Joe Hill (born Joseph Hillstrom King), son of Stephen King and acclaimed horror / suspense author in his own right is continuing to following his dad’s example as he adds himself to the list of authors successfully working with IDW Publishing. The comic book interpretation of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series has been a huge success, both financially and with the favor of his fanbase. Joe Hill’s Locke & Key is coming to IDW publishing in February. See press release below.

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In a post-Messiah CompleX Marvel Mutantverse, more is changing in the X-men book besides the name. The left is the cover to X-Men: Legacy #208, the following is from Marvel: A single shot to head of Charles Xavier brought an end to the X-Men and killed his dream. But in the wake of Messiah CompleX’s shocking conclusion, what is the fate of Professor X? In X-Men: Legacy #208, from red-hot writer Mike Carey and rising star artist Scot Eaton (X-Factor, X-Men: Endangered Species), along with the guest art team of John Romita Jr and Klaus Janson illustrating crucial moments from X-Men history and a cover by superstar artist David Finch, a bold new era for mutantkind begins! As Xavier’s life hangs in the balance, assistance comes from the last place he’d expect! While Xavier’s saviors seek to restore him, providing fans with a powerful look inside the mind of the X-Men’s founder, a question must be asked: will Xavier’s restoration save mutantkind…or doom mankind? Marvel urges retailers to check their orders on X-Men: Legacy and all X-Men: Divided We Stand tie-ins, as the future of mutants in the Marvel universe is revealed and as critics continue to hail the current direction of the X-titles! Just what will happen to Xavier? And how will Magneto, Gambit and Rogue figure into the equation? The answers arrive in X-Men: Legacy #208!

Neozoic #3 (Red 5 Comics - Ens / Korim / Lam) Thousands of dinosaurs descend on Monanti and the entire Predator Defense League is called into action. But if the walls break, are the elite warriors enough to protect the city? And who or what is behind the lizard invasion? With Atomic Robo, Red 5 blew me out of the water with their take on the retro-pulp-sci-fi genre , they gave a new look and a fresh feel to a classic adventure ride. Paul Ens is doing it again with Neozoic. Any geek worth his or her salt has read at least one fantasy novel of a culture of warriors living in a savage land fighting off the local hostile flora and fauna. Ens has taken this known setting that has classically been done well in the past (Conan, Ka-Zar, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, etc.) and has re-imagined it and is now adding Neozoic to that “classic” list. This series will have your attention from the beginning, whether it is the well-thought out society of the walled city of Monanti, the crisp interactions and personalities of the characters or the story that sweeps you along, you will be hooked into the Neozoic world. Even if you are a traditionally not a fan of fantasy, with this level of writing you will have pure fun reading Neozoic. The artwork by relative newcomer J. Korim (Rotogin) is gorgeous. His numerous splash pages are incredible. It takes real talent to be able to capture a dinosaur attack on a walled city without it either looking cheesy or over-the-top epic. Korin’s art is complimented by the coloring of Jessie Lam. If their future work grows off of what they are doing in this book, these two are a team that will be making an impact for years to come. Red 5 is stepping up as the indy publisher to beat, Neozoic is a fantastic add to their already great line up of comics.

Grade: A

Here at ThePullBox, we’re pretty big fans of C.S.Lewis and his works. In fact, to this day my wife says that her favorite books are Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawn Treader. So I saw the Prince Caspian one-sheet and thought I would share.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian premiers this summer!

Black Mane (One Time Press - Lariccia) - Black Mane confronts issues of race and gender through the authors self-depreciating self-portrait.  The story is set in Boston during a summer break from graduate school in the midwest.  LaRiccia works in a T-shirt stand on the waterfront and lives in an apartment in Brookline.  The banality of his life is contrasted with the consistent presence of volatile male characters: Hyper testosterone jocks, chauvinistic abusers and entitled alpha males… This book goes much deeper than you would first expect when you pick it up.  As I thumbed through Black Mane the first time, I asked myself “Is this about a were-lion”? And the mixture of LaRiccia’s blend of semi-realistic sketches, non-uniform layouts, “anger fantasy” sequences and emotional exaggeration in his art might catch a reader off guard.  As I settled into this read, I started to realize that Michael LaRiccia has a fantastic narrative to tell and a great question to ask, “in modern society, what makes a man?”  In the book, Mike tries to find the balance between society’s version of “machismo” and what he knows about the good in himself.  The reader follows him as he continues to question his every action and observes the “males” archetypes in his daily walk.  Black Mane explores the everyday side to racism, sexism and stereotypes overall, a fantastic book and discussion-starter.  Pullbox Warning: Mature Audiences only - language issues.

Grade: A-

Master’s Devils: An Illustrated Confessional (Legion Studios - Guffey / Kruse / Various) - This book was entirely not what I was expecting. To be honest, with the talent and rawness that comes out of Legion Press I’m never sure what to expect out of their books though, except that will be better than your everyday fair. Master’s Devils is sort of a tribute book to all the models and artists that have helped Legion out over the years. “Demonic artistic talents collaborate in this Limited Edition pin-up art book honoring the Legion Studios “Devil Girls” is the blurb from Legion itself. I have gotten acquainted with Legion’s work over the past few years at Wizard World Chicago. In fact, coming up they will be at the Fangoria Weekend of Horror in Chicago Feb 22-24. If you are a serious horror fan, Legion Press is the one independent studio you do not want to pass up on. Hope you can catch them this year on the convention circuit. This book is a collection of prayer-like poems, accompanied by pin-up art supporting the dedication poems. The art is done by the various hands and styles of indie constants like: Roc Bottom, Jesse D’Angelo, John Yeo Jr., Terrence Muncy, Larry Bone and others. This is quite the unique item and a must for any fan of Legion comics or good horror comics in general.  Pullbox Warning: Mature audiences only!

Wolverine: Origins #21 (Marvel - Way / Dillon) - He’s a born killer, highly trained in the art of violence. He’s a man out of time, living without fear of death. He’s the best there is at what he does…and he’s about to do it to Wolverine. Enter: DEADPOOL! What kind of person goes after Wolverine? Who accepts a contract on Wolverine’s life regardless of the money involved? A highly trained assassin and fighter who is out of their cotton-pickin’ mind, that’s who. And that description just about sums up Marvel’s oddball hitman Deadpool. While the cover by Simone Bianchi is excellent, drawing the unexpected reader into buying this book, the action and quality of art displayed here is not found anywhere inside the pages. The plot is pretty much summarized in Marvel’s blurb above. Deadpool accepts a contract to take out Wolverine and spends the entire issue attempting to get one up on Logan. This appears like it could be a great premise, I mean imagine Jack Bauer trying to take on John McClain, could be very cool… this unfortunately is not. Stifled dialogue, lame sequences and mediocre art bring this slugfest to a screeching halt. The the characters wrestle their way through a department store in Chinatown and an ambulance chase scene with the culmination being that Deadpool literally wants to outshine Wyle E. Coyote and he drops a piano on Wolverine. This is part one of “The Deep End” story arc, hope things gets a little deeper as far the plot goes.

Grade: C-

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The trades are reporting that Guillermo del Toro will be directing The Hobbit and that he and Peter Jackson will be completing the script together. While I’m sorry to see that Jackson is not directing, I can’t think of a better replacement. The writers strike will determine as to when we can see this in motion.

The following story comes from the Hollywood Reporter. Guillermo del Toro (Getty Images photo)

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Marvel has had a ton of marketing ideas over the last year, some good some bad. Can you really balance out innovative pod-casts and a full-blown selection of online comics with re-writing a flagship character’s history. Well, no matter how angry you feel about Spidey… odds are you will be able to appreciate Marvel’s newest venture with the creators of ABC’s Lost.

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Shooting War (Grand Central Publishing - Lappe / Goldman) - The year is 2011. The global war on terror is raging out of control. The American economy is deep in recession. The president is popping Prozac. When a suicide bomber blows a Brooklyn Starbucks to bits, hipster videoblogger Jimmy Burns is in the right place at the right time. His dramatic footage is picked up by Global News (“Your home for 24-hour terror coverage”) and Burns is transformed into an overnight media sensation. The next thing he knows he’s on a Black Hawk flying low and fast towards war-ravaged Baghdad. But Burns’ greatest dream – to become a war correspondent – quickly becomes his greatest nightmare. Everyone from his ratings-ravenous bosses, to a renegade squad of U.S. Army commandos, to a tech-savvy band of murderous jihadists all try to make him their pawn. But Burns has other ideas.

When I had the hard cover in my hands, before opening it, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was already out there, great things had been said about the book, but what could be more true about a story of the power and abuse of branding and media than to have it have it be over-hyped?

Anthony Lappe and Dan Goldman’s Shooting War had me sucked in by the fourth page and I didn’t put it down until I had read it all the way through. From a modern story-telling perspective, Mr. Lappe is marvelous… foreshadowing without being predictable, details that make you want to read every word and that stick, closure for the individual characters and the overall plot-line. This story was well woven, with every detail in place. Come on, Jimmy Burns has to be the best names character this side of Willy Loman. Shooting War could not or would not have told it’s tale as well without the art of Dan Goldman. Mr. Goldman’s combination of illustration, photography and amalgamation of both is the perfect structure from where Shooting War will keep you riveted in your seat. As a detail about this book, it is more than ironic that this tale of a blogger sucked into a word deeper, darker and bigger than he imagined started as a webcomic, even if it was Eisner-nominated at that.

Neither Anthony Lappe nor Dan Goldman are strangers to the world of politics. Lappe is the executive Editor of GNN.tv, the web site for the Guerrilla News Network. Besides having an extensive background in TV and radio, he is also the Author of True Lies and produced BattleGround: 21 Days on the Empire’s Edge, the award winning documentary for Showtime about Iraq. Dan Goldman is the co-author of Everyman and is one of the founding members of Act-I-Vate, a daily cutting-edge comic anthology which is meeting the changes of the comic medium head on. After reading Shooting War, it’s hard to shake it, I felt very similar to this the first time after I read Art Spiegelman’s Maus. Analytically contemplative, shell-shocked and emotionally spent all in one. I went back to check details, catch what I had missed the first time, then just sat and took in the “shock and awe” of this not too far off possible future. If you are someone who really isn’t looking for someone to try to sway your politics while you read comics, I understand the sentiment, I really do. But in Shooting War, Lappe and Goldman offer a grand story that will challenge your ideas, make you defend your beliefs and keep you on the edge of your seat reading without ever making you feel like they shoving a conclusion down your throat. And if you are someone who seeks out political discussion in pursuit of making our world a better place and you haven’t picked up Shooting War… well, shame on you

Definitely one for your coffee table!

Grade: A