Comic Review: Orius: Sent 2 Kill, Issue 1

Created by: Pat Lee, Rosanne Wong & Race Wong

Written by: Brian Buccellato & David Wohl

Penciled by Pat Lee

There are two races on the planet Orius, who are forced to work together after years of segregation, in order to find a means of leaving their dying world.  They create artificial intelligences meant to infultrate Earth, which they're testing by having them fight each other to the death.  Meanwhile on Earth, two women meet and unexpectedly know each other, while one of their bosses wonders what is happening with regards to the deal he made with the Orius Greys.

Page 6

As this is a review of the first issue of the series, I'm going to give my impressions rather than a full pro/con breakdown.  The artwork is monochrome, all black, white and grey, with a hint of green, which looks fantastic.  The lines are sharp and the shading well done.  There's a lot of motion in the characters and scenes.  My only concern here is that because it's all black and white, it's hard to tell a few of the characters apart, especially when the action picks up.

The story is really interesting, with multiple things happening at once, both on Earth and Orius.  There's only time for a brief introduction of the many characters (I suspect some of the Earch and Orius characters overlap eventually) but they sound pretty cool.  The two alien AIs are women, which has the potential to be really cool in a kick-ass sort of way, or exploitative, as they're dressed in typical female comic attire.  I'm expecting more of the former based on how the story went in this issue.  The story, alas, cuts out suddenly at the end of an intense action sequence and a small bit of dialogue.  You turn the page to find... the issue is over.  It's definitely an intriguing opening plot wise. 

Out from Sea Lion Books on March 13th, this is definitely a comic to keep your eyes out for.

Graphic Novel Review: Pariah Volume 1

Created by Aron Warner, Written by Philip Gelatt and Illustrated by Brett Weldele

Pros: varied characters, interesting premise, plays on politics and racism

Cons: artwork wasn't to my liking, not much info given as to how vitros were created and why they're so different 

This graphic novel collects the first four issues of the Pariah comic books.  Each comic details the background of a vitro character (or in one case a set of characters), and how they react when vitros are accused of blowing up a lab, releasing a virus into the environment.   Together, the issues form a complex picture of how vitros are treated, how they differ from 'normal' humans and how they're trying to survive.

The premise, that kids created using a special in vitro technique meant to eliminate disease, which boosts their intelligence, is a very interesting one.  I wish more information were given about how they were born/what makes them different, but the series focuses more on the current crisis than their origins.

There's a variety of protagonists, offering several points of view with regards to what's happening and how the vitros should deal with it, culminating in Franklin Hyde, whose radical plan is enacted to unexpected results.

While I enjoyed the story the artwork wasn't to my liking.  This is purely a matter of personal taste and as the art didn't detract from the story it wasn't a problem.  But, unlike other graphic novels, this isn't one I pick up because I liked the artwork.   

This graphic novel ends with the characters coming together in unexpected circumstances, and the kind of cliffhanger that makes you wish the artist could draw faster.

Pariah Volume 1 comes out from Sea Lion Books on February 19th.

Genre News

Sea Lion Books signs Patrick Rothfuss to reprint his adult picture book, illustrated by Nate Taylor, entitled: The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed.  From the press release:

THE ADVENTURES OF THE PRINCESS AND MR. WHIFFLE is an odd mix of dark classic storytelling, new age terror, and a macabre sense of wicked humor that leave the reader with three possible endings, each one being darker than the last, letting the reader decide how far they dare to go.

The final ending just might keep your teddy bear awake tonight, or at least start a stuffed animal rebellion. The reprint will include original bonus material and a Q&A with author Patrick Rothfuss.

ChiZine Publications offers free ebook version of trade paperbacks purchased through their website:

Since its founding, CZP has offered 30% off the cover price of trade paperbacks ordered directly from them. It has also been an advocate of the ebook format, performing its own in-house ebook creation and offering them via Amazon, Kobo, Wowio and other online sites. With the recent launch of its online shopping cart system, CZP has decided to bundle an ebook into the price of trade paperbacks.

When the purchase is complete, buyers will be directed to log into the website to download a ZIP file containing the ebook in EPUB, MOBI and PDF formats. The ebook and trade paperback bundles are only available via the CZP site.

This isn't genre news, but it is a fantastic article if you've got kids.  It's time to teach kids how to deal with bullies, and let them know that sometimes swearing is OK.  If you know someone who has (or may have and isn't telling you) a bully problem at school, do something about it.

Sea Lion Books Announces new Graphic Novels

First up, a new 12 issue series entitled Pariah.  It's written by Aron Warner (Cirque 3D, Beasts of Burden) and Philip Gelatt (Labor Days), and illustrated by Brett Weldele (The Surrogates).  Issues 1 and 2 are already out.

The world of Pariah, is our world.  ...set... in the year 2025.  A handful of extraordinary teenagers have developed rapidly increased intelligence as a side-effect of an experimental in vitro medicine.  Known as "Vitros" the teen geniuses are pushed to the fringes of society, feared by the public, and eyed with suspicion even by their own friends and families.  When an explosion at a government laboratory that employs Vitros to work on advanced weapons and space-technology causes a deadly virus to escape, the Vitros are blamed for the incident.  Teenage Vitros around the globe are systematically rounded up, stripped of their rights, and declared terrorists by the world community.  With Black Ops hot on their trail, the Vitros must band together and decide: flight or fight?  As if being a teenager didn't suck enough.

They've also got the go to book for alien life forms, The Extraterrestrial Compendium in the works.  The Condensed version is currently available in ebook form, with the full text version coming in November.

Just in time for the approach of the reputedly transformative year 2012, a comprehensive collection of extraterrestrial life-forms as visualized and vividly-rendered by Pat Lee of Transformers, DC, and Marvel comics fame. Within the UFO and exopolitics communities, there is both debate and consensus about many of the "known" extraterrestrial races, but seldom have they been revealed in this level of detail. To the believer, the curious, or just open-minded, the Extraterrestrial Compendium provides fuel for thought.

The Extraterrestrial Compendium  "Condensed" is the making of the Extraterrestrial Compendium "Full", which will be available November 2011. The Extraterrestrial Compendium "Condensed" is filled with early stage conceptual art and notes from the creative team. It is a must have to go along with The Extraterrestrial Compendium "Full".

They're having a facebook contest based on this book to win a Kindle.

And finally, they've doing a graphic novel version of Anne Rice's Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana.

International bestselling author Anne Rice's critically acclaimed novel, Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, receives a graphic spin as newly established publishing house, Sea Lion Books, acquires the worldwide rights to this graphic novel publication. The novel will be adapted by the author Anne Rice and comic creator Anne Elizabeth and will feature artwork by Siya Oum. This graphic novel is scheduled for release in time for Easter 2012.

For more information about Sea Lion Books, check out their website, Facebook page and Twitter stream.

Sea Lion Books Hosts Facebook Contest

Sea Lion Books is having a contest.  Their goal is to reach 1111 likes in honour of the 4th of July weekend (1+1+1+1=4). 

What do you win?  A copy of the first Storm Born graphic novel from the Dark Swan series by Rachelle Mead AND a cameo in the second volume, out next year.  Their press release hinted that there might be more prizes as well.  :)


How do you enter?  'Like' their facebook page.  Write your full name on their wall and tell them how much you like the Dark Swan series' protagonist, Eugenie Markham.

The contest closes when they reach their target likes.

Genre News

Got a few more bits of interesting news, that I'll post together.

First up, Online Degrees keeps sending me SF related lists they've done but by the time I get around to posting them, they're already up everywhere so I generally don't bother.  Their new list, the 10 Best Post-Apocalyptic Movies [Edited July 2013 to add: I've removed the link per an email request by Online Derees], is pretty good if not earth shattering (ie, you've probably heard of, if not seen, all of them already).

Sea Lion Books has new graphic novel coming out in July that sounds pretty awesome. Pariah.  From the press release:

They’re not super powered, they’re just super smart. The teen protagonists who lead us through the world of Pariah, a twelve-book graphic novel series from the mind of Oscar-winning film producer Aron Warner and published by Sea Lion Books, are the next generation of heroes in the comic book world. Eisner-nominated illustrator Brett Weldele (The Surrogates) will bring the stories to life in ink, and Philip Gelatt will pen the scripts set in Warner’s world for the twelve books. As buzz builds about this unlikely collaboration and the unique story of Pariah, the series will premiere at San Diego Comic Con on July 20 – 24th. 

"I came up with Pariah after reading an article about in vitro genetic manipulation,” Warner says. “We take medications every day without fully understanding how they work. It’s kind of terrifying if you think about it. In Pariah, kids grow up with incredible intelligence as a side effect of modern ‘cures.’ The problem is that they’re so smart, they question everything – even things we hold as sacred. All of our laws, morals, and even physical constraints will be torn apart and re-built. These kids are adrift in every way, equipped with mental tools we can’t even imagine. On top of all of that, they’re persecuted, feared and hated. As if being a teenager didn’t suck enough…”

The Vitros, as the characters are called, are a group of several hundred kids from all over the world who possess beyond-human intelligence produced via genetic manipulation. As teenagers in the process of trying to uncover their identities, they live relatively normal lives, though not without a fair amount of suspicion thrown at them from the fringes of society. When the Vitros are framed for a deadly explosion at a laboratory that releases a virus on the population, the government systematically begins to round up these pariahs, sending our heroes on the run from the authorities and their lives.

Says Sea Lion's Publisher, Derek Ruiz, "Aron has captured the essence of being a Pariah as seen through the eyes of a group of scientifically created teens. They are a Petri dish of innocent souls infinitely more intelligent than anyone else on Earth. Yet their creation and existence has left them shunned and condemned.”

What happens when the society that created them also tries to destroy them? The Pariahs fight back this July. For updates and additional information join Pariah on Facebook or follow PariahComicBook on Twitter.

Phoenix Pick's free book of the month is, "a Hugo and Nebula winning novelette by Charles Sheffield, titled Georgia on My Mind."  Go to their website, follow the instructions and enter the code for June: 9992231.  You can also sign up to receive their free ebook offers every month.

Lastly, this is a video my husband and I stumbled upon a few days ago.  It's a cute interpretation of what crop circles really mean called Invasions.  It's a French animated short, but there's no language so don't worry about having to read subtitles if you don't know French.  I grabbed it from the director, Clement-Morin,'s site.  He has several other videos as well.



Invasions from Clément Morin on Vimeo.

Sea Lion Books Announces More Novel Based Graphic Novels

If you're a fan of young adult urban fantasy and want to see more novels made into graphic novels, than Sea Lion Books is a publisher to keep an eye on.  In addition to F. Paul Wilson's teen Repairman Jack prequels, they're doing graphic novel versions of Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush Hush and Richelle Mead's Dark Swan series.

Hush, Hush is the story of Nora Grey, a studious sixteen-year-old girl from Coldwater, Maine. It has been a year since her father's murder and she is not interested in much other than her schoolwork. Then she meets Patch, a bad boy—and fallen angel. Though unwisely attracted to him, Nora finds herself caught in a battle between the fallen and the immortal. Choosing the wrong side could cost Nora her life.

Richelle Mead's Storm Born, which features "a freelance shaman who battles the ghosts and fey that sneak into our world from the Otherworld" is already in production and will be available May 18th.