There’s no faulting The Anchor #1 (Boom Studios) for a lack of scope. It opens in Hell itself, where the mysterious title character is single-handedly responsible for beating back the hordes of hell with his big, pink fists.

It then jumps to downtown Reykjavik, Iceland, where a giant ice monster is on a rampage. The title character, referred to as God’s anchor to hell by a member of the demon horde and Clem by a volunteer worker who notices he’s wearing a symbol of Saint Clement, is there too, fighting the monster.

“My soul is in hell,” he explains. “It wrestles with demons there…the wounds my soul suffers are borne by my earthly body.”

Writer Phil Hester doesn’t delve much deeper into who The Anchor is, how he came to be, or why his memory seems so addled and he sometimes talks in psalms without even realizing they’re psalms (Actually, the fact that the ice monster hits him with a truck might explain those last two, come to think of it).

And while all that is usually welcome in a first issue (especially see this is a $3.99 comic), that all that info isn’t present certainly isn’t because Hester’s dragging his feet or anything. He does establish plenty of intriguing clues and suggestions, introduces and half-introduces some characters, sketches out a concept and, most importantly, establishes an appealing tone that teeters between supernatural melodrama and comedy.

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Talk about stepping up your game — based on an announcement issued yesterday, you can tell that BOOM! Studios is dead serious about getting their books out.

Why do I say that? The company announced yesterday that they would be teaming up with Haven Distributors, who would distribute all second printings of both the BOOM! Studios lineup and BOOM! Kids — which by the way houses their line of Disney licensed comics — to direct market stores.

The English translation here: first and foremost, having an alternate distributor is a fairly big deal. When BOOM! Studios sells out a first printing of a book, the company no longer has to wait for Diamond to send second printings out, as they work with specific monthly distribution points. Instead, if a store runs out of a book and orders a second print, Haven is free to send stuff out whenever they want.

“Retailers have been begging us to get our second prints into their stores at a faster pace for the past year,” said BOOM! Studios CEO Ross Richie in a press statement. “We’re happy to be able to offer retailers another choice in getting an important part of our product line to their stores and into the hands of their customers.”

This deal goes in conjunction with BOOM!’s deals with Simon and Schuster and HarperCollinsCanada, who distribute the company’s graphic novels to the mass market in the U.S. and Canada respectively.

What happens when the world’s greatest hero becomes its greatest villain?

Someone has to step up to take his place.

Mark Waid, writer of BOOM! Studios’ Irredeemable, has the flipside to his Superman-gone-wrong, with new series Incorruptible. Following Max Daring — formerly the super-criminal known as Max Danger — the story explores what happens when the world goes to hell, and how a bad guy can make good.

“While you don’t need to be reading Irredeemable to enjoy this new series, Incorruptible continues that complex study of caped morality at the end of the world,” Managing Editor Matt Gagnon said in a press release. “Readers will be shown a shockingly different perspective of The Plutonian’s world, where a super-villain, pushed by an insurmountable force, dares to be Incorruptible. “

It’s fitting that 28 Days Later has finally been made into a comic book. You can trace the current zombie boom straight back to Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s 2002 film, and while zombies have been increasingly popular in several media since, they’ve been particularly ubiquitous on the comics shelves, and show no signs of going away any time soon. After all, one of the best-selling super-comics at the moment is a zombie story grafted onto DC’s Green Lantern franchise.

So there’s a nice bit of symmetry to the very existence of Boom Studios’s 28 Days Later. It might be an even nicer bit of symmetry if it proved to be the ultimate zombie story, closing out our decade’s fascination with the living, shambling (and sometimes sprinting) dead and bringing a temporary end to the zombie craze.

I don’t see that happening though.

Not only is there no evidence that zombies are on the wane, but this comic doesn’t seemed poised to be the one that says everything there’s left to say about zombies for the time being. It’s not a bad comic, but it certainly doesn’t offer a revolutionary new take. Of course, given that it’s premised as a bridge between the original film and the 2007 sequel, it’s entire reason for being is to simply to keep the Later story going.

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If you’re 21 and older, here’s your chance to hobnob with some pros:

Mark Waid, EiC of BOOM! Studios, is inviting all comic con attendees to celebrate the company’s fourth anniversary by hosting the BOOM! Studios Drink Up.

According to the BOOM! blog:

For those not in the know, a “Drink Up” is just like a “Meet Up” but with people drinking. This will be a gathering of friends and fans, so make plans to stop by see what’s happening!

The event needs no tickets or RSVPs, and will take place from 9pm until the wee hours of the morning at the Manchester Hyatt Grand Lobby Bar.

Earlier this year Boom Studios launched a rather well-received kids imprint with comics based on characters from Jim Henson’s Muppet Show and Pixar’s animated movies. Next up? Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #699 and Mickey Mouse and Friends #297, according to ICv2.com. The last publisher to release these long-running titles was Gemstone. Apparently Boom won’t be continuing Gemstone’s bigger, more expensive format, but will publish 24-page issues at a $2.99 price point.

UPDATE: Matt Brady talks to Boom publisher and co-founder Ross Richie about the Boom/Disney deal on the main site, and you can read the interview here.

It’s like the old saying goes: “This might just be crazy enough to work.”

BOOM! Studios, which is already heading a coup with its licensing of the Incredibles and the Muppet Show (as well as great series like Unthinkable and Irredeemable), now has one more weapon in its arsenal:

Die Hard’s John %@$#%@#in McClane.

According to solicits, Die Hard: Year One is due out in August, and will go back in time to 1976 to explore John’s first year in the police force, a la Batman Begins or Casino Royale. Howard Chaykin will be writing, while Steven Thompson will be drawing, which already sounds to be completely awesome, especially considering how often people in the comics industry talk about Die Hard (I’m lookin’ at you, Dan Slott!).

Can I get a yippee ki yay from the reader base?

You know what doesn’t sound like it would make the transition into a comic book adaptation very well, if at all?

The Muppet Show.

Just look at the name. A Muppet is the type of puppet used by Jim Henson and his crew in the many brilliant works they created over the decades, a type in which the puppeteer is heavily involved in not only making it move, but in really performing it.

And it was a type of show; originally a television show, but they transitioned to film quite easily.

So when you remove the Muppet and the show from the concept of The Muppet Show and then try to give it a go, it really doesn’t sound like it should work at all, does it?

And it might not, if the Muppet characters weren’t so thoroughly developed over the decades to the point that the can exist as characters, regardless of whether they’re just voices on a John Denver album, or animated characters in a cartoon, or, now, characters drawn into a comic book.

And if cartoonist Roger Langridge wasn’t the guy writing and drawing Boom Studio’s new four-issue miniseries, The Muppet Show.

The Muppet Show #1 is a surprisingly faithful adaptation of The Muppet Show, it is, in fact, literally a comic book version of the show. Langridge draws a whole show almost exactly as it would have been seen on TV (or now on DVD); all’s it’s missing is the theme song and sound.
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BOOM! Studios has unleashed a double-barreled salvo of Mark Waid-related media, sending us not only a podcast with the EiC himself, but also giving us a sneak trailer for Waid’s new series Irredeemable.

In the first “15 Minutes with Waid,” Mark will discuss his relaunched series Potter’s Field. The series will return in March, according to the writer. He also discusses the young studio’s trials and tribulations as a new comics publisher.

Meanwhile, Irredeemable promises to be a new, complex twist on typical superhero adventures. “In superhero comics, pretty much everyone who’s called upon to put on a cape is, at heart, emotionally equipped for the job. I reject that premise,” said Waid in a press release. “IRREDEEMABLE is, in a way, my third and most complex chapter on the cost of superheroics - a pulp adventure tale of horror exploring how the lessons we learn about right and wrong as children can become warped and twisted when challenged by the realities of the adult world.”

You can check out the trailer by clicking below, or by checking out the first seven pages linked here!

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When adding onto the digitial comics explosion, perhaps its fitting that BOOM! Studios has staked out new territory for online distribution. (Note: I said “ironic” earlier just because it’s an explosion tied to a company called BOOM… get it? …Well, at least my mother understands me.)

The publisher announced today that their release of HEXED #1 on Google Android is the first comic ever to be released on the mobile operating system. According to their release, “in less than 48 hours the free comic had been downloaded more than 10,000 times, and received a stellar 4.72 out of 5 rating from over 600 user reviews.”

“The ‘HEXED #1′ release on Android has gone above and beyond our wildest expectations. ” said iVerse Media founder Michael Murphey in the release. “In less than 24 hours we received 100s of emails from Google Android users not only praising the software, but — more importantly — raving about the quality of the story and art… and it just keeps coming. The book has been reviewed over 900 times now, and people not only love it… they want more.” Furthermore, the series will also be available on the iPhone starting this week.

Hey folks, this week will be a shorter than usual post because I have a number of jobs I am working on and have a guest at my house that gets my undivided attention before anything. Anyway, here we go…

MARK WAID: I think by now people know I am a huge fan of Mark Waid… the man and the author. At a time I totally lacked any confidence to start writing, mark was always around with advice, encouragement and compliments as well… something other writers tend not to do very much, especially since a lot of other writers looked at me as only an inker or someone that was connected with a lot of players and would just figure I got my work by schmoozing or blackmail. Mark was around when I would pitch a few books a week looking for work.

The funny and cool think about Mark is that one conversation with him about character development will make you a better writer instantly and one of the greatest things I have to look forward to, as a fan, for 2009 is the amount of new characters that Mark will be writing at Boom Studios where he also happens to be the Editor-in-Chief. On the Boom site, they have set up a special section of message boards for Mark and I have to tell you… get in there and have some fun and ask him questions and such, because this is a rare opportunity. When you go there you will notice a few other creators stopping by and throwing their weight around as well, so don’t delay… click on the link and tell them I sent you. Hopefully one day when they do a necessary book on Mark’s career, I will be allowed to contribute to the introduction. Until then, verbally volley with the man at: http://markwaid.boom-studios.net/ (more…)

If you’re living in LA and want to hob-nob with some comics pros, you’re in luck: Mark Waid and the rest of BOOM Studios will be working at Meltdown Comics the remaining Wednesdays in January!

The idea came to promote HEXED #1, which was released in its entirety on the Internet. But the surprise trip to Meltdown was so successful, BOOM decided to keep it up the rest of the month, not just promoting HEXED but everything in the store!

“Some of the best times I had growing up came from hanging at my LCS on new comic book day. We just thought what better way to support the release of HEXED than spending our Wednesday evenings helping out at Meltdown?” said Marketing and Sales Director Chip Mosher in a press release. “And hey, who doesn’t like to get paid to hang out at comic book store?”

In the above picture, the BOOM! staff meets up with M.F. Grimm, writer of the acclaimed Vertigo graphic novel Sentences.

• Splash Page has a full eight-page story from BOOM!’s Zombie Tales book, written by Oscar nominated screenplay writer Kim Krizan with art by Jon Reed.

• Quote the Man: Nevermore.

• Seven plain old creepy movies.

• Letterer Todd Klein shares a creepy poem.

• Artist Evan Dorkin’s Milk & Cheese get into the spirit of the season. Kind of.

• Comics creator J. Bone shows how he crafted his Fly costume.

• P. Craig Russell and Tim Bradstreet are working on a comic adaptation of Clive Barker’s Age of Desire. Here’s a preview.

• And finally, via Jeff Smith, Graham Annable’s Joy to the Weird:

BOOM! sent over a video featuring Ed Quinn, who plays Nathan Stark on the Sci Fi Channel’s Eureka, and the show’s co-creator Andrew Cosby. The pair, naturally, talk about the BOOM! Studios Eureka comic book series that was announced in San Diego this summer and ships in December:

Check out the covers to issue #1 after the jump …

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Following up on the interview Mark Waid did with the team behind their new series Hexed, BOOM! sends over the cover to issue #2, which is due in January.

BOOM! E-i-C and comics writer Mark Waid will appear on the cable program LA Ink tonight, which airs on The Learning Channel. Here’s the full episode info:

LA Ink
Comic Relief
TV-PG (DL)
Oct 16, 10:00 pm (60 minutes)
Hannah attempts to transform the crew at the shop into larger than life comic book characters and meets with comics guru Mark Waid. Naheed has her work cut out for her with the serious business of managing the shop while trying to bond with the crew at the same time.

Next month BOOM! Studios is releasing a hardcover adaptation of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft’s epic poem Nyarlathotep, with illustrations by Black Metal artist Chuck BB. Last week Newsarama ran the “transcript” of a seance where BOOM! editor-in-chief Mark Waid and BB tried to contact Lovecraft about the project, and now BOOM!’s sent us another piece of artwork from the project.

Yesterday Newsarama carried an interview between BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Mark Waid and Farscape creator Rockne S. O’Bannon about the upcoming comic series. Today, the publisher sends us the two covers for Issue 2, by Dennis Calero and Joseph Corroney.

You can see Cover B after the break.

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And finally, here’s the last video featuring Gary Phillips, author of BOOM!’s High Rollers:

BOOM! Studios put together some videos to promote their comic High Rollers by Gary Phillips. Here’s the third one: