The Super Alliance: Episode 3

The third installment of the Super Alliance web series was released on May 31st and the fourth will follow before long.

If you're new to it, the story revolves around a guy named John Jupiter who discovers that he has super powers.  He asked to join a team of similarly-gifted people but is starting to learn that all may not be as it seems.  In this episode, "The alliance finds a crucial piece of information that leads to their biggest mission yet."

Enjoy, and keep track of The Super Alliance through their Facebook page.

Captain Canuck Summer Special covers

Much like Heroes of the North, Captain Canuck hardly needs my help in promotional matters.  From what I can gather the CC team has a significantly larger following than I do.

Yet I can't help but share these covers for the upcoming Summer Special book, to be released on Canada Day (or thereabouts) for free in participating comic stores, the list of which is forthcoming.  The first was revealed on Facebook this past weekend...

...and I believe the second was only freshly unveiled this morning.  The ratio between primary cover above and variant below was not stated.

Get a load of the credits at top left of the main cover.  Some of those names should be quite familiar to fans of the original comic book series. Nice to see a continued blend of new and old ("old" said with the utmost respect, of course...).

Speaking of that, I dig that they are using the original Summer Special logo within both covers.  Again, a nice way to move forward with a respectful salute to the past.

And now speaking of that...I didn't start this blog, two and half years ago now, to criticize people.  But I did grow frustrated with the Captain Canuck gang earlier this year when they failed to communicate with their supporters during the struggles to honour their indiegogo commitments.

This product goes a long way to correcting a number of wrongs for me.  The Captain Canuck team has offered to mail a copy of the book to its contributors who may not be able to get it for themselves, a group I happen to belong to.  Grateful for the option to receive the book by mail instead, I offered to pay for shipping and was turned down.

That Team Canuck is willing to make that extra effort to ensure that I get my hands on the book goes a long way for me.  I complained about them publicly, so I want to express my appreciation and gratitude in the same manner as well.

"Epic Canadiana #2 is Go!"

Some good news was delivered to us this past weekend by way of a comment to a post from November.

This is (Bevan Thomas) the editor of "Epic Canadiana," pleased to announce that we've now launched the call for submissions for "Epic Canadiana #2"! 

"Epic Canadiana #1" featured a host of Canadian heroes that paid tribute to the golden age of Canadian comics, from gun-toting vigilantes to Arctic demigods and gay activists. The book was featured on CBC Radio, ShawTV, and the Vancouver Courier, Now it's time for a sequel. Are you ready to join the ranks?

More information can be found at:
http://www.cloudscapecomics.com/2014/06/12/epic-canadiana-2-is-go

I very much enjoyed the first volume of Epic Canadiana which, if you missed out, is still available here.

While preparing this post, I flipped through the book again to find some artwork to display but could not settle on a specific image. There is too much variety within the book to properly showcase it with an image or two, so for a broader look inside, click on the store link above and check out the slideshow at the bottom of the page.

That said...If I handed out year-end awards, similar to a sports league or team, Canada Jacques would have been my 2013 rookie of the year.  I absolutely loved the character in his brief introductory appearance.

I don't want to get too much into it for fear of spoiling parts of the story for people who have yet to read it.  Probably the best way to express it is to say that Jacques is more heroic than he is superheroic.  He is the type of character that would make a great role model for a number of reasons.

If you think you have something to contribute to this anthology, review the guidelines listed on the page linked above and show 'em your stuff.  And meet your deadlines, damn it, because I don't want to wait any longer than I have to for this thing.

The Red Panda: Pyramid of Power cover

At least I assume it is.

The following image is displayed in the last couple of issues of The Red Panda comic book (numbers 4 and 5, which combine to tell the "One Tin Soldier" tale).  It is included in the excerpts from the upcoming Pyramid of Power novel so in true detective fashion, one can put two and two together.

If print is your thing, you can still score the first trade paperback of the comic book series from Amazon. I didn't notice when the trade was released, but the story has been coloured for that format so that's an additional treat for those who bought the individual issues when they were first released.

And of course, the audio shows continue to appear regularly at the end of every month.