Heroes of Sinclair

 

This collection of indy comics is perhaps the most obscure piece in my collection. I came across this book at one of my favorite places to stop when I visit Asheville, NC- Zapow Gallery. At Zapow, up and coming artists that specialize in pop culture, comics, and sequential art are given a chance to shine. It's like an art gallery for geeks and nerds! I love that place and I love this book!

    Heroes of Sinclair is written and illustrated by North Carolina native Gregory Dickens. A self-proclaimed lifelong scribbler, Dickens has currentl released 6 comics under the indy imprint Robot Wonderboy. But these aren't comics you can buy just anywhere. You either have to go to Asheville's epic comic shop Comic Envy, my beloved Zapow, or catch Gregory in person at cons in Western North Carolina or South Carolina. (You can also check out his online shop at his website!)

   So just what is Heroes of Sinclair? 

     Well, Sinclair is a fictional American town that isn't quite as big as your LA or New York City, but still has a need for superhero protection. Enter Spire, a sort of 911 operated by heroes. Their newest recruits are Focus, a hero with super strength and the ability to go intangible and Emma, an android Mixed Martial Arts champ who sees each foe as a challenge for her title belt. Then there's the non-super powered hero Sue Tonium, a former employee of Spire who becomes a roller derby star and a legend in her own right. Also assisting Spire are the members of the Jr. Spire program such as Armory, a young lad with a magical prosthetic arm and Parkour, a lad with boundless energy.

   It took a couple of chapters for this book to really connect with me. But once it did, things certainly got rolling. The art is a little rough and in black and white. But it's the Dickens' creativity that makes this such a fun read. Along with the unique swath of heroes and characters, Dickens wrote some compelling stuff. His origins of both Emma and Sue are worth the cover price alone. 

   This book carries a publication date of 2014. To my chagrin, it doesn't appear that any new Sinclair books have been issued unless I missed something on Dickens' webpage. This book ends with a tagline of 'To Be Continued' and that normally would tick me off. But the story that boasts this promise has a satisfying ending- only I didn't want this book to end! 

    Hopefully, Gregory Dickens has some new works coming out soon. But I'm not holding my breath on that hope! I understand that self-publishing isn't cheap. But maybe my word-of-mouth will inspire you, my dear readers, to give this book a shot! And then some new Sinclair stories will see the light of day...

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

DC Superheroes: My First Book of Girl Power (Family Comic Friday)

  

 Sorry, it's a day late folks, but I'm on a mini-vacation with my wife in wonderful and weird Asheville, NC. After the week I've had at work, this was much, much needed. My wife's been at a conference during the day, so I've been catching up with friends, owners, and artists about new trends in comics. Oddly, enough, today's article reviews a book that I discovered later after my wife got done with her meetings and we went out to dinner. We stopped at this funky little shop called the L.O.F.T. )Lost Objects, Found Treasures) on our way back to the van. It had tons of cool stuff like a Boba Fett puzzle tower, rap star cookie cutters, bacon flavored floss, and the book I am reviewing today: DC Superheroes: My First Book of Girl Power.

     This book is one of about a dozen titles in the DC Superheroes: My First Book series. The books are board books, geared for early readers. It's also an excellent way for parents who grew up reading comics to introduce superheroes to their children without being violent or scary. 

    The series started in 2011 with My First Superman Book, followed by a Batman and a Wonder Woman edition. All three of those books are touch & feel books, meaning there are things made of different textures for children to explore while reading this book, such as Superman's cape or twine from the Dark Knight's Bat-Rope. Over the past 4 years, series creator David Katz has released books with your favorite DC heroes teaching the ABCs, shapes, and opposites. The most recent book came out in July about the importance of sleep. 

    Girl Power is the only book in the My First Series not written by the series' regular author. It's written by Julie Merberg (creator of the Mini Masters Board Books series that introduces youngsters to famous artists with titles like Painting With Picasso.) This book introduces many of the leading ladies in the DC Universe such as the well known Wonder Woman and Supergirl. It also includes some more obscure characters like Black Canary and Raven from Teen Titans. 

    The art is a bit of a toss up. In all of the books, the artwork is from DC's style guides created around 1978-1986. I recognize some of those same images were used in the creation of Kenner's awesome Super Powers line of action figures and other cool toys. Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez was the genius behind much of the artwork, though his regular inker, the equally legendary Dick Giordano penciled some of the guide's artwork as well. I just wish that all of the images were different and not recycled on several pages.

     I bought this book to introduce a new member of our family to the world of superheroes. This Christmas, maybe I'll be the first to read it to them. This series has been a sleeper but from page one, the nostalgia and creativity (and educational value) is a hit. More importantly, it's geared towards girls- a valuable and grossly untapped source of potential comic book readers.  Once again, Marvel gets all of the praise and fandom for crafting adult books that appeal to women readers, but DC excedes in reaching out to the next generation with this awesome series of early reader board books that must become a part of your aspiring comic book collector's reading rotation. Boy or girl!

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.