Monster Island News: Blue Water Comics

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Hot Off The Press! Page 77 Of Todd Tennant's "Godzilla 1994" Online Comic

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Todd Tennant
From: Godzilla 2012

Last week I posted some great new artwork from Todd Tennant's "Godzilla 94" online comic, based on Tristar's unused script by Rossio and Elliott, and the fans here, and over at the Facebook group, went gaga.

I mean, they really liked it! Both Todd and I were swamped with e-mails and posts filled with appreciation and praise, along with others wanting to know more about the project.

Todd was more than a little thankful.

Thanks to all the positive response, he has opted to bless us with the newest page from "Godzilla 94", electing to have it premiere here, even before it is added to the "Godzilla 94" website.

If you recall, I mentioned that there was a possibility that Blue Water Comics may be able to publish Todd's "G94" work in graphic novel form. Though I am sworn to secrecy at this point, I will mention that there are 'things' happening on that front, but I can't be specific.

Just keep hoping and praying that things work out. Todd appreciates all the support!

See Also: New 'Godzlla 94' Art From Todd Tennant - Is There A Graphic Novel On The Way?

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Black Scorpion #1 - A Comic Book Review

Written By: Ken Hulsey

What could be cooler than a comic book heroine created by legendary film maker Roger Corman?

Last August Bluewater Comics and Corman announced that they had agreed on a partnership that would bring many of the director/producer's creations to print.

One of the first of these titles to emerge from Bluewater's Washington state digs, is a series about the revenge driven female character, "Black Scorpion", who has already graced cable television, played by the buxom Michelle Lintel, in the form of two made for Showtime movies and a twenty-two episode series on the Sci Fi Channel (SyFy).

The first issue's story, as you would probably guess, is a straight forward 'origin' story. Detective Darcy Walker is not afraid to stick her nose into places where it doesn't belong, a trait that she inherited from her father who just happens to be the Police Commissioner. Of course, the lovely detectives rogue antics drive her higher-ups bonkers.

While attempting to apprehend a sinister criminal, known as 'The Prankster", who has just wasted a hostage and gotten away with a hefty amount of ransom money, Walker's straight-forward approach allows the criminal to get away, and lands her a nasty crack to the noggin.

Now, I want to stop here for a second to talk a little bit about "The Pankster". "Prankster".....hmm....."Prankster?".......sound like any other comic book villain?

.....hmmm.......maybe like....Oh, I dunno...."The Joker!"

Well. that is exactly what we have here......literally, an African-American version of "The Joker", complete with scared smile, but no clown makeup.

As the story unfolds, The Prankster manages to bribe the mayor and other city officials to look the other way as the master criminal and his gang begin to eliminate all that oppose them and go on a crime spree.

As you may assume, Commissioner Walker, isn't the kind of guy that you can buy off, so he gets murdered in cold blood.

The elder Walker dies in his daughter Darcy's arms in a very emotional, and very cliche, scene.

Seeking revenge, the young detective fixates on a Scorpio pendant that her father gave her just a day prior, and ala "Spider-Man", the "Black Scorpion" is born. Though we don't get to see the shapely Darcy Walker in the latex in this issue.

Overall the quality of this issue is pretty good, albeit the story, by Paul J. Salamoff, is fairly cliche, and the main villain is 'borrowed' from "Batman".

The art-work, produced by the combined talents of Darren G. Davis, Wilson Ramos Jr., Zac Atkinson and Daniel Cuchacovich is quite good.

It will be interesting to see just how this story will develop over the next few issues, hopefully expanding into more Corman-esque fair with a sense of camp and a more creative story line.

See Also: Cape Town South Africa Is Under Attack By Six-Legged Cephalopods! / Vincent Price Presents - A Wonderful Horror Comics Anthology From Bluewater / Plan 9 From Outer Space Strikes Again / The First Look At The Giant Octopus From It Came From Beneath The Sea.... Again / The First Image From Todd Tennant's It Came From Beneath The Sea Again / Todd Tennant To Illustrate Blue Water Comics It Came From Beneath The Sea Again / The Work Of Ray Harryhausen Comes To Comics In Matt Frank's Wrath Of The Titans: Cyclops

Hot Off The Artists Table - A Brand New Image From It Came From Beneath The Sea....Again!

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Todd Tennant

Some websites brag about getting scoops and exclusives, but what site has ever gotten comic book art straight off the artist's table before?

Comic book artist Todd Tennant, who has been slaving away, producing new art work for his three issue stint on Blue Water Comics "It Came From Beneath The Sea....Again!", literally took the above panels off the drawing table, scanned them, and e-mailed them straight to us late Friday night. How is that for service?

That actually means that we got to see them before Blue Water did.....hope Todd doesn't get in trouble for that.

Here's the description of the action we see in the illustration straight from Todd Tennant himself:

'"Eat some SCIENCE!", a great line written by Clay & Susan Griffith and spoken by "Faust", just one of the 3 brave hero/characters from IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA... AGAIN!

Faust (Spunkmeyer) has just created a really cool looking science-nerd laser gun and tries it out on one of the captive 6- legged Cephalopod "babies" that just broke free in his lab.(...but you'll have to purchase the comic book when it's published later on to find out what happens next ;0)."

See Also: Is King Komodo Ready For A Movie Makeover? / Cape Town South Africa Is Under Attack By Six-Legged Cephalopods! / The First Look At The Giant Octopus From It Came From Beneath The Sea.... Again / The First Image From Todd Tennant's It Came From Beneath The Sea Again / A Brand New King Komodo Wallpaper From Todd Tennant / James Stokoe Developing World War G / Todd Tennant To Illustrate Blue Water Comics It Came From Beneath The Sea Again / New King Komodo Art Straight From Todd Tennant / A King Komodo vs Snowball Grand Finale - Sneak Preview / Todd Tennant To Return To Godzilla 94 / Its A King Komodo Cage Match / The Cage A Special King Komodo Sneak Peak From Todd Tennant / G-FAN #85 / King Komodo's Next Opponent - Meet mScorpio / The Godzilla 94 Trailer - Now With Music And Sound Effects! / Is This The End Of King Komodo? / Todd Tennant's New Godzilla 94 Trailer / Yet Another Sneak Preview Of King Komodo From G-Fan #84 /You Can Be The Victim On The New King Komodo Poster / King Komodo - G-Fan #84 Sneak Peak / Godzilla vs The Gryphon - Jeff Farley's Godzilla Sculpt / An Exclusive! Godzilla 94' Page 60 / An Exclusive Sneak Preview Of The Gryphon From Godzilla 94 / King Komodo Returns To The Pages Of G-Fan / Robo Japan Exclusive! - Godzilla 94 Page 56 / Godzilla Attacks!

Cape Town South Africa Is Under Attack By Six-Legged Cephalopods!

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Todd Tennant

Okay, before everyone gets all worked up, no Cape Town, South Africa is not really under attack from a bunch of six-legged sea monsters. However, in the pages of issue number three of Bluewater Comics, "It Came From Beneath The Sea..... Again!" it will be.

Artist Todd Tennant, who is taking over illustrating the comic book series starting this issue, was kind enough to send us a sneak preview of his work.

The comics are written by Clay and Susan Griffith, who continue the story from the 1955 Columbia Pictures release, "It Came from Beneath the Sea", which was produced by Charles Schneer and featured the stop-motion effects work of Ray Harryhausen.

Besides being a great artist, Todd may have a promising career as a journalist. Check out the fake news headline and story that he sent along with the art work:

....This is a SPECIAL REPORT from Cape Town, South Africa....

Downtown Cape Town, South Africa is under attack by GIANT 6-LEGGED CEPHALOPODS!

These freaks-of nature appear to be impervious to standard gunfire, but the South African Defense Force are valiantly battling to secure the area nonetheless. These two images are the only visuals we have for now, but there will be more following soon. Stay tuned to Robo Japan News Wire for more details!

Indeed! Stay tuned to the Robo Japan (it's...um Monster Island News now) News Wire for more details about "It Came From Beneath The Sea....Again!" I'm certain that Todd will keep his promise and will be sending over more art work in the very near future.

Oh, before I forget, props to Todd for remembering that the monster in the original movie had 'six' legs, not eight. Although an octopus has eight legs, special effects legend, Ray Harryhausen only used six on his stop-motion model. By eliminating the two legs, Harryhausen saved time and money, plus made his job of keeping track of the leg movements easier. He figured that since the monster spent most of its time in the water, nobody would notice.

Vincent Price Presents - A Wonderful Horror Comics Anthology From Bluewater

Written By: Ken Hulsey

Being a writer that focuses on the fantasy entertainment realm isn't all that easy. Once you get established and people get to know about your work things start to find their way into your e-mail box and home mail box. Sometimes a lot of items get thrown at you all at once. It can be hard to keep up with it all, especially if you are easily distracted, like I am.

That leads me to the subject of this article, the really great horror anthology "Vincent Price Presents", which is published by Bluewater Comics. I have been really wanting to sit down and write about these books for several months now, but 'something' always seems to pull me away when I attempt to do so.

But not today.

If you were lucky enough to grow up during the 1970s, like I did, then you were probably a fan of the excellent horror comic books of the day. I personally spent many a day with my face planted in between the pages of Eerie, Creepy, Vampirella and the like. That was truly the golden age of horror and sci fi themed books.

Today the Washington based Bluewater Comics is publishing a new breed of horror and sci fi comics that may re spark the popularity of this genre yet once again.

The company also publishes a series of political based comics about president Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton and even Oprah Winfrey, but I don't want to hold that against the company. Their other stuff is quite good.

On second thought, maybe those are horror titles?

Vincent Price Presents is presented in the same format as Rod Serling's famous television series "Night Gallery", in every issue Price sets the tone for the story, just like Serling did in the TV series.

The works of writer Chad Helder have been featured predominantly throughout the first year of the series. His work is very good, although it seems that he has a fixation on evil k-9's.

Helder's work on the very first issue of "Vincent Price Present's" was what stood out for me. A tale of a ruling class of Vampires who run a Nazi inspired government with camps to contain a constant food supply. Very chilling.

Another thing that helps this series stand out against the other horror comics is the often surreal artwork done by Rey Armenteros and Giovanni Timpano. Actually it is Armenteros who creates the very bizarre and frightening illustrations to go along with the author's stories. Timpano tends to do standard comic book work, that's not to say that the work is not good in it's own right.

I will have to say that it is Armenteros's strange illustrations that are the real backbone of this series. The work is bizarre, surreal and often times, grotesque. A perfect way to illustrate the horrific and macabre themes in the comics.

If you have not been exposed to "Vincent Price Presents" then I suggest you search you local comic book retailer for new and back issues of the comic. You will be transported into the world of the strange and supernatural very much like I was way back in the seventies with my collection of comic books and comic magazines.