It’s another bright new day in the world of comics and what is lighting things up for me right now is PINK LEMONADE #1 by Nick Cagnetti, a new comic book series from IT’S ALIVE! Press. A lot of you out there know that IT’S ALIVE! is the brainchild of multiple Eisner Award nominee Drew Ford, who is publishing out of print comics, English translations of foreign material, original projects, and other unique collectibles. Well, Mr. Ford is also publishing new original content! And that’s where PINK LEMONADE #1 comes in. Let’s take a look.
Page excerpt
This is a very fun comic book! If you enjoy quirky, whimsical, and surreal comics like Mike Allred’s Madman, then this is for you. The first issue opens up with some wild race, a cross between Thunderdome and Tintin. And it’s our main character, Pink Lemonade, who makes it to the finish line–or so she thinks. Just when it looks like the big bad guy, Barzibelly Jr., is going to capture her, it turns out it was all a dream–or sort of. It’s hard to tell in this candy-colored loopy landscape but that’s part of the fun.
Panel excerpt
Now, the narrative switches to a conventional suburban setting. Pink Lemonade wakes up to find a mother and daughter standing by her as she rests on a park bench. Pam, the little girl, tells her mom, Linda, about how she met her new friend the other day. Pink Lemonade was recently given her name by Pam because she helped Pam set up her lemonade stand. Sure, that makes sense, especially since we’re talking about a cyborg. Why not name her Pink Lemonade, right? Pam and Linda are quite taken with Pink Lemonade. Linda can’t help but see a superhero: “Mysterious past. Colorful costume. Altruistic. Nomadic lifestyle…It’s all pretty cool. Got any powers?” And so a delightful story unfolds as Pink Lemonade becomes better acquainted with humans. Where exactly Pink Lemonade is from is not important at the moment–not when Pink Lemonade is determined to meet more humans and get into more misadventures.
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The artwork and colors are a combination of upbeat and eye-popping. This is, no doubt, a very charming and dazzling work. I’m so glad to know about it and help spread the word. Now, as mysterious as the character of Pink Lemonade is, I immediately wanted to know everything I could about the creator. So, who the heck is Nick Cagnetti? Well, he’s a very interesting individual who has developed a following of his own and you should see what he’s up to at Radical Realm Comics. I see that Nick is very much into the theater arts as well as storyboarding and that certainly enhances his work in comics.
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When posting about amazing new comics like this, if the comic grabs me, I am very motivated to learn what’s going on behind it and to share that with you. So, definitely look up Nick Cagnetti and consider buying one of his comics or various other awesome items he has for sale. And, keep in mind, that Pink Lemonade is exclusive to IT’S ALIVE! with a regular edition available in October. In the meantime, there will be a very limited edition of the same comic (with different cover) available at next month’s HeroesCon. I give Pink Lemonade a solid high score of 10/10.
The Empire State Building looms large over Alonzo.
“To finally have this collaboration between two giants available in a single volume is a gift for which we can only hope to be worthy.” — Howard Chaykin
Sometimes, a book is placed under my nose and I just can’t stop reading. So it is with Family Man, the crime noir graphic novel written by Jerome Charyn and drawn by Joe Staton. This is a deluxe edition to the 1995 series by Paradox Press, an imprint of DC Comics. This new 2019 edition is by It’s Alive and IDW Publishing. For a brief moment, both publishers were working together. What matters most is that this book packs a wallop, full of the grim and gritty underbelly of New York City that novelist Jerome Charyn knows so well. As is the case here at Comics Grinder, while we enjoy sharing images from books with you, we also don’t rely on it so much to the exclusion of thoughtful reviews. That said, let’s take a closer look at a book that well deserves it.
Alonzo pays his respects and kisses Don Furioso’s hand.
As a reviewer who also happens to be a cartoonist, I can tell you on an intimate level that this is a very special book. It’s a perfect pairing of writer and artist. Both Staton and Charyn are not holding back anything while also working as a team. Charyn is busy condensing his prose to the perfect concise distillation. Staton is busy letting loose with his highly expressive line ever mindful of disciplined efficiency and consistency. Both are being the artists they were born to be, both working on the same page. Take a look at the panel above. A whole story, a whole way of life, is held together in that one rectangle. Staton is depicting a connection between two brute men. Alonzo is the Mafia hitman showing respect. Don Furioso is the kingpin in decline who has been reduced to fretting over his colon.
Family Man page excerpt
We can see that Alonzo and the don are both past their prime and yet remain quite deadly creatures with no immediate plans to depart this earth. To that end, Alonzo the mob’s hitman, fixer, and “family man,” has been assigned the job of killing a band of rogue assassins who are bent on killing off all the Mafia dons in the city. It won’t be an easy task for Alonzo by any means. Add to the mix Charles, his own brother, the local Monsignor who works for the NYPD. If the killers don’t get him, Alonzo’s own brother just might.
Family Man page excerpt
Let’s take a moment to skip back to Joe Staton’s artwork. If you examine the above examples, you’ll start to focus in on the distinctive shades running throughout. Before everything went digital, artists had to be rather crafty about finding ways to create tones to spice up black & white line art. One way was with the use of a special bristol board that was embedded with shading inside the board. Applying a brush that had been dipped into a special solution would reveal the shading hidden within the board. What tones ended up making it to the surface were dependent upon the artist’s choice of brushstrokes. It’s my guess that Staton had a hefty stockpile of Duotone board at his disposal. By the early ’90s, around the time of the creation of this graphic novel, this old-fashioned board was pretty much already extinct. Staton probably had hoarded more than enough of this board going back decades. The results are stunning, of course, and it would take some doing to even try to come close to emulating it in Photoshop. Staton has a clean sharp style to begin with so this special shading technique was really just an option, an option that he makes the most of in this book.
Greetings from the Bronx Boys
With Family Man, Jerome Charyn and Joe Staton create their very own crime noir mythos. Alonzo, the mob hitman, and Charles, his monsignor brother, have numerous tales to tell and to act out. The setting, the mood, and the attitude all add up to an edgy good time. Joe Staton (Batman, Green Lantern) seems to channel the best of the work he’s done during his impressive career. He also seems to offer a tip of the hat to Will Eisner’s The Spirit. Jerome Charyn plays with various crime fiction tropes and brings in his unique sensibility as evidenced by his critically-acclaimed Isaac Seidel crime novel series. Alonzo is a “family man” in more ways than one. He used to be a true family man with a wife and kids. Later on, he became a family man to the mob alone. And, to further frustrate and complicate matters, he finds himself in mortal conflict with his only remaining member of flesh and blood family, his brother, Charles, the man of god who is not what he seems. As Charyn and Staton drop each layer of the narrative into place, the reader becomes all the more invested in the outcome.
Family Man page excerpt
A satisfying narrative, whatever the medium, is made up of a finely spun web of action, deliberation, long and short pauses, and a resolution that resonates, perhaps even transcends. It’s a matter of a myriad of creative choices and observations, big and small. Bit by bit, it all comes into focus: Alonzo, our big hefty protagonist, seems up to any challenge given enough time to digest a hoagie. Something about a certain metropolis is forever swirling in the background, and creeping into the foreground. New York City welcomes everyone but it coddles no one. Better to be tough, tough it out. A flamboyant so-called “man of god ‘ should wear a cloak or cape. And Alonzo better have a secret weapon. All the hoods eat hoagies too. Lastly, in the end, all the corruption, filth, mayhem, and blood lust tallies up. Maybe nobody gets the girl, like they used to in the movies. It’s all set “one hour into the future” with a crime-ridden New York City on her knees! But Alonzo will prevail, one way or another, and live or die as a “family man.”
Family Man, published by It’s Alive and IDW
I welcome everyone, especially my longtime readers, to check out the video review below. I invite you all to like, subscribe, do whatever you like to engage with, the Comics Grinder YouTube channel. Comics Grinder welcomes your support, as always, to help expand our reach and scope with your feedback and general goodwill! Take a look:
Family Man, by Jerome Charyn & Joe Staton, is a 300-page hardcover. For more details, and how to purchase, visit IDW Publishing right here.
Audiences can come and go but a work is always there to be enjoyed. Sometimes, a work can be, as they say, ahead of its time and thus miss its audience. Such is the case with the exceptionally quirky and quite impressive time travel tour de force comic, Aztec Ace. What exactly goes on here? you may ask. Well, if you’re a time travel fan, this story hits plenty of the sweet spots: a dynamic main character on a mission; a plausible cat and mouse framework; and dazzling displays of messing with the time space continuum. That’s it in nutshell. More details follow. Aztec Ace was indeed a time travel comic ahead of its time. Now, thanks to IT’S ALIVE Press, this gem from the ’80s is getting the deluxe treatment it deserves. Head over to the Kickstarter campaign (ends June 29) to make this happen right here.
First ever complete graphic novel collection of AZTEC ACE, created by legendary comic book scribe Doug Moench, w/new cover by Dan Day!
Aztec Ace is a comic title formerly published by Eclipse Comics. Originally written by Doug Moench and pencilled by Dan Day, 15 issues appeared from 1984 to 1985. The characters reappeared in the 1988 Total Eclipse comic series. Other contributors to Aztec Ace were inker Nestor Redondo, inker Ron Harris, artist Mike Gustovich, artist Tom Yeates, colorist Philip DeWalt, colorist Steve Oliff, colorist Sam Parsons, letterer Carrie Spiegle, and Eclipse editor cat yronwode. The Aztec Ace logo was created by Denis McFarling.
The story revolves around a time traveller named Ace (real name: Caza), whose goal is to save the timestream from unraveling through various intricate adventures. Ace is from the 23rd Century, with his base in pre-contact Aztec Mexico; he often visits ancient Egypt. His main enemy is Nine-Crocodile, who creates time paradoxes in an attempt to save his own dimension at the expense of other realities, especially, the modern world as we know it.
All or nothing. This project will only be funded if it reaches its goal by Fri, June 29, 2018 10:41 AM PDT.
Characteristics of the series are time travel, the use of cultural icons such as political figures, historical situations, songs, and cult movies in unexpected situations, and philosophical musing. Historical renderings of ancient cultures were detailed and imaginative. Careful reading, broad knowledge, and patience were required of the reader, as well as some understanding of the ongoing storyline, all of which possibly prevented it from gathering a large following.
Aztec Ace has never been reprinted or collected in any form.
Aztec Ace has never been reprinted or collected in any form. IT’S ALIVE Press is working directly with Doug to Kickstart this collection. Also, some comic book superstars have created exclusive Aztec Ace sketches, which will only be available through this campaign. There are sketches from Bill Sienkiewicz, Jeff Lemire, Kelley Jones, Paul Pope, Michael Avon Oeming, Matt Kindt, Michael Wm. Kaluta, Joe Staton and more!
Aztec Ace has never before been reprinted or collected in any form.
Support the Aztec Ace Kickstarter campaign right here!
Jane is 16 years old and believes that she does not know how to live her life. We can all relate to that–but Jane’s world is far more complicated, set in the distant future where robots are capable of providing human companionship. “The Silver Metal Lover,” the 1981 cult classic science fiction novel by Tanith Lee, was adapted in 1985 into the highly engaging graphic novel by Trina Robbins. It has never been reprinted in any form until now. Drew Ford runs his own imprint at IDW called IT’S ALIVE! and he has a stellar track record for finding gems from the past and giving them a whole new life. A Kickstarter campaign in support of an exciting new edition is reaching its final stages, closing January 5th. Check it out right here.
THE SILVER METAL LOVER by Trina Robbins
This new edition will have a new cover and afterword by Colleen (A DISTANT SOIL) Doran, a new foreword by Gail (BIRDS OF PREY) Simone, and a new intro by Trina Robbins herself. All of this will be printed at 8.5″ x 11, full color, on glossy paper, all tucked inside a beautiful hard cover.
Drew Ford on this very special project:
“This cult classic science fiction romance is an important early example of ‘the graphic novel’ as a storytelling vehicle, telling an intimate story of a young girl’s first love…who just happens to be a robot! We are very honored to shine a light on the brilliant work of the late Tanith Lee. And we are thrilled to be working on our second book with the legendary Trina Robbins! Also, we must send out a huge THANK YOU to Colleen Doran and Gail Simone for coming along for the ride! We hope you will give it a look, and consider making a pledge.”
Many exciting rewards are being offered, including signed copies of the book, exclusive prints from Colleen Doran, sketches by comic book pros, and even original pages of comic book art by Trina Robbins!
This is a book that is sure to please fans of science fiction and comics alike. Visit the campaign right here.
The story begins in New York City…one hour into the future. Crime runs rampant, rogue cops patrol the rubble-strewn streets, predatory gangs steal anything that isn’t nailed down, and the once powerful mafia dons cower in fear in their tenement prisons. Someone is killing the mob chieftains one by one, and the last survivors call on Alonzo, The Family Man, to hunt down the murderer. But it won’t be easy – not when Alonzo’s own brother Charles, the gun-toting Monsignor of the corruption-ridden New York City police department, is a prime suspect.
Full page of original art by Joe Staton
Jerome Charyn (The Magician’s Wife) is one of my favorite writers. He is a one-of-a-kind visionary. Charyn has worked with some of the best cartoonists in the world and his work with Joe Staton (Dick Tracy) is no exception. Take a look at the examples in this post and it will give you a taste of the hard-boiled, multi-layered tale that is FAMILY MAN. A Kickstarter campaign is on now thru May 21st in support of releasing, for the first time, a collected graphic novel of this classic work. Visit it right here.
Jerome Charyn & Joe Staton
This is a project that Mr. Charyn and Mr. Staton worked on in 1994, during the heyday of Paradox Press, an imprint of DC Comics. Take a closer look at the artwork and marvel over the distinctive shading made possible with the Craft Tint duotone process. These special bristol boards were coated with shading underneath the surface. The artist exposed the shading as needed. Back in 1994, FAMILY MAN ended up as a three-part comic book series of 96-pages each. Thanks to IT’S ALIVE! Press, this stunning work of comics can now be given the best possible presentation as a graphic novel. That includes displaying each page as it originally appeared on the art board
Close-up view of Joe Staton artwork
I really can’t say enough about the remarkable talent of novelist Jerome Charyn. We will pursue that further in subsequent posts. What I’ll say now is that he was way ahead of his time, at least in American circles, by taking his literary skills to the comics medium. In Europe, for example, that has been well understood for decades. In America, we’ve had time to catch up. If you read a Charyn work in comics, you are treated to a vast world of intrigue with characters that will get under your skin. For FAMILY MAN, Charyn and Staton serve up a nice pulpy noir tale set in New York City “one hour into the future.” It is a story about two brothers on separate sides of the law caught in a dystopia they understand all too well and which will pit them in a bloody conflict.
It’s not too late to join in and reserve your copy of FAMILY MAN. This is a wonderful opportunity to own a shining example of comics at its best. Check out the Kickstarter and learn more about rewards, including original art by Joe Staton, right here.
Sam Glanzman’s VOYAGE TO THE DEEP was originally published in 1962 by Dell Comics and has never been reprinted. Drew Ford, known for finding lost gems in comics and bringing them back to print, plans to give this masterwork a well deserved return. This will be the third collection in Ford’s IT’S ALIVE! imprint. A Kickstarter campaign in support of this book is running now through Dec 3rd. You can find it right HERE.
Eisner Award nominee Drew Ford, left his position at Dover Publications earlier this year (where he put together over 30 graphic novel collections, one of which was nominated for an Eisner Award: THE PUMA BLUES by Stephen Murphy & Michael Zulli), to launch his own imprint called IT’S ALIVE!, were he will continue his mission of bringing lost and forgotten graphic novels and uncollected comic book runs back into print!
Currently, he is trying to collect (for the first time ever) VOYAGE TO THE DEEP by Sam Glanzman, a series of four interconnected 32 page comics books that have been out of print for almost 55 years! This will be the third collection from his new imprint, and he is raising the funds to do this through Kickstarter.
VOYAGE TO THE DEEP follows the adventures of Admiral Jonathan Leigh, as he commands the mighty Proteus (a shape-shifting atomic sub) through the deepest of Earth’s oceans, battling fanged sea creatures, arctic monsters, anti-mater generators, sonic attacks, and even terrorism!
Golden Age comic book master, and WWII veteran, Sam Glanzman has been drawing comics for over 70 years. And through Ford’s recent efforts, many new collections of Glanzman’s out of print work are now back on the shelves for long time fans to enjoy, and new readers to discover for decades to come. Mark Waid called Glanzman “…a National treasure in the field of illustration.”, and The A.V. Club praised Glanzman as “…one of the great storytellers of 20th century comics.”
The VOYAGE TO THE DEEP Kickstarter page has a handful of incredible Early Bird Specials, which will only last for the first few days of the campaign. And remember that if you end up becoming a backer, you will not only be helping Sam Glanzman, but you will also be helping Ford to continue his mission of saving the history of comics, one book at a time!
Visit the VOYAGE TO THE DEEP Kickstarter campaign running now thru Dec 3rd right HERE.
Page from the graphic novel, DOPE, by Trina Robbins
IT’S ALIVE! is an imprint that specializes in bringing great comics, many out of print for decades, to new readers. IT’S ALIVE! has partnered with IDW Publishing to make these wonderful books available to you. However, the imprint’s founder and editor, Drew Ford, is still responsible to come up with the funds to publish each book. Right now, a Kickstarter campaign is going on in support of the first ever collection of a comic book adaptation by Trina Robbins of Sax Rohmer’s 1919 novel, DOPE. The Kickstarter campaign runs thru August 19th and you can support it right here.
If this Kickstarter campaign is successful, IT’S ALIVE! will publish the first ever collection of Trina Robbin’s comic book adaptation of Sax Rohmer’s sensational 1919 novel, DOPE. The story centers around a talented young actress, who becomes fatally ensnared in London’s mysterious and glittery drug culture of the early 20th century. DOPE was both the first novel to speak openly about the world’s international drug trade, and the first story to center around the death of a celebrity by drug overdose. Robbin’s comic book adaptation was first published in 1981, serialized within the pages of ECLIPSE MAGAZINE (and later, ECLIPSE MONTHLY). The story started out in a black and white magazine, and finished up in color comic book. Since its initial publication, it has never been collected in any form.
Trina Robbins is one of the best cartoonists in a long history of great comics art. DOPE exemplifies her distinctive vision. The campaign ends soon, August 19th. Jump on board here.
