughter and hung form trees.

This where things get weird, Conan and Belit are soon attacked by an unknown enemy, as arrows rain towards them a undead member of Argus talks to Conan about how his guilt is consuming him, But the switches to him and Belit laying and bed talking when all of sudden their unborn son comes rushing in the bedroom shocking Conan. Then it jumps to Conan in the snowy woods ready to fight the great bear god Mathghamhain, the fight ends quickly with Conan fatally striking the Bear god down. As the corpse lays next to him it begins to talk to him and it says things t similar  to what the undead man form before had said to him.

The issue ends with Conan and Belit who are still in a dreamlike state are now at the beach and swimming peacefully underwater in the ocean of The Devils Shallow, and once again they come across what looks like a bunch of dead pirates and their ships.

Final Thoughts: Let me start by saying for a first issue it has very good writing The Nightmare Of The Shallows Part 1 dives into the mind of Conan and how every adventure he and Belit had has affected him in some way shape or form, Brian Wood once again brings out another emotion Conan’s not use to dealing with and that’s guilt. Wood touches upon this issue multiple times throughout the comic with past characters he has encountered. You can expect the pacing and flow to be the same as his previous arcs such as Queen Of The Black Coast and Border Fury.

Davide Gianfelice is the artist for this arc, his style is similar to Becky Cloonan in that it features more heavy handed illustrations for each panel, while its not highly detail it is easy to follow and understand.

In the end The Nightmare Of The Shallows Part 1is a good start for what looks like an arc that my have a few twist and turns in the future, and that alone makes it worth picking up.

Links: Preview | Pre-Order
Release Date:  May 15, 2013

Story:	4.0/5.0
Art:	3.5/5.0
Dialog:	4.0/5.0
Overall:	4.0/5.0

Now that the dust has settled on Dark Horse Digital’s incredibly successful two-year-anniversary promotion, the company is pleased to announce that it gave away a million free digital comics!

As part of the celebration of the second year of the company’s digital initiative and proprietary storefront, fifty free single-issue comics were made available for only forty-eight hours. In that time, thousands of fans took advantage of the offer and downloaded their favorite Dark Horse titles, to the tune of a million copies!

“The success of our digital promotion illustrates the growing reach of digital comics, which we believe are an important element in the recent resurgence of physical comic book and graphic novel sales,” said Dark Horse’s president and founder, Mike Richardson.

Dark Horse Comics launched its standalone comic-reader app and digital store on April 27, 2011, and has received incredible support from the continuously growing digital-comics fan base.

Since then, Dark Horse Digital has grown significantly in numbers and readership by featuring its most popular and best-selling titles, including Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity,Hellboy, Avatar, and Mass Effect, as well as exclusive digital-first series, such as Falling Skies, Prototype 2, and Dragon Age. Dark Horse Digital also provides sales and discounts for its reader base on a weekly basis. It currently offers thousands of comics and continues to increase the digital availability of the Dark Horse back catalog.

Dark Horse Digital is available through all modern web browsers and features cloud storage through both the Google Play and iOS apps.

The pirate adventure centers on the tales of Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) and his men and takes place twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic “Treasure Island.” Flint, the most brilliant and most feared pirate captain of his day, takes on a fast-talking young addition to his crew who goes by the name John Silver (Luke Arnold). Threatened with extinction on all sides, they fight for the survival of New Providence Island, the most notorious criminal haven of its day – a debauched paradise teeming with pirates, prostitutes, thieves and fortune seekers, a place defined by both its enlightened ideals and its stunning brutality.

The series also stars Zach McGowan (“Shameless”) as rival Captain Charles Vane; Toby Schmitz as Rackham, Vane’s right hand; Hannah New as Eleanor Guthrie, a determined young woman who runs the smuggling operation on New Providence; Jessica Parker Kennedy as Max, a tortured young prostitute who sees the dark side of New Providence; Clara Paget as the beautiful but cold-blooded Anne Bonny and Tom Hopper (“Merlin”) as Billy Bones, boatswain of Flint’s ship.

“Black Sails” is executive produced by Michael Bay (Transformers, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor) and his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, producers on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and Nightmare on Elm Street (2009). The series was created by showrunner and executive producer Jon Steinberg (creator “Jericho,” “Human Target”) and co-executive producer Robert Levine (“Touch”). It is currently filming in Cape Town, South Africa.

“Black Sails” will debut with an eight-episode season in January 2014, exclusively on STARZ.

]]> http://www.bamfas.com/2013/05/starz-announces-original-series-black-sails-an-adventure-drama-coming-january-2014/feed/ 0 http://www.bamfas.com/2013/05/hot-topic-and-her-universe-join-forces-for-star-wars-may-the-4th-be-with-you/ http://www.bamfas.com/2013/05/hot-topic-and-her-universe-join-forces-for-star-wars-may-the-4th-be-with-you/#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 22:56:16 +0000 Tech2k http://www.bamfas.com/?p=13262  

Hey fellas looking for a gift to give to your significant other! Hottopic and Her Universe team-up  with Ashley Eckstein, for some hot and stylish Star Wars dresses and fashion tops!

Star Wars fans already know that the Force is everywhere but on May 4th the stars align for those who live and breathe every moment of the Star Wars saga. This day is a special opportunity to celebrate all things in that “galaxy far, far away” and, of course, to say, “May the 4th Be With You!” For the second year in a row, Her Universe™, the leading sci-fi merchandise line for fangirls, is teaming up with Hot Topic to offer new exclusive Star Wars dresses and fashion tops created by actress and entrepreneur Ashley Eckstein, voice of Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

On May 4th, the popular Star Wars By Her Universe line will debut six new fashion pieces exclusively on Hottopic.com. The first 500 customers who purchase a Star Wars by Her Universe item online at Hottopic.com beginning at 1am PST on May 4th will receive a FREE Star Wars by Her Universe cinch sack. In addition, all day on May 4th Hottopic.com and Starwars.com (the official Star Wars website), and their social media sites, will celebrate this special fan holiday with fan-themed content and giveaways.

“I am thrilled to be working with Hot Topic again to celebrate May the 4th Be With You,” said Ashley Eckstein. “I am also excited to debut a new design with one of our favorite guest designers, Denise Vasquez. Denise brought her unique ‘Day of the Dead’ inspired style to a new design featuring Boba Fett.”

With the growing audience of female Star Wars fans, Hot Topic and Her Universe have a number of new tops and, for the first time, Star Wars by Her Universe dresses to offer them. The new Hot Topic apparel line features popular villains Boba Fett and Darth Vader as well as fan favorite Rebels Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.

In celebration of “May the 4th Be with You,” Her Universe will also be offering 20% off of all current Star Wars apparel on www.HerUniverse.com on May 4th (Hot Topic product only available on Hottopic.com). In addition, while visiting the Her Universe website, fans can also view the past and present honoree’s for “fangirl of the day” – part of a very special year-long campaign, the “Year of the Fangirl,” which spotlights and recognizes fangirls of all ages showing their diversity, dreams and interests. Anyone can nominate a fangirl to be highlighted on the site. Go to www.HerUniverse.com for more information.

REPRINT TO ARRIVE AT RETAIL STORES ON MAY 29!

In a show of demand for Dark Horse Comics’ newest video-game series debut, Diamond Comics and retailers around the country are now sold out of the critically acclaimed first issue of The Last of Us: American Dreams.

In response, Dark Horse is reprinting the first issue. The reprint is available for reorder now, with an on-sale date of May 29, the same day The Last of Us: American Dreams#2 goes on sale.

Coscripted by The Last of Us creative director Neil Druckmann and comic superstar Faith Erin Hicks, American Dreams is the must-read tie-in to the upcoming game release from Naughty Dog!

Praise for The Last of Us: American Dreams #1:

“In The Last of Us: American Dreams #1, Druckmann and Hicks’ dialogue is engaging, their characters are likable and the storytelling flows enjoyably and smoothly.”—Comic Book Resources

“This comic has not only successfully whet my appetite for the game, but it manages to show that strong female characters can exist without compromising themselves or running around in their underwear. If you missed this book go to your comic shop right now and buy it. NOW!”—Comic Bastards

Fans: Head to your local comic shop or bookstore to get your hands on a copy of the first printing of The Last of Us: American Dreams #1 while you can! Supplies are limited

All-new 6” Turian Cruiser ship to hit shelves in November!

One of the cornerstones of both Dark Horse’s publishing and product line in recent years, has been the massive video game franchise, Mass Effect.

To date, Dark Horse Deluxe has released four different ships, as well as limited edition variant, and high end editions. Up next is the Turian cruiser, which bears some slight resemblance to the Normandy, due to the cooperative effort between the Turians and the human race in the Alliance ship’s construction. This race in Mass Effect, are members of the Citadel Council, well known for their military role, and their contribution of starships to the Citadel Fleet.

“We have been overwhelmed by the support gamers have given our Mass Effect ship replica series,” Dark Horse’s David Scroggy remarked, ” and look forward to continuing the line with this latest release. We have been working directly with the Mass Effect game design team, interfacing with them to obtain the exact 3D design specs that ensure accuracy of detail.”

Each Turian Cruiser Replica package will contain an insert card, with a unique code, that will enhance the Mass Effect game experience for individual consumers.

For an additional sneak peak, check out the exclusive on Kotaku! 

Look for this exciting new release in Diamond’s Previews catalog shortly, with a release date set for November 6, with a retail price tag of $34.99!

RESIDENT ALIEN: THE DOCTOR IS BACK!

Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse return with their critically acclaimed story of an alien hero named Harry in an epic second series beginning this summer!

Beginning with a #0 issue, this four-issue miniseries takes you deep inside another murder mystery alongside comic’s favorite medical detective.

A straightforward suicide . . . or a murder? At first, undercover alien Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle thinks the local police have this death solved, and then things get personal when one of his only human friends becomes a suspect. Also: The feds figure out that Harry’s hiding in the Pacific Northwest!

Praise for Resident Alien:
“This is an amateur sleuth story like you’ve never seen before and is not to be missed by fans of crime comics.”—Newsarama

“The ultimate stranger, the classic town, Resident Alien takes an old premise a step further and lays the groundwork for a potentially great piece of literature.”—Comics Bulletin

“This is one of those great creative pairings: Hogan and Parkhouse are in sync on Resident Alien and the reader gets to reap the reward of their hard work.”—Comicosity

“I hope that people are checking it out so that it can possibly go on; the premise and the world built are massive. The alien craze of the ’90s may be over, but books like this can easily rejuvenate people’s interest.”—Comic Bastards

Resident Alien: The Suicide Blonde #0 is on shelves August 18th!

Resident Alien: The Suicide Blonde #1 is on sale September 11th in comic stores everywhere!

One of the most iconic video game franchises in history comes to the number-one publisher of licensed comics!

Dark Horse continues in the tradition of bringing only the biggest and best characters and story lines to comics with the announcement of the Halo: Initiation miniseries, launching in August! This exciting new miniseries will be written by Halo 4 writer and comics veteran Brian Reed, with art by Marco Castiello (Secret Invasion: Front Line, Star Wars: Purge)!

Before she was a supersoldier defending humanity as part of the Spartan-IV program, Sarah Palmer was an ODST—Orbital Drop Shock Trooper—carrying out the most dangerous missions behind enemy lines! See how she became the first Spartan-IV commander in this must-read series for fans of Halo 4 and the Halo franchise!

“A rich science fiction universe driven by compelling characters, Halo has all the makings for show-stopping comics, ” said Dave Marshall, Dark Horse Editor. “In Initiation, Brian and Marco are delivering an action-packed thrill-ride with a beating heart of authentic human drama.

“It’s really exciting to work with Dark Horse in continuing the Halo story in comics. After Halo 4 and Spartan Ops, fans wanted to know more about the origins of the Spartan-IV program and Sarah Palmer in particular. So it’s great fun to be able to grant those wishes with a partner like Dark Horse,” said writer Brian Reed.

For an exclusive look at an interior page, check out Wired. 

Look for Halo: Initiation #1 on sale in comic shops everywhere on August 14!