Sketch Cards Giveaway!

Before I go on about the sketch cards that I am giving out this Wednesday at Silver Snail Comics, I need everyone to stay calm and time well spent...

That's right episode 7 is here! We take a look at all the news from San Diego Comic Con, as well as Spotlight on Fatale (which I am reading right now, and damn it is good) and on Marvel Now's New Avengers. Then in reviews, we look at Revival, which is an amazing little series about the living and the undead. So gives us a watch, like, comment and subscribe to the Maddsketch channel. And spread the word as well, episode 8 will be up later on this week. But yeah, let us know what you think.

Okay so back to those sketch cards. Yes I will be giving away four sketch cards to the first four who purchase anything from my table, a sketch or a cover or even one of my Bizzaro prints. These are fully inked and colored sketch cards, and would usually go for about 10 bucks or so, but I want to throw one in as a thank you to you, so with out anymore delay here are the four cards available...

 

And remember this is a first come, first pick kind of deal. And these are all one of a kind, so come early and get some cool ChileanStorm comic book art! And I am always doing these kind of promotions, I like giving things out and what not, so stayed tuned here and always look for the Spent Pencils table at shows and conventions. We got tons of different deals and promotions going on all the time, so if you are looking for the best deal at the shows, look no further. 

So now you know, so come on down to Silver Snail Comics early on Wednesday for the last day of July Well Spent, it's been a blast all month long, so don't miss the last show! Well I got a lot of work to get back to but I am going to try and keep updated with as much content as well. But remember to follow all my work on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube as well, need to get more views going on that. But I will be back later on in the week, keep chasing the storm.

Spent Covers Fathom

So I think it was about a month ago or so, I posted up a first special look at the all new exclusive variant cover that two of my fellow Spent mates, Oliver and Paul worked for Gotham Central Comics. the cover was for Aspen Comics Bubblegun! So the dynamic and amazing duo are back again with another comic cover, this time for the flagship book of Aspen Comics, Fathom. The book will getting a launch event over at Gotham Central Comics this Saturday, and both artist will be on hand to sign the exclusive cover for you. So if you are in the Mississauga area this Saturday, then be sure to go early and get yourself some exclusive original Spent Pencils style covers. Only at Gotham Central Comics.

And here for you is one of first looks at this very cool cover, here first are the original pencils from the amazingly talented Oliver Castañeda.... 

And here are the added splash of living colour from Paul Limgenco...

How cool is this?! Pretty awesome isn't, bet you wish you could get one? Well be sure to go to Gotham Central Comics and get yourself a few extra copies! 

So be sure to check this book out and stay tuned here for all Spent news and exclusive content as well. And don't forget to subscribe to the blog and also give a like over at the Spent Pencils Facebook page as well. Also stay tuned for the latest episode of Time Well Spent, coming up sometime soon! So be on the look for that, but you can always watch the previous episodes as well over on the Maddsketch channel! Subscribe, like and leave a comment on all of our previous episodes, let us know what you think. I will be back later on in the week, stay tuned and keep chasing the storm! 

Joy in the Kill

Na na na na na na na...
You know the tune, the songs and the band, now it's time to know what happens next, today I will be taking a look at the first two issues of Dark Horse comics The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.  This book comes from the same creative team behind Umbrella Academy, with Gerard Way at the helm of the story that takes place after the events of the last My Chemical Romance album, Danger Days: The Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. Now this being said, don't feel it necessary to have heard the album to follow along with the story, the songs and the music videos however give you more content and make the world in Killjoys that much bigger, it's a cross medium kind of cool. So without giving away to much of the plot, I am going to let you know why you should be reading all about these fabulous killjoys.

The Killjoys follows the journey of a young girl who is trying to survive out in an apocalyptic dessert setting, being hunted by the dangers of Battery City, a futuristic but oppressive like city that battles the rebels of the dessert, who take up after the fallen heroes known as The Killjoys. All we know about these legendary heroes known as the Killjoys is that they were the main resistance against to companies of Battery City and that this girl was someone of great importance to them, someone they all died to keep safe and alive. We see her trying to scavenge some food and items early on and runs into a new "Killjoys" kind of group, taking up the image and fighting the same battles. After a run in with agents of the city, known as Dracs. The Dracs try and turn others against former family and friends by placing a "Dracula" looking mask over the victim which shows them only a world of their greatest fears. After the battle, we see that these new "Killjoys" are much more violent, something the original heroes were not as we see the girl run away and hide from them. As the story unfolds we also get to see the lives of two android from Battery City, these android twins are losing power and thus one them works the night to keep her sister alive, it's interesting to see how the city and it's society try and stay alive. It gives the universe of the story that much more content, as you also see what the major bad corporation is planning as well. So you get to see all the different angles to the story, both worlds at battle and ready for war. Everyone wants to change the world, but no one wants to die. 

I am really impressed with the story and writing in The Killjoys, I always enjoyed Gerrard Way's storytelling through his albums with My Chemical Romance, cause say what you will at the end of the day of the music, the ability to string along a story though out song is impressive. And this story is awesomely told and unraveled though the pages here, with an art style that is reminiscent of Scott Pilgrim with designs straight from movies like Blade Runner and Mad Max. The book will most likely attract a younger teenage crowd, but it's honestly really good and shouldn't be dismissed as such, it's smart and provides interesting themes and concepts that could only be told in this kind of book. A brand new book with only two issues out, if you are looking for a great and new different alternative to the big two, then give this book a read! I highly suggest you take a look. 

 That's all the time I got right now, thanks for reading and remember to subscribe to this blog to follow all kinds of comics news and reviews and inside look at the world of comic books. Also be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, by following @ChileanStorm. I am also on YouTube, doing Time Well Spent on the Maddsketch channel and also doing my own Storm VLOG videos, so please subscribe to our channel, give a like and leave a comment. And be sure to like the Spent Pencils page on Facebook, one like goes a long way. I am ChileanStorm, and remember to chasing the storm.

Milk is a Bad Choice...

It's so damn hot! 

Should be your general response to this summer for and all in the GTA, this heat wave is something else for sure. I mean I love the summer, don't get me wrong, but we can't even go out and enjoy the sun because this heat drank a case of Mountain Dew and is now considered extreme, like a 9.5 out 10 kind of extreme. Which sucks you know, how can we enjoy all the beautiful sights in the city or relax on the beach with an extreme heat alert? But if you are going to chill at home or at a Starbucks, why not watch some awesome? That's right I got a few videos to plug up here, a new vlog from me and the latest episode of Time Well Spent. A warning though, with both me and Tiffany on screen we bring the hottness to another level, you may sweat more then you could imagine. Just a warning. 

On this weeks episode we Spotlight on Adventure Time: Candy Capers #1, which I also finished writing a review for it as well, so go check that out as well here on this page. And Tiff takes a look the classic graphic novel, Maus. Which should be on everyone's must read list, a timeless comic book classic. As for Reviews, we look at The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys! I will for sure write up a review for this one as well, it's a really good book so far with the first two issues out and on the way. So give this episode a watch, a like and a lovely little comment. We want to get to know you more and know what you want to see on Time Well Spent. And tell your friends as well, spread the word. 

 

 

A new vlog as well is up here, I complain a little bit about the heat and I show what comics I picked up this week. A lot of random silliness in this one as well, so give it a look and see what you think. Again, just starting this page so any subscriptions and likes would mean a lot to me. I want to do these more but I need to know what I am doing and for who I am doing it for, so don't be a stranger.  But watch and see what you think, who knows...you might like it. 

And remember guys we are half way through July Well Spent event which is taking place over at Silver Snail comics in the downtown of Toronto, so come on out tomorrow and see my captain and fearless leader, Arnold Trinidad! And the amazing and incredibly talented, Oliver Castaneda! Who by the way has another Aspen comic cover coming up very soon, stay tuned. And quite possibly my favourite person in the entire world, the talented and super creative, Tiffany Medeiros! Be sure to also follow her amazing web comic series, Tales of Lost. I can't say enough great things about Tiff, just be sure to follow her work now and watch her change the game. Glad to be working with her and all the amazing talent in my Spent family. Well that's all the time I got for now, going to go shower and clean up, going out tonight. You stay cool Toronto and I will see you around!

Sweet Adventure Time

What time is it? Well it's certainly is Adventure Time! But today's AT book is not exactly following the adventures of our well known loveable heroes, Finn the human and Jake the dog. This time around we are following the adventures of the Peppermint Butler and Cinnamon Bun, as they are tasked by Princess Bubblegum to find Finn and Jake after they seemed to have gone missing. And with two of the funniest character in the candy kingdom teaming up to solve the case, what could possibly go wrong? Well there's a good chance that absolutely everything, but when it comes to Adventure Time that usually means a lot of fun and hilarity as well.

Adventure Time: Candy Capers is the brand new release from Kaboom! comics  and was released last week. The team behind this story is the dynamic duo of Ananth Panagariya & Yuko Ota, from the Johnny Wander webcomic fame. The writing is hilarious and still stays to the well known AT kind of beat, with a lot of quotable lines from, "Let's destroy problems" and "I sweat when I'm nervous".  It's a joy to read and see how the story will play along. It goes without saying to any fans of Johnny Wander, get this book. You won't be disappointed, it leaves you with a big smile with every page, a great read. The art is handled by Ian McGinty, who keeps the look as we know the series and adds to it, making unique panels and capturing a lot of silly faces. Needless to say the art and writing go hand in hand and make for a very great time, I wish they would make this into an episode on the series. It's that good in my opnion, I honestly can't wait to see what is going to happen next. 

I guess if I had to make any kind of complaint, it seems a bit of a stretch but this is going to be a limited series and so it will be only six issues. But I have that complaint a lot with really good limited series, I always want more and more of these great runs. However, if the series gets a good reception, we could see more work from this team on other Adventure Time books in the future. Fingers crossed here. I am curious to see how the story will play out, but I doubt it will be a let down. But I will say this, don't dismiss Adventure Time or this books as something directly geared to younger audiences, it's a very smart, witty and silly series for everyone to enjoy. So for sure get this book today, it's a great sweet little break from grim and gritty in your comic book reading.

That's all the time I got right now, thanks for reading and remember to subscribe to this blog to follow all kinds of comics news and reviews and inside look at the world of comic books. Also be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, by following @ChileanStorm. I am also on YouTube, doing Time Well Spent on the Maddsketch channel and also doing my own Storm VLOG videos, so please subscribe to our channel, give a like and leave a comment. And be sure to like the Spent Pencils page on Facebook, one like goes a long way. I am ChileanStorm, and remember to chasing the storm.

Deadpool Reads Deadpool

Today I am going to be taking a look at the latest new series of everyone's favourite Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool. This red devil has had his own series run, he has teamed up with various heroes in the Marvel universe, he made a team of various different Deadpools from different universes, joined the X-Force and the Thunderbolt, he killed a universe and even other story world have been nuked by Deadpool. So what's left to kill? How about himself? Well that's exactly what is happening in the all new Deadpool Kills Deadpool. Someone or something is plotting to take out Deadpool in all the different universes and worlds. But who is doing this and why? And what repercussions will be done to all the worlds? That's pretty much the plot, the bigger question here though, is it worth your time and money? Let's find out.

Off the bat, if you're a Deadpool fanatic it probably goes without saying to get this book. All the Deadpool books and series are practically made for the already and large fanbase demographic. If you aren't sold on the Merc with a Mouth, you will probably want to skip this series, cause it doesn't do anything differently, not to mention you may be lost on more then a few jokes. But if you are in the grey zone, then let me break it down for you all the good, the bad, the ugly and the absolutely awesome.
The book starts off with a bam, actually more of a boom cause someone gets blown up as our sort mysterious assassin is presented. Honestly still not sure about the who the main villain/culprit/bad guy really is, but it adds to the story, gives it some intrigue and mystery, which in comics is a bonus. We see our Deadpool, the one from the main Marvel universe (also known as universe 616) trying his best to save a city and the innocent citizens from a robot terrorist attack. I would imagine this is used to identify our Deadpool as a crazy merc who is trying to do some good in this world, which by the issues in the current Marvel Now series of Deadpool, you really do get that impression. He gets a little assist from the Deadpool Corps, who have also come to warn him on the assassin who is taking out all Deadpools. A gory and brutal battle goes down and our heroes set off to find the hunters and put a stop to all of them.
An extremely fun and hilarious read, if you've never read any of the Deadpool books, these are the elements that define him and most of his misadventures. The problem here though is to get most of the story you would have to have been reading a lot of the different series that he has spawned in the last few years. I can imagine it would leave a lot of new readers in the dark, making it a hard recommendation to any new readers. However if you do decide to venture on you will find the funny and crazy writing is packed with pop culture references and a lot of overall silliness. With a lot of big summer events going on in Marvel and DC, it's nice to have a book we can relax and turn down the tension. The art stays true to the formula as well, with plenty over the top violence and destruction going on, and this is probably a make or break situation, what's your take on violence? Can you laugh at the over the top gore or does it make you look away. Depending on how you feel about this, it will probably determine your ultimate decision on Deadpool Kills Deadpool. To those iron stomach ready for a fun book to get to know and see the mouthy mercenaries battle for their liv
es, gives this book a shot. If you end up loving the formula and the character, you will no doubt be set on finding all of the previous and future Deadpool comics. But this kind of character wasn't made for everyone, so if you've turn Deadpool books down before in the past, this book does nothing to change your mind in that department.
That's all the time I got right now, thanks for reading and remember to subscribe to this blog to follow all kinds of comics news and reviews and inside look at the world of comic books. Also be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, by following @ChileanStorm. I am also on YouTube, doing Time Well Spent on the Maddsketch channel and also doing my own Storm VLOG videos, so please subscribe to our channel, give a like and leave a comment. And be sure to like the Spent Pencils page on Facebook, one like goes a long way. I am ChileanStorm, and remember to chasing the storm.

Storm Tube

Hey everyone, how is it going out there in the wild wild geek world that we are living? Pacific Rim was freaking fantastic in everyway imaginable, Comic Con is just around the corner, we got Evo tournaments getting everyone hyped to the max and not to mention DC has started the Trinity War crossover event! So we got a lot to do these days and in the next few weeks, I am going to start this blog with linking everyone up with the latest episode of Time Well Spent, in episode 5 we take a look at Ravine and at Daredevil: Dark Nights in the Spotlight and we take a look at last weeks brand new release, Sheltered! So here it is, don't forget to give it a like, comment and tell your friends and family. 

So watch that up and get ready for episode 6 which is coming to a YouTube near you, and I will be sure to post here as well for you to see. So yeah, let's get this hype going! 

So this past weekend I did attended the Jace Wars fundraiser to lend a helping hand in raising money for the Ronald McDonald House Hamilton ad brain tumor research. So a big thank you to the organizers of this event for inviting us and allowing us to give back to those in need, Spent Pencils is always ready to help out at anytime. And a big thank you to everyone who came out and got some sketches, we raised roughly $350 on the sketches alone! That is incredible guys, thanks a lot for the support. I go into a bit more detail in this mornings vlog, which you can watch here...

Now to take care of the week ahead, remember guys to come on out this Wednesday and Saturday to Silver Snail Comics for the July Well Spent event that is going on all month. A lot of amazing talent will be on hand to sketch original work for you and a lot of amazing prints that you will be able to take home, so be sure to stop by and check it out. As for me, I want to start on the pages of issue zero for The Glass Prison. I've been talking about this bad boy for sometime, and I want to share the creation process with you. So stay tuned to all the avenues of ChileanStorm related media for more information as it comes. That's all the time I got for now, I will let you know that I got a few reviews to post up, trying my best to keep up with those as well, so look forward to that. Also remember to subscribe to the page and by all means leave a comment below, I love hearing from you. So until the next blog, keep chasing the storm.

P.S. I cut my hair.

A ChileanStorm Update

Okay so I know it's been a few days without a post and I feel like I needed to update everyone on what's been going here specifically in Toronto. Now I didn't think it was that bad, but little did I know how strong this storm was. Yeah, the ChileanStorm was drowned by the actual storm, the irony, you got to love it. Needless to say I got out of work pretty late, not to mention that it took me, no jokes, over 5 hours to get home. Keep in mind on a good day, when I can catch all the right trains on time, it will take me about 30 minutes. And in this time, non stop rain. And I didn't have it as bad as others all over the GTA, some commuters had to literally swim out of the trains, while others abandon their vehicles on the highway. When I got back home I realized all of Etobicoke was covered in darkness, like absolute and pure darkness. I have never seen anything like it, I got to say one of the most surreal things I have ever seen. So needless to say, my day was wasted. The power being out also made getting to and back from work a lot longer, so basically that's two days that were wasted. Now granted, I feel like it was on me a little bit here. I think I should have done at least a little something, but as one of my favourite sayings go, you can catch up with yourself if you run. 

So what do I have in store for all of you awesomely amazing readers, well for starters if you haven't read it yet, I just posted a blog on the second volume of the amazingly good Saga, when you get a chance click here to read it. It's a long read, so I hope you enjoy it. In the next few days, I am going to take a look at a couple different books that I have been reading, this including many brand new series like Deadpool Kills Deadpool, Daredevil: Dark Nights, New Avengers, B.P.R.D Vampire, Sheltered, and The Emerald City of Oz. So if you are curious on any of these books or series, stay tuned for plenty of ChileanStorm coverage! And also let me know about any awesome books that you think that I should be reading. I always love a good book suggestion! 

I also got a few episodes up for the Storm VLOG series that I am doing, and you can see all past episodes right here. But I did upload an episode today over at Silver Snail Comics, so you can see that right here and right now! Please be sure to give a like, a comment and subscribe to the channel, I want to bust out as much content as I possible can everyday, so stay tuned. Another way for you to stay in touch with this comic loving Chilean artist.

And now that we are on the topics of events a big thanks to Gauntlet Comics out in Orangeville for being amazing hosts as always, and to everyone who came out and spent some time with all the Spent Pencils artist. We love being invited to do these events, and we can't wait to come back and bring the noise. And a big thanks to everyone who participated in the Paper Road event this past weekend, I hope everyone enjoy the films and being able to help make some amazing art. Rain and all we stayed until the end, I hope we inspired many to keep on drawing. So what do we have in store for the future days, well we still got the July Well Spent days going on all of this month at Silver Snail Comics. Don't forget every Wednesdays and Saturdays, three different artist from Spent Pencils will be on hand to draw any and all unique art, a lot of sketch covers were taken care of already, so don't miss out on this amazingly cool opportunity. And also this Saturday I will out and about in Port Colborne, Ontario to help out in the fundraising event, Jace Wars. This event will be raising money for Ronald McDonald House Hamilton ad brain tumor research. Me and some my fellow pencilnecks will be drawing and taking donations to raise some funds, so come on out and help out this great cause. We hope to see everyone come on out and take part!

Well that's what I got, I hope it makes up for those two lost days, I will be back tomorrow for sure, this is a storm you can count on. And remember to be sure to subscribe to the page and leave a comment, don't be a stranger.  Follow my Twitter and Instagram as well for up to the minute updates, thanks for taking the time to read this crazy little blog, lots of love and keep chasing the storm. 

The Saga Continues

A few months back, if you've been following, I reviewed a graphic novel comic book by the name of Saga. If you haven't read said blog yet, go read it here first (insert link here) and then check out the first volume of Saga before you read more. I would like to call this a review, but I mean who are we kidding, Saga is fantastic. And I will say this much, these next issues keep the pace going and gives the story more twist, background and character development. This is the kind of book that shows are made out of. So it goes without saying if you got the first volume, get the second one for sure, the series doesn't skip a beat. So for the rest of this blog I wanted to go through some of my favourite moments in the book. So please come back once you've read the books, don't want to be the guy to spoil the story for you.

Warming spoilers up ahead.

•The Will: let's get this one out of the way, I love The Will! He is by far my favourite character of the series so far and you get to see more and learn more about him in this book.

After the first volume, he is a mess after finding out his former flame and fellow Contractor, The Stalk was murdered by Prince Robot IV. So you see him early on in the book very depressed and look through old memories of him and his ex. We then see a perfect dream of his, together again with The Stalk and freeing the young captive girl on Sextillion, and not mention killing everyone in the way. Upon waking up though he is introduced to one of the clients who hired him to kill Marko and Alana in the first place, Gwendolyn. That is Marko's ex-fiancé, Gwendolyn.

Needing The Will to finish the job he was paid to do in the first place, Gwen is there to see what's been the delay. She informs him that Prince Robot IV is also on the hunt for the infamous new family, and that finding them will also allow him to lay retribution for The Stalk. The Will agrees to get back to work but only if she can help him free the slave girl, which with some political push she manages to do. The Will sees that the great interest in him finishing the job must mean there's a history between Gwen and Marko.

By the end of the book though we have another family traveling the galaxy hunting for the bounty. This I loved, cause this family may be even more dysfunctional than our story's main heroes. The little girl is able to sense and hear the artifacts the Gwendolyn and Marko carry, so they use her to follow them through out space. And Gwen is not exactly The Will favourites ship mate, but they must work together now to finish the job.  And how could I not mention Lying Cat, everyone loves Lying Cat. How can you not?

•Marko & Alana: the family that changed the rules. At the end of the first volume they just got off the planet and were headed into the great unknown of space, when suddenly they are stopped by unknown intruders in their rocket ship, these intruders are actually Marko's parents.

The story starts with Marko and his mom heading to the nearby planet to rescue the ghostly babysitter, leaving Alana with the baby and her estranged father in law. We get to know the parents and how they feel about the relationship and how they feel about their granddaughter. The mother is very upset with Marko, especially for leaving Gwendolyn. The dad however wants to get to know his granddaughter and his son's wife, seeing how he has very little time left to live. That was a really good twist to the story, it was a bittersweet moment of connection.

We also get to see flashbacks to when Alana and Marko first met. We see that Alana's world is changed after reading a romance novel, the romance between two different creatures. She is inspired by the book and wants to share this book with as many people as possible. I loved that the first meeting between them ended with Alana knocking out Marko's teeth to the floor. We see them spending more and more time together as prisoner and guard keeper, Alana is able to share the story with him. It's in a desperate moment that Alana decides to free Marko and run away with him. That's how their story together begins. I love the idea that from a simple love story these two have made a connection and formed a love that has the potential of changing everything in the universe. And all this from a small little love story.

•Prince Robot IV: probably the most unlikeable character in the story so far. After killing The Stalk and stealing her ship, he has decided to go find the author of the love novel that Alana had read. When we see him for first time, it appears he is dying on the battlefield, when he is saved by a field medic. Unfortunately for said little field medic, she blows up after inhaling toxic gases. We then see it was a dream or perhaps a memory, still not sure actually. There is something about this scene that I will touch on later, if you've been following comic news I am sure you know what I am talking about. He is then reminded on finish the job to take out Alana and Marko, but remains calm and lands on the planet to find the author.

Once he find the author, he begins to question him on the book and if he knows that what he wrote could be the spark to a revolution. After a back and forth, Prince Robot IV shoots the author and decides to stay and wait for the family, as he assumes that they will be coming to the same planet to find the author. And little does he know that there hiding up stairs. And that is where the volume ends.

Okay so apparently there was some controversy over issue 12, at the beginning of the book we see a wounded Prince Robot IV on the battlefield, on his screen face though there are images of man giving oral sex to many other men. According to a lot of websites on all iOS products this book has been banned. What I am curious is about why ban it? Saga is an extremely mature book and up to this point there have been many and many graphic images. So why now? It doesn't make sense, just have an age warning and let it be, it seems a little strange in my opinion, but maybe in time we will learn. Actually if anyone knows why this happened, by all means please let me know.

It's incredible how consistently amazing this book has been thus far after two volumes, I am happily surprised by all the fantastic elements of this story, from the art work to the concepts and all the characters, Saga is going to be the book of 2013. I can't recommend this book enough to everyone, so spread the word and let the world know, Saga is a must read.

That's all the time I got right now, thanks for reading and remember to subscribe to this blog to follow all kinds of comics news and reviews and inside look at the world of comic books. Also be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, by following @ChileanStorm. I am also on YouTube, doing Time Well Spent on the Maddsketch channel and also doing my own Storm VLOG videos, so please subscribe to our channel, give a like and leave a comment. And be sure to like the Spent Pencils page on Facebook, one like goes a long way. I am ChileanStorm, and remember to embrace the storm and keep running forward.

Spent for YouTube

Put this in your tube and watch it! 

You want some content? We got content right here! In efforts to connect with you, yes you, we've been hitting up YouTube with a lot of different videos and I got some of the updates and links right here for you, but I implore you to subscribe to our channels, give a like and leave a comment, the feedback is super important to us, so please do some interacting! I swear we don't bite. So as you may or may not know, the main channel to get a lot of sweet artist and comic book content is the MaddSketch channel, so click and enjoy the various different shows, like Doodle Tuesdays and The Sequentials. You can also watch yours truly on Time Well Spent, if you haven't seen it yet we got 4 episode up, so watch and see what you think. I will be posting up the video down here as well. You can also watch both me and Tiffany on our own YouTube channels; Tea Em will be vlog-ing and will also looking through more comics that have a personal connection, not to mention doing video gaming as well, so check her out for sure! On the ChileanStorm, I will be doing just vlogs and updates, I have thought of going through my collection of games and comics and share them with all you. So you want more TWS awesomeness, subscribe to our channels and love us more then that goldfish you got last year at the Ex.

As promised earlier here it is, episode 4 of Time Well Spent! It does end a bit early on us, but we wanted to encourage more interaction with the channel, so if you are reading this, please a like and a comment, it won't kill you right? And tell your friends! 

And here is the brand new episode of Sequentials! This was done during the 100th episode of Unboxing Wednesdays, and has a great collection of amazing and creative talent, so give it a watch!

And here is my own quick video vlog I did on Wednesday at Silver Snail, for July Well Spent. I could have made it longer, but it happens. And I will post one by the end of the day as well, so stay tuned for that. 

So there you go, plenty to watch here and on all of our channels, we are not stopping with giving you as much content as we can and all three of us have comics in the works and online as well, be sure to check out Tiffany's Tales of Lost, which up right now and updated every week. So be sure to subscribe to that page as well. Alright everyone, that's all the time I got for now, and I got to get ready for all the events this weekend! So stay tuned, and keep watching the Storm!
 

The Super Bat

Does it always work when you take the best of both worlds and add them together? I am not sure, I haven't tried a bacon sundae yet. But when it comes to comics, taking two awesome things can have mixed results; exhibit A, AVX was an awesomely fun crossover event that tie up a lot that was going on in both the Avengers and the X-Men stories, it changed everything after. But then you get Marvel vs DC, and that was quite a mess of a story, if any at all. But then again it was the 90's, proper storytelling was a gem back then. But it's a new age and new run has begun on everyone favourite buddy cop (or super hero to be exact) duo, Batman/Superman! Talk about the best of both worlds, these two are comic book icons known through out the world and the ages, teaming up yet again to save the day...and get the girls? Maybe. Why not, its Batman and Superman, how can they not get the girls? These two have teamed up in the past several times, in cartoons and comics, still waiting for that big screen team up but in time. But everyone is familiar with these two and the way they work, good cop who can crush into pieces, bad cop who can and probably will torture you in ways you can't even imagine. Night and day, black and white. These two are as different as they come, but they do fight on the side of angels, and regardless of their differences at the end of the day, they get the job done. It's been a while since we last got to see these two in action together in the comics, and I mean without the rest of the Justice League. And now finally we get our favourite DC tag team back in action, but has it been worth the wait?
 

The new team on this book is a very interesting one to say the least, the current writer being Greg Pak is teamed up with two fantastic artist on this project, Jae Lee and Ben Oliver The idea two have two different worlds is there for sure, actually it may be a little bit too much when it comes to that. The dark look to Gotham City looks fantastic though, Jae Lee absolutely kills it in giving the city it's own personality and look. The city itself looks like an extension of the Dark Knight, with towers high in the dark grey sky. I was actually a little bummed that they want to use two artist for this book, no offense to Oliver it's just that Lee's art is so fantastic I would almost recommend this book on the art alone. His style works extremely well for Batman, and he even makes Superman look scary, although not everyone is a fan of a scary man of steel. The next part of story sends both heroes all the way out to Smallville, this were the artist change as well, the art is really good as well, the contrast here being the setting is a very sunny and bright location in comparison to Gotham. And while it is a cool idea no doubt, it thorough me off a little bit here. I wasn't sure if I was reading the same story or a new one all together. And I am sure I wasn't the only guy scratching his head when this happened, I know what they were trying for here, but they could have kept it to one artist to tell both parts of the story. It's not a make or break kind of deal, but I am curious to see how they will approach this in the later issues. The story seemed pretty straight forward at first, but we find out there's something or someone trying to pull the strings and trying to get Batman and Superman to fight one and other. Although this does seem to be heading into a world cross over story, the likes of Injustice: Gods Among Us. But again, this being the first story and all, I could be wrong. I say this, cause out of all the story we read, the one I really don't like going back to is the multiverse story, it's been done so much by both the big two companies. And it's not like you can't write a good multiverse story, but as a launch story goes why start off like this. I remember the first Batman/Superman story arc from the Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness run, it was a great unique story that took place and tied both worlds together, it's even in animated format, so by all means it can be done. I also feel like it's a bit too early for this kind of story, even in the entire 52 universe, I thought the whole idea of making this connected universe was to keep everything in one world. But I stand to be proven wrong, and if they can make a good story out this, by all means prove me wrong. But as it stands it is still pretty good, a great way of seeing through the minds of these heroes who are so opposite but both fighting for the right cause. The writing so far is fine, just the story I am a little worried about, but nothing abysmal or out of place.
 

But is this worth your time and shelf space in your collection? That depends on you, on Jae Lee's art alone I would say give it a read and pick it up. It's something to see for sure, if you are a fan of style kind of art, then you don't want to miss out on this. But if you really can't afford a new series, then don't worry too much about missing this series. After all, if the story does get really good then by all means you could pick up the graphic novel, otherwise you can wait and see how it goes.
That's all the time I got right now, thanks for reading and remember to subscribe to this blog to follow all kinds of comics news and reviews and inside look at the world of comic books. Also be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, by following @ChileanStorm. I am also on YouTube, doing Time Well Spent on the Maddsketch channel and also doing my own Storm VLOG videos. And be sure to like the Spent Pencils page on Facebook, one like goes a long way. I am ChileanStorm, and remember to embrace the storm and keep running forward.

Ready, Spent, Go!

Breathe deep and breathe in, I got a big day tomorrow and it will be the kick off for the next week and well the next month as well. And what ends in July will only bring on August and the big show at the end of that month, so this will be my hardest working month ever. Not to mention the story I need to finish and the content I want to provided all of you every single day. This isn't going to be easy by any means, I also need to make money for my responsibilities and my debts. But at the end of the day, this is what I want to do, I want to be part of this world and I want to leave my mark as well, and I don't want to stop. It's work yes and I have a responsibility, but I am having a hell of a good time! I am meeting new friends, I am finding great new stories, I am learning new techniques to improve as an artist, but more importantly I get to do this everyday and that to me is a gift. That being said here is a rundown of what's going on this month...

July Well Spent +Silver Snail : Starting tomorrow the Spent Pencils crew will be at the iconic Toronto comic book store, and will be there every Wednesday and Saturday for the month of July. And tomorrow it will kick off with the Go-Man, Kevin Briones and Paul "Amazing Just The Way He Is" Limgenco and this guy, the ChileanStorm, Alvaro Cruz. I am so hyped for this show, I can't wait to get down and do some drawings! And here is a listing for the rest of the days, but honestly be there for all these days of good times with the greatest art group in the GTA.  
 
Wednesday, July 3
Kevin Briones, Alvaro Cruz, Paul Limgenco

Day 2: Saturday, July 6
Kevin Briones, Briana Chan, Oliver Castaneda

Day 3: Wednesday, July 10
Aaron Ong, Vince Sunico, Daniel Wong

Day 4: Saturday, July 13
Joe Osei Bonsu, Aaron Ong, Mark Williams, Dave Edwards

Day 5: Wednesday, July 17
Gemal Plummer, Briana Chan, Vince Sunico

Day 6: Saturday, July 20
Oliver Castaneda, Arnold Trinidad, Tiffany Medeiros

Day 7: Wednesday, July 24
Mark Feltham, Daniel Wong, Gemal Plummer

Day 8: Saturday, July 27
Briana Chan, Khanh Nguyen, Joe Osei Bonsu

Day 9: Wednesday, July 31
Alvaro Cruz, Mark Feltham, Khanh Nguyen

And then as the week goes on we got an event in the city of Mississauga, the Paper Road. We will be there all weekend at Mississauga Celebration Square lending a helping hand and getting everyone involved with drawing on the large paper road. So don't be shy and be inspired to add your art to the bigger picture. This will be held from Thursday to Sunday in the evenings, so drop by! 

And on Saturday we will also be out in Orangeville, at Gauntlet Comics! We will be there all day drawing and sketching away for you, so come on down and get some unique art! Also it's always a great time at Gauntlet Comics! 

And that's what we got for July so far, but more events are on the horizon so stay tuned here or like Spent Pencils on Facebook, so you can stay tuned for all SP related news and updates. I got go get ready, big day tomorrow, I can't wait, hope to see you all there! 

After 5: Young Avengers

I want to do a run on reviewing different comic book series but as a package kind of deal, that's were this idea comes from; After 5 will be me taking a current ongoing series and breaking it down and letting you know how it is, tell you all the great things and bad things with the series so far, and if its worth getting the series, staying with the series or simply skip it all together. Think of it like a super review or something. And if you are curious about any current series and would like me to take a look, by all means let me know and I will look into it for you. For the first one in this series of reviews, I wanted to expand on my feelings that I have for this series from episode 3 of Time Well Spent, if you have yet to see the episode, you can see it by clicking the link. I suggest to watch the video first, but if you prefer to just read then by all means continue on.
Fresh from the big Marvel Now franchise relaunch that has been going on with most of the Marvel books, the Young Avengers book picks up with new and old characters running into one and other, we have Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) and Marvel Boy hooking up and battling Skrulls out in space, back on Earth we see Hulkling (Teddy) and Wiccan (Billy) arguing about what's been going on in the last few months, vowing to never return to the super hero life after the events of Children's Crusade (look it up, really good story arc). But when you have the power to make a difference, you probably should. And when you have the power to warp reality and save your boyfriend's mother before she's executed...well you probably shouldn't. Especially when a young God of mischief, Loki, is looking to steal some power. But with Miss Americas timely interference on Loki, things turn upside down really fast. And whatever Wiccan pulled out of that reality is now taking control over parents minds and recreating the world in its vision. And the best part, all six of these heroes need to work together to set things right. Easier said then done, especially with a wild card like Loki in the ranks. But after a few bumps and crashes, the team manages to hold of the alien parasite just enough for them to decide to head off into space and try and finish the job once and for all. Also Wiccan gets a pretty cool update on his costume, reminds me a little bit of Quasar from the early 90's days of Marvel. It looks good.

That's pretty much the story so far, without mentioning some of the awesome panel by panel battle scenes, with interesting and unique ways of laying out the battles, especially in issue 4 and 5. Then there's the back and forth banter among the characters, the best ones being with Loki, as he attempts to convince them to lend him some help. I really love Miss America being the one who is keeping Loki in line, ready to smack him three ways from Sunday if she needs to. Although I still think she needs to cut back on the random Hispanic slang that's thrown in every now and then. Just keep her to speaking all English or all Spanish, other wise it just seems to be a very unrealistic, and dated form of letting the reader know her background. Besides she looks Latina, so it's really not necessary at all. I also wasn't too happy with making Wiccan so whiny and weak at first, it was only until half way through the fifth book that we started to see the Wiccan we know and love. But before hand we see a young hero who is filled with doubt and fear of his own powers, fear of being who he is supposed to be. And it's strange cause Hulking seemed fine, maybe nursing and taking care of Billy a bit more then usual, but for the most part he was great. I am curious to see what rift if any will get between Kate and Noh-var, so far they seem to be really in love and all seem to be going well, interested to see if they dig up some dirt from Marvel Boy's Dark Avenger days. Even still this story is fantastic, if not for the brave creative choice in the story approach, but also for these fresh new heroes that we love to know more about and the one we would like to meet. Young Avengers is able to be different and change conventional systems that are a staple in comics and makes it one of the most enjoyable series in comic today. So yeah, right now it's not perfect (but this compared to some of the previous story arcs in Young Avengers history) but it still stands as one the most enjoyable reads today, I highly recommend this series as part of your collection.

That's all the time I got right now, thanks for reading and remember to subscribe to this blog to follow all kinds of comics news and reviews and inside look at the world of comic books. Also be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, by following @ChileanStorm. I am also on YouTube, doing Time Well Spent on the Maddsketch channel and also doing my own Storm VLOG videos, so be sure to subscribe to both channels. And be sure to like the Spent Pencils page on Facebook, one like goes a long way. I am ChileanStorm, and remember to embrace the storm and keep running forward.

Also all the art on today's blog is from one the most creative and talented people I have the privilege of working with, the amazing Tiffany Medeiros! Also be sure to check out her super cool out this world manatee infused web comic, Tales of Lost.