DayBlack #2
Written & Illustrated by Keef Cross
Rosarium Publishing
Release Date: March 5, 2014
Cover Price: $1.99

DayBlack #2 takes a darker (pun) turn, as we get into more details about Merce’s life as well as insights into his tattoo business, including his favorite type of customers, and one particularly shocking bit involving one of his regulars.

As with the first issue, cool new takes on vampiric senses are introduced. I especially loved the unexpected cliffhanger ending, which reminded me of some of the stuff I used to dig as a kid.

Creepy Archives, Volume 18
Hardcover | Kindle Edition
Written by Various
Illustrated by Various
Dark Horse Comics
Release date: February 18, 2014
Cover Price: $49.99

Creepy Archives, Volume 18, covers issues 84-88 of the original magazine series, wherein each issues had a theme. For instance, #84 was an “all sports issue,” which while an odd fit on the surface, worked surprisingly well. “All monster” stories was the focus of #85. The next two were Christmas and Mars-themed, with issue #88 being a free-for-all smorgasbord of stories.

Overall, these Creepy Archive collections are blasts from the past, when seemingly all comics seemed more a bit more wondrous, even innocent “” including the horror ones. This volume features art from some of the big, and not so big names of yesteryear, with quality craftsmanship being a key element that they have in common.

Chances are, you’ve seen the new trailer for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and you probably noticed there’s a raccoon with the machine gun. Bill Mantlo co-created Rocket Raccoon in 1976, but since it was a work-for-hire project, he likely won’t see a dime from this big-budget comic book film.

In 1992, Mantlo was struck by a hit-and-run driver and suffered traumatic brain injury, and has been living in a nursing home/rehabilitation facility, and as you can imagine, this is costly. So, with the recently popularity of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and the likelihood of Rocket Raccoon becoming an immediate kid-favorite, it’s a good time to bring everyone’s attention to Mantlo and his tragic plight. You can donate through PayPal to help with Mantlo’s medical expenses.

The great thing about a Hasbro/Marvel movie action figure line is that in addition to some great figures based on the heroes and villains in the film, there’ll also be a bunch of comics-based figures to boot. And this is the case with the The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie line. Hasbro debuted their tie-ins for the upcoming film at last weekend’s Toy Fair in New York City, and we have a bunch of photos of the products here below.

Of course, as with any movie-based toy line, released in advance of the film, there’s also a slight risk of some spoilers, such as the Dead Gwen Stacy figure*, but alas, that’s the nature of the internet, and in most cases, these spoilers often serve to heighten anticipation in the coming flick.

So in addition to the various figures straight out of the movie, we’ll be treated to comic book versions of Beetle, Black Cat, Carnage, Superior Spider-Man, and the Ultimate Green Goblin.

Judge Dredd: Mega City Two #1
Written by Douglas Wolk
Art by Ulises Farinas
Colors by Ryan Hill
Letters by Tom B. Long
IDW Publishing
Release Date: January 22, 2014
Cover Price: $3.99

Judge Dredd: Mega City Two #1 was one fun book to read! The first impressions sold me immediately, with artist Ulises Farinas’ ultra detail in the city shots, instantly bringing Geoff Darrow and the late, lamented, Seth Fisher, to mind.

But Farina has got his own look and the detail expressed in the environments is sharply contrasted with the simplicity of his figure illustrations. I should note that the city shots contain lots of gags, like the “Van Halen Expressway” and “Stallone Megway” signs and the neon “Carl’s Sagan jr” restaurant.