Elric: The Balance Lost #10
Elric created by Michael Moorcock
Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Francesco Biagini
Colors by Stephen Downer
Letters by Travis Lanham
Covers by Francesco Mattina, Dan Panosian
BOOM! Studios
BOOM! Studios
Release Date: May 23, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

With four of the incarnations of the Eternal Champion in one place, you would think they would be nearly unstoppable. But we learn very quickly in Elric: The Balance Lost #10 that as amazing as these men are, there are far greater powers in the multiverse. Far greater and far larger in fact.

We enter the issue gawking at the stature of the two Lost Gods, Kwll and Rhynn. Their game is responsible for the destruction of the balance and the aftershocks that are echoing through the worlds. While some have come under the sway of Law, many have embraced chaos in it’s raw form. Our heroes (and anti-heroes) are trying to restore the balance and seek an audience with these powerful beings. Things, as they are wont to do, go horribly awry.

Elric: The Balance Lost #9
Elric created by Michael Moorcock
Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Francesco Biagini
Colors by Stephen Downer
Letters by Travis Lanham
Covers by Francesco Mattina, Dan Panosian
Boom! Studios
Release Date: March 14, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

As you may know if you have read any of my other Elric reviews, I am a huge fan of the Eternal Champion books and comics. This month I got to review Elric: The Balance Lost #9 and it was a real treat. A major change from the majority of the previous comics, this issue explores some of the wonders and background of the multiverse as envisioned by Michael Moorcock.

We get to explore the different planes and concepts of inter-dimensional travel as seen by our heroes on the sentient ship Spammer Gain. Focusing mainly on information, this month we are given a tutorial on the different ways to travel between the worlds and the types of people able to do so.

Conan: Road of Kings #10
Written by Roy Thomas
Art by Dan Panosian
Colors by Dan Jackson
Letters by Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Cover by Aleksi Briclot
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: November 16th, 2011
Cover Price: $3.50

This month’s issue of Conan: Road of Kings has both its hits and misses. Unfortunately, it goes to extremes. When it hits, it hits hard and when it misses, it misses big. Part of me will always give this book the benefit of the doubt, because it’s Roy Thomas writing Conan, and you can’t really get much better than that, right?

Legendary Conan writer Roy Thomas handles Conan: Road of Kings #10, I feel, as if he really wasn’t sure where it was going when he started writing it. As a result, there is a LOT of politics involved in this issue, and they stand out like a sore thumb. Kind of like the endless scenes in the Star Wars prequels that take place in the Galactic Senate. About 30 seconds into them, you just want to roll your eyes and yell “WHO CARES?!?!?!?”. I got the same feeling from the political “intrigue” in this issue.

Conan: The Road of Kings #9
Written by Roy Thomas
Art by Dan Panosian
Colors by Dan Jackson
Letters by Richard Starkings
Cover by Aleksi Briclot
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: October 19, 2011
Cover Price: $3.50

Roy Thomas on Conan. What more could you want? This is classic Conan the Barbarian. Swords, sorcery, and everything that make up the genre. Except, there is a serious lack of scantily clad ladies in this issue. But, I’ll forgive you, Roy.

My one major complaint about the comic (and the Conan books in general) is that if by chance you’re picking up Conan on a whim, you might find yourself a little lost. Although there is a recap on the inside of each cover, with the Hyborian names, and all the political intrigue going on, it’s quite easy to become confused as to who’s who. But, still, Roy Thomas tells a fantastic Conan story. He hasn’t missed a beat.

Yesterday, CBM posted what they thought was leaked concept art for Kenneth Branagh’s live-action Thor movie. Though the image itself was labeled “Thor Movie Concept Design Art,” CBM couldn’t find its source. But, they did put a warning on the post that the image “could very well cause fits of anger amongst comic book purists,” mostly referring to the revamping of Thor’s mighty hammer Mjolnir.

Eventually it was discovered that the concept art was done by Dan Panosian, who’s previously done illustrations for Captain America and Green Lantern, as well as Superhero Movie. Via his Twitter account, Panosian cleared up the confusion. This was not the concept art for Branagh’s live-action Thor movie, although he thought it was when he accepted the commission from an Art Director who referred to the project as a “design for the Thor movie that Marvel is doing.”

Turns out that the Thor movie was actually the animated Thor movie. Panosian only found this out after he had submitted his work.

Panosian explains the mix-up as well as his ideas for the design on his Deviant Art page Urban Barbarian. Read the entire message here below.