Red Squirrel: Centurion Cometh

I have to begin by giving thanks and praise to Red Squirrel creator (as well as writer, artist, and pretty well everything else) Gordon Shipperbottom for getting this issue out to me. He went above and beyond in a couple of different ways and it is sincerely appreciated.

Now as to the book itself...

One thing that jumps out at me:  Aside from a reminder on the first page that Red Squirrel is in something called The Astral Chamber exploring the memories of those around him, the reader is not spoon fed anything. There aren't a bunch of caption boxes all over the pages to explain every single aspect of the book. You basically are arriving in the middle of every scene and you need to work a bit to catch up. There's a story being told and you're a spectator.

I recall feeling that the first issue ended rather suddenly. Well, this one starts much the same way. Where are we at? A press conference is being reluctantly held by a frazzled gentleman named Paniodic. Paniodic runs the Hydro Glass Dome City Complex, a project which has come under question by outsiders big (government) and small (activists) due to questionable happenings around it. People go inside and seemingly refuse to come out.

At one point, this seemed entirely irrelevant to what I'd read in the first issue, but its connection is revealed further in. Again, you're not told the entire plan, you just know that someone has one that will be revealed in due time.

I should point out one specific improvement from issue #1; that issue had a few spelling errors, most of which were of the you're/your variety. I understand that it happens, but it's distracting. There were no such errors in this issue, or at least none that I noticed. It makes the product feel a touch more professional.

The next issue is not set for release until 2015 only and is sub-titled "The Death of Commando Red". I...have no idea what that means or who that is. Issue #3 will focus on that, while revealing a little more of the big picture, no doubt.

Here's some sample art from the current issue. Clicking on it will take you to the PoorMan Comics website.

Mid-April Leaflets (part 2)

All right, let's continue looking at what material we can expect to be made available by Canadian publishers and/or from Canadian talent and/or about Canadian characters.

The first I want to touch on is actually a re-release.  I bought Dino Caruso's Courage book last summer when it was being published by I'm a Geek Entertainment as a digital compilation of four issues worth of material. Fun read.

I did notice that the links through which to purchase the book recently became obsolete and there's no mention of the title on the publisher's website (at least nothing prominent).

Whatever happened there is not at all any of my business, but I was pleased to find that Evil Moose Comics will be releasing the first issue of the mini-series again next month.  Since they're going to be sold through Indyplanet, presumably a print version will be available, and hopefully a trade paperback option as well down the road.

Next, we have the third issue of Legacy from September17 Productions coming up on April 23rd.

Legacy is the publisher's flagship book and Andre Siregar's art in it is just beautiful.

S17 has since released a second title, a team book name New Guard which takes place within the same universe 10 years after the events of the early issues of Legacy and has a couple of other irons in the fire. Most relevant to this blog is work being done to add a team called (at least tentatively, for now) Canadian Corps.

As you can imagine, I'm looking forward to that tremendously as well.  Click on the cover above to get a sneak peek at the various projects being worked on by September17.

Moving right along, we have the fourth issue of Thunder, offered by Two Gargoyles Graphics.

I'll be glad to get my hands on this issue because the third one ended on a pretty intense cliffhanger. It's available now in both print and digital format from IndyPlanet so I'll be making my purchase before long.

Don't let the comical nature of the cover give you the wrong impression; there is plenty of action and drama in the Thunder series. The previous issue featured a hard-hitting battle against a frost giant, for example.  So while the publisher does offer books that are more comedic in nature (I've never read it, but I have to assume that's the case with Diaperman), I would not include Thunder in that category.  Thunder has comedy in its story, but is not a comedy.

But speaking of comedy, I recently found out about Expired Comics, a publisher from my home town of Ottawa.  Much like Diaperman above, Expired's primary offering is a comedy book, The Morningwood Guardian.

They do have another project about to launch ("spring 2014"), which looks to be more my speed, called Merve and Vinny, Earth's Finest.

What happens when an intergalactic and visually impaired being screws up and gives super powered suits to the wrong two guys? And what happens when these two are less than heroic? You get Merve & Vinnie - Earth's Finest, an Expired Comics original focusing on two unlikely "heroes" who really shouldn't have powers. Get ready to laugh as Merve and Vinnie learn what it takes to become Earth's Finest.

This could be pretty fun, so I'll be keeping an eye out for that.

Let's conclude this little spring preview with the following ad for the release of the second issue of Red Squirrel, from Poorman Comics. I just read that the first issue is sold out so congratulations to all involved in its creation.  I wish you similar success with the second one.

Red Squirrel from PoorMan Comics

This blog was partly inspired by a comment on a message board that Canada had no comic book industry to speak of.  Not only am I adding yet another publisher to the tag list at right, but the book below adds a healthy dose of variety to the mix.

The last book discussed here was Crazy Gas.  It is a dark, gritty, paranoid urban tale.

Red Squirrel is the exact opposite; it is a huge, flashy, colourful science-fiction story.  Never let it be said that the Canadian comics are one-trick ponies.

The bulk of the comic is flashback material.  We know that Red Squirrel is in a battle against a nasty bastard named Deathkong.  He (Squirrel) is trying to catch his breath during a lull in the action, after which we are taken back to the events that led to the fight.  The parts that take place on Earth are set in Niagara Falls.

Don't mind the blurring on the left side of the image above.  That's on me, not the artist.

It appears as though the entire book is put together by one Gordon Shipperbottom, though a gentleman named Randy Riddick is credited as a contributor.

But why my read my take?  Here's a brief interview with Mr Shipperbottom in which he discusses what makes Red Squirrel tick.



The book can be purchased from the PoorMan Comics site.  Now I don't know if it's a browser issue but that particular page on the site is very difficult to read because of a lot of the black text appears over dark colours in the banner in the background.  This page, which displays additional preview material, looks far better.