Oh man, one of the books from Scout Comics I was the most excited to check out this year was Black Cotton.  A world where the racial dynamics of black and white are reversed.  I never thought I would be excited to read a book where protestors don signs that say White Lives Matter, but it works.  This smash book from Brian Hawkins, Patrick Foreman and Marco Perugini got the amazing announcement tonight from Scout Comics that it's back for a reprint!!!!!

In a press release from Scout Comics, Scout's President James Haick says "We are so proud that the critically acclaimed Black Cotton #1 is going back to print. It's such a fantastic series and we want to be sure to get this first issue in our fans hands before the second issue comes out in May.  Request it now at you local comic shop using Diamond order code JAN218878!"

This is a book you definitely shouldn't sleep on as it will not only put forth an interesting conversation on race (much like the music video for T.I.'s Warzone) but there are also some intersectional undertones on sex and class in addition to the seeds being planted for some good-old family drama.  You better believe I'm reaching out to my shop to pick up a copy of the second printing!!!!!

This has been a long slog to hump day, but new comic book day has given me the energy to survive. I hate when the seasons slowly shift and the allergens in the air conduct guerrilla warfare against my sinuses....but who cares! It’s time for the weekly pull!!!!

Here’s what I’m reading in order this week:

1. Brzrkr #1(Boom!)
2. Resonant #8 (Vault)
3. Nocterra #1 (Image)
4. Avengers #43 (Marvel)
5. Chariot #1 (AWA)
6. Batman #106 (DC)
7. Casual Fling #2 (AWA)
8. Demon Days X-Men #1 (Marvel) <——Bonus Pick Up
9. Gwenom v Carnage #3 (Marvel)
10. Thunderbolts #3 (Marvel)
11. Captain America KIB #1 (Marvel)
12. Wiccan and Hulkling #1 (Marvel)
13. America Chavez #1 (Marvel) <——Bonus Pick up
14. Dead Dogs Bite #1 (Dark Horse) <—- Bonus Pick up
15. Man-Bat #2 (DC)
16. Engineward #8 (Vault)
17. Hellions #10 (Marvel)
18. Firepower #9 (Image Skybound)
19. Swamp Thing #1 (DC)
20. Unearth #10 (Image)
​21. King in Black Handbook (Marvel)

What did I miss? I have to go to my second spot tomorrow after a doctors appointment!!
​

Last Friday, I stumbled onto the new novel by J.J. Walsh, the Chowderhead crusades, and decided to check out the prologue.  You can check out that review here. After writing my review, I immediately spent the weekend listening to the entirety of the audiobook, some chapters were so intense, I had to listen to them three or four times because I wanted to make sure I nailed every little detail (in the same way I'd read a page or two over and over to make sure I had a full visualization of all of the events).  Before I dive into the specifics of the book, just let me say: If you fancy yourself a comic book fan in any regard, you definitely want to pick up this book.

I'll break this review down into three overall pieces:

1. A longer breakdown of the story.
2. Why comics are the perfect vehicle for a story like this.
3. Why this shouldn't just be considered a re-hash of Ready Player One

As noted in my prologue, the premise of the tale is simple.  At SDCC in 2036 Cateklysm Catholicon arrives and challenges humanity to complete his conundrum by 2055.  The one who completes the challenge first will receive a piece of technology to change the course of the world, referred to as “unimaginably advanced technology” or UAT.  The story then fast-forwards to 2054 where we meet our protagonist, Clayton Claybourne, who is an orphan working on a mining vessel which is transporting to/from Mars.

We learn that Clayton is an orphan who's parents were murdered in front of him when he was nine.  Upon becoming orphaned, he was turned over to the state which then turns him over to Norman Corp as part of the labor loan project, which is a form of indentured servitude.  Amidst the backbreaking labor and guard torture Clayton faces, we do learn of his love for comics (the scriptures) and of his friends who have stunning origin stories of their own.  

As conditions on the ship worsen, and our heroic trio decide to free themselves to solve the Conundrum, a chain of events change them emotionally, mentally, and physically forever.  While the Conundrum is the starting focal point of our heroes' journey, the reason why they decide to travel the breadth of the galaxy is quite intriguing (and I don't want to spoil any of it).

During Cateklysm's announcement, he makes the argument that we need to learn from the wisdom of comic books. Instead of just odd pieces of fiction relegated into the annuls of nerddom, these are texts which should be revered as the greatest mythology of our time.  If we want to find a way to survive...to find a way to right the wrongs perpetrated by our species we should look to the sacred texts of comics.

This was something I absolutely loved (for the same way I loved Ready Player One).  There are all sorts of references made throughout the book, from the most simplistic nod to Superman/Batman/X-Men references even the most casual fan should get...to some deep cuts in independent works from Valiant and Image.  

The references made all were used in the perfect time in the story to teach us an ethical lesson, in the way religious texts are frequently invoked.  It also helped add some depth to my reading list of specific issues, arcs, or series that I definitely need to get to reading!

One of the points of pride of this book is printed on the front cover.  The Portland Book Review calls the Chowderhead Crusades: 

This is a comparison which both puts the book in amazing company on the Mount Rushmore of pop-culture literature.  My fear for some, is reading this book may make them dismiss the text as a Ready Player One knockoff.  

I really do believe the Chowderhead Crusades stands on its own two legs.  While the opening cluster of chapters (Issue 1) do feel very similar in set-up, Issues 2-4 depart from the storytelling model used by Cline and as anticipated, Walsh's book stands on its own two legs.  The meaning of the conundrum evolves to a wholly different symbolic role than the hunt for the egg held in RPO.  I feel the characters are written with a higher degree of authenticity in this book (than some of the cliche tropes used in RPO).  Finally...when you get to Issue four...I DID NOT SEE ANY OF THIS COMING.  The level of twists and turns used by Walsh to bring us to the Conundrum's conclusion take the reader down a heart pounding path you won't be able to put down. 

The moment I post this review to the blog, I'm going to start reading the book in its physical form, instead of listening to Oswalt's interpretation of the characters etc.  Although, I will say he is the PERFECT vehicle to bring Walsh's story to life.

If you are looking for a great adventure tale, comic book fan or no, you don't want to sleep on J.J. Walsh's The Chowderhead Crusades.  You should pick up the physical or audio book (or both!) and see what steps are taken to potentially save a doomed vision of humanity's future.

As a young child, I loved to read.  The wild fictional universes created by a variety of authors gave me a sense of escapism from the mendacity of existence in the Midwest.  I could be instantly transported to a new world anywhere and get lost in whichever character's plight I was taking on that day.  All of a sudden, in high school, my love of fiction slowly died off.  The only things I found myself wanting to read were news and journal articles on whatever the debate topic was in any given year.  Then, college came.  I would phone in discussions of whatever we had to read in the 2-3 literature classes I took, to focus more on the non-fiction texts of all of my political science and communications classes.

All of a sudden, when I was delayed in the SEATAC airport (a yuge one to have a delay in) I decided to check out the bookstore, and I grabbed a copy of Ready Player one.  It had been several years since the book came out, but I owned a zine-ish copy of Ernie Cline's slam poetry, and laughed at his album full of those live performances. Both the physical copy of Ready Player One and the audiobook read by Will Wheaton blew me away.  It is something I find myself either reading or listening to multiple times in a year.  That book brought back the spark of fantasy/fiction I had lost from my childhood, and is ultimately responsible for jumping me back into comics.

Why is any of this relevant?  Lets check out the Chowderhead Crusades and you'll see why this book seems perfectly crafted for me!

You'll notice that today, I tweeted out this: 

After being alerted to the existence of this book, I reached out to J.J. Walsh, the author and asked if he had a chapter etc. I could check out to review.  Before I get into the specifics, the prologue was enough to hook me into picking up the book in both physical and audio forms, and would highly recommend you do the same.  The following section, is a clean-up of my reaction notes as I was listening to one of my favorite comedians read this new masterpiece of nerddom!

In 2036 there is a recording which disrupted every communication feed in existence.  The background of the recording is the Mecca for all comic book fans, the San Diego Comic Con.  Out of nowhere, a man appears out of nowhere with the name "Cateklysm Catholicon" displayed above his head, like a named avatar in any MMORPG.  He claims to be of superior intelligence to all humans, which immediately made everyone in attendance both at ComiCon and watching the feed think he was some cosplayer gone out of his mind espousing the end of the world.

However, when challenged he flew through the air and used energy beams to take down some security guards.  The immediate audience in the convention hall believed it to be a show, but Cateklysm's message is more important than anything from Hall D that con.  His proclamation: we're screwing up the world with politics, religion, and any/all methods of dividing ourselves.  The only method of saving ourselves, embracing the wisdom of comics.  Especially when one of our "only luminaries" in Grant Morrison is tasked with reading a passage and it's revered like a biblical text by Cateklysm.  

Cateklysm presents his challenge as a chance to learn about superheroes, and for one person to win a chance at receiving a piece of technology giving the owner powers to change the trajectory of humanity's path.  However, the competitors have until 2055 to win, or we presume humanity will be faced with heir demise....because we suck! The comic book industry may not participate in assisting anyone.

The die-hard fans who are ready to take on the Challenge are the superhero heads (or "Supe heads....that the haters call Soup Heads). There is a three step challenge, the first being some sort of crossword requiring a "superhero phd."  Originally people collaborated, but then the fear of "giveaway the answer, giveaway the world" prevailed slowing any/all progress in solving the first step of the challenge. While some "Chowderheads" worked together that became rarer than the destruction of relationships. 

The prologue ends with us meeting Clayton Claybourne who works on a mining freighter for a large corporation, because he was bought up as an orphan.  In the same way Ready Player one reveals it is functionally Wade's (Parzival) autobiography, the same revelation is offered to the reader/listener at the end of the prologue.

I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy this book for the same reasons I enjoy Ready Player One and Ready Player Two.  The parallels between these two titles and Walsh's Chowderhead Crusades are clear:

• The earth is falling apart because human beings are a dumpster fire
• An eccentric character offers a challenge to humanity
• An alliterative-named protagonist is wanting to change his station in life via the contest
• Chowderheads/Gunters vs. A large corporation (IOI/The Norman Corp).
• A billion references to a particular fandom (I'm just guessing that they'll pop up)
• The audiobook is narrated by Nerd Royalty (Oswalt/Wheaton).

One of the reasons I loved Cline's "Ready Player" books so much is the nonstop barrage of pop culture references both prominent and obscure in nerd culture.  As comic book culture and lore have become a new obsession of mine, with no doubt I'm going to enjoy searching different references like "what the hell is Zork" and then finding a game to find some pleasure in!

At the end of the day, I'm invested. I've already purchased both the physical and audio book.  Don't believe me?

I'm ready to get lost in this universe, and the dulcet tones of Patton Oswalt's voice! When all is said and done (probably Sunday/Monday) I'll post a full review, and see if I can also interview J. J. Walsh on either the blog or on my Youtube channel.

Additionally, if the book is a bust, I'll still feel good, because at the end of the day, a portion of the proceeds are going to the charity Alice's Kids to provide a financial boost giving kids the things they may need to improve their self esteem.  But I have a good feeling about this one.  The prologue checked a lot of the right boxes for me, and I'm ready to take on Cateklysm's Conundrum.

Source Point Press has become one of the publishers I'm addicted to after the production/distribution freeze of new books in the opening phase of COVID stuff.  After my friends from Comic Burrito introduced me to their Free Comic Book Week, I found so many great titles to fall in love with.  Some of my favorites being: Floppy Cop, The Seance Room, Franklin and Ghost, and Dead End Kids!

They consistently have so many great titles coming out, yet folks are too busy playing catch-up and pulling things after the fact (which is great). However, I want more folks to chat Source Point Press with on release day.  Therefore, I'm going to increase my coverage of their previews etc. to call out some great books you don't want to miss out on!

Source Point Press summarizes the story as:  

Picking up this ashcan is definitely on this to-do list. I am definitely down to check out a new fantastic tale about uniting to either preserve or challenge the will of the gods.  Or, as Izzy's Comics calls it "Pokemon for Adults..."  

The regular Familiars series is set to debut later this year from Source Point Press with a super-sized first issue in magazine format. The ashcan is available now, only at izzyscomics.com with multiple colors and signature/grading options available.  I am a HUGE fan of collecting Ashcans and Advance Reader Copies and you better believe this is something I'm going to pick up for the collection.  Copies are limited, so make sure you pick yours up ASAP!