A Press Democrat Blog

Four Colors

Capes, Cowls, and the Press Democrat

Mr. Reece Goes to Comic-Con

Tuesday, at 3:44 by
Photo072P

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” John Lennon said that. He might not have ever attended Comic-Con, but Mr. Lennon may as well have been describing my time in San Diego when he said it. Every amazing thing that happened, happened without plans. But more on that later. San Diego Comic-Con 2011 was a whirlwind of comic-related insanity. On the outer edges of it, Hollywood peddled its wares. Shows like The Big Bang Theory,… Read More »

Good

Tuesday, at 6:26 by

“I want to ask you, listeners…if you think you’re good people. And if you are, how do you know?” It takes nothing more than a tape recorder to completely understand these characters. The story opens with Joe receiving an unknown tape from Emily. In her one way conversation, Emily lays out their relationship, expressing her guilt in not bringing Joe with her to Peru. Joe obviously wanted to go, but Emily, in thinking she was protecting Joe, left without him.… Read More »

Kill Will

Wednesday, at 3:03 by

“Justice League of Shakespeare.” That is how writer Anthony Del Col pitched IDW’s new series “Kill Shakespeare,” which just had issue 2 hit the stands last week. The premise is a simple one: Hamlet, prince of Denmark is tossed out of his kingdom after he kills the king’s (his uncle) top advisor, Polonius, while attempting to avenge his father. He is sent to England, but his ship attacked by pirates and he is set adrift. Hamlet washes ashore a strange… Read More »

Kid Beowulf and The Four Colors Review

Monday, at 6:29 by
Beowulf

While they might not know him by name, it seems as though many kids would want to be Beowulf. The sword battles, the heroic deeds and courageous actions. And then there’s the business with slaying a dragon. The legend of Beowulf is one that a little kid can spend hours recreating and embellishing. But there is one boy that never had to pretend to be the hero. This is where Alexis Fajardo and his series of books, “Kid Beowulf” enter… Read More »

Hail to the NEW Chief

Sunday, at 2:30 by

“What if Batman was the Joker?” Let your mind go the deepest, darkest regions of your mind as you think of what would happened if a psychopath like the Joker had the resources and technical skills of Batman. When you come up the thought that gets you most excited by that idea, go to the nearest comic book store and pick up “Nemesis,” the newest creator owned book by Mark Millar and his third collaboration with artist Steve McNiven. Their… Read More »

En Garde

Saturday, at 7:53 by

Page 15 was when I fell in love with this book. The main character, Aliera Carstairs, stares at the reader after talking about her life and her hobby of fencing and simply says “One is a sport, and one is… not.” With a slight smirk that comes from knowing the answer, she invites the reader to decide which is which and come into her world. I wish all comic books would be so welcoming. “Foiled” is one of the newest… Read More »

Gone in a “Flash”

Thursday, at 1:30 by

DC’s The Flash is the Fastest Man Alive. That has been his moniker for decades now, but he’s also poised to become one of the most important characters in DC Comics, thanks to a staring role in the company-wide mini-series “Blackest Night,” as well as his own mini-series “The Flash: Rebirth.” Since I’ve already covered “Blackest” on this blog and because that focuses more on Green Lantern anyway, today’s focus is going to be “The Flash: Rebirth.” To get you… Read More »

The Umbrella Academy in: Spreading the Madness (being part one of one in the blog: Four Colors)

Thursday, at 5:22 by

There are some great things about getting your friends into comics. Not only do I feel joy in spreading the form of comics, but I am also creating another outlet in which to find out about books I normally wouldn’t have. Such is the case of introducing my friend Mike to “Sandman” and him returning the favor with “The Umbrella Academy,” the continuing mini-series by Gerard Way (from “My Chemical Romance”) and Gabriel Ba. So far, there have been 2… Read More »

Something to “Chew” on…

Monday, at 4:28 by

If there is one thing I love finding, it is a new title. To find a great new story is something that is a bit of rarity in the realm of comic books. Not to say that the medium is stale, it  just takes a good amount of effort to find something outside of the superhero genre or something published outside of the Big Four (DC and Marvel, and the top second tier publishers, Image and Dark Horse). Luckily, Image… Read More »

Brand Spanking New “Ultimates”

Friday, at 3:13 by

I just wanted to toss out a really quick plug. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the line-altering mini-series “Ultimatum.” LINK HERE This was the mini-series to completely re-vamp Marvel’s Ultimate line of comics. This past Wednesday, the re-boots hit the stands. Once a line of four titles, there are now only two: “Ultimate Comics Spider-Man” and “Ultimate Comics Avengers.” Woo-doggie is all I have to say about the first issues. “Ultimate Comics Avengers” was the first I read.… Read More »