Thoughts on Matt Durand's The Dark Gun

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Written by Matt Durand; Art by Taylan Kurtulus

Matt Durand's

The Dark Gun will haunt you and inundate your mind with questions about violence and how it’s passed through generations, or if it’s something that is passed on. And they’re good questions.

Taylan Kurtulus'

art feels bleak, no doubt by intention. We don't recall experiencing his art anywhere else, but we can tell you it works in this title. It’s a dark book, colored darkly, and full of shadows. It may even leave you with a sickly feeling.

A mind full of questions, a sickly feeling—and perhaps that was it’s intention. As much as we hope there’s a second issue, we hope there is isn’t.

Read this comic at your own risk. It just might leave you with a hole in the heart.

But in case you're wondering...

There is a second issue.

You can

help bring the 2nd issue to life

by

taking action to support to the Kickstarter campaign

. It only has a relatively few days to make its funding goal.

Connect with Matt on Twitter

.

Connect with Taylan on Twitter.

Our 11 Favorite Things at Empires in 2014

We're finally saying goodbye to 2014, and we're doing it by sharing some of our favorite things about 2014. Think of it as our 2014 Highlights reel.

Here's our list of things we were most excited about for the shop. It ranges from really simple things to really spectacular things. So, here they are... in almost no particular order.

• Window blinds. Hey, our windows face the east and the sun gets in your eyes when it's going down. 
• IKEA Shelving. Really, it's the consistent look that the shelves provide that we really like. Woo, it looks SO good.
• Jenga. Or should we say, JEEEEEENNNNNNGGGAAAAAAA! What a blast! And each game lasts about 10 minutes or less. You wanna piece of Ben. Challenge him.

• Couches. What were we thinking not getting couches WAY sooner! We're a comic shop for goodness' sake. You're supposed to be able to chill and read your comics. 

• Graphic novel discussion club. We're liking this better than we thought we would at first. The groups vary in size and the discussions range from hilarious to thought-provoking. It's what we love about comics, reading AND talking about them.

• The return of Empire's Art Gallery, featuring local creators and artists' works that won't break the budget (most of the time, haha). We just love seeing art up. It's magical.

Jeremy Rathbone, Featured Artist, August 2014

• Monthly Members Only game nights, including classic games, board games, and video games. Sorry, this one is for our Comic Book Savings Club Members Only. It's our enhanced pull list saver program and it only requires one current title on the list. How do you get started? We thought you'd never ask. Read all about it.

Game night BEFORE the window blinds were installed. See what we mean?

• The Guardians of the Galaxy movie and Empire's Movie Crew's "I am Groot" shout. OMG. HANDS DOWN THE BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR! (You wanna argue about it? We know you're thinking it was Winter Soldier...)

• Our biggest FCBD Mini-Con so far. We distributed about 15,000 free comics and featured local comic book creators and artists who you could meet and talk to and support by picking up their creations for your own private collections.

• An amazing Creative Women Mini-Con featuring IDW Transformers: Windblade breakout talent Sarah Stone (have you watched the interview yet?) and twelve amazing creative women!

• Captain Dylan Hunt -- the newest edition to our family! That pug has SO much energy. Wow!

If you think 2014 was amazing, just wait until we've finished with 2015! Don't miss it. Get on our email list ay-sap, aka, asap. 

Watch for more posts about our favorite things in 2014. In the meantime, how about throwing down with some comments about your favorite things from 2014?

Empire's Open Vault Comic Book Reviews & Opinion

On August 23, 2011, Empire's Open Vault posted its first customer submitted blog post telling one fan's return-to-comics story.

Probably, most of you knew nothing about it. One reason might be that our store website was different from our store blog which was different from our comic book reviews and opinion blog... Oh, and the store website didn't have a link to either of the blogs.

We've Simplified Our Comic Book Blogs & Website

Now, things are easier. At one site, you can access everything you need. It is also our hope that over the next two months we'll bring our podcast over and possibly our Souvenirs blog. You can access Empire's Open Vault using the Reviews & Opinions link at the top of the page. Hope you like what you find...

What Is Empire's Open Vault?

Empire's Open Vault contains
our comic book reviews and opinion AND the reviews and opinions of our customers. It's an enjoyable way to hear what others are thinking about the state of comics, what they're reading, and most any other geek related topic one wishes to write about. There are some basic submissions guideline, terms and commenting guidelines, but there's not much to it.

If you have something to say and want to submit a blog post, we look forward to receiving it.

Getting Things in Order

We transfered all of the posts from the old blog to our new blog, and some of the formatting and links are "off", so please bear with us until we get that all in order. Also, we plan on adding the original dates of the posts and hope to transfer as many of the comments as possible. Of course, that'll take a little time. We appreciate your patience.

In the meantime, we have this new blog ready enough to receive more reviews and opinion pieces, so please watch for them. Maybe one of them will be from you. We'll share the posts on our Twitter account and on Facebook. Who knows? Maybe you'll get as famous with the world wide web as you are already with us.

Review: Smallville, Season Eleven, #6

Batman goes toe to toe against Superman and stands his ground, and he does it without kryptonite. So what's his secret? You'll have to read the issue to find out.

This face off makes the whole issue. The reason is personal to Batman. Clearly, he hasn't left his emotions out of it.

Later, Lex studies the match. Who knows where this will lead.

Get Rid of Otis!

I missed a few issues, but jumped into this one for obvious reasons. There's one major flaw to be found: Otis. Otis is a mistake. Unless there's a huge plot twist involving Otis, he needs to pack his suitcases. Otherwise, at this point, he appears to be the pointless character we've already seen elsewhere. One thing is certain: The Lex Luther of Smallville would never surround himself with the likes of Otis.

Let's hope the get back to the spirit of the original Smallville television series. Let DC not fool itself, the only readers of this comic book series are the fans of that show. Don't ruin it.

Before Watchmen: Minutemen - Issue 1 - Comic Book Review

Lots of folks are not interested in reading any of the Before Watchmen series.

The series starts with Minutemen. Even Ben, the owner of Empire's Comics Vault, didn't want to read it, but he did. And he liked it. Two of the Sacramento comic book shops fans read it also, and they recorded this 3 minute 43 second video review for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.

Jacob DeSersa is the drummer of Seeker. He also hosts the geeky Pizza Party Podcast. Patrick Clarke is a permanent guest host on the Pizza Party Podcast. You'll also find Pizza Party Podcast on Facebook.

Supergirl #1 - Simply Good Storytelling

By RonOfTheEmpire

Supergirl #1

Story: Last Daughter of Krypton

November 2011

Rated T

Writers: Michael Green & Mike Johnson

Penciler: Mahmud Asrar

Inkers: Dan Green with Asrar

Colorist: Dave McCaig

It's simplicity is elegant. The story is poignant.

A young girl feeling lost in a nightmare awakens to an even more painful reality, and you, the reader, feel that pain. That's the story of Supergirl waking up on Earth.

Don't let the simplicity fool you. It's a powerful story you'll be glad you read, and along the way, you'll have enjoyed the perfect marriage of words, pencils, inks and colors.

That's my review. Yes, that's it. To say more would be to ruin it.

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Other Posts by RonOfTheEmpire

Abnormal Like Captain Atom

Not Your Grandpa's Aquaman

O.M.A.C. #1 - Rollercoaster Ride

Abnormal Like Captain Atom

by RonOfTheEmpire

Dated: November 2011
Released: September 2011

Writer: J.T. Krul
Artist: Freddie Williams II
Colorist: Jose Villarrubia

Synopsis

Pit one giant robot against one atomic energy man and you'll have a super-sciencey throw down.

Best of all, the combination of Williams' art and Villarrubia's colors cast a spell on your eyes, so that they won't want to turn away from the page. I'm no art specialist, but the softness of the colors has the feel of the most elegant colored pencils ever (if that makes any sense at all).

Captain Atom saves the day more than once, however as a result of using his powers, a serious problem develops.

For more background, read the awesome Captain Atom review at DadsBigPlan.com.

Review

There's no doubt in my mind that I'll pick up this book again - for the art and colors alone. At the same time, Krul also captured my interest. For a reason I'm unclear about, I care about Captain Atom. Perhaps it's because, his power - which could equally be called his "condition" - prevents him from leading a normal life, leaving him feeling abnormal.

And who doesn't feel like that.

Not Your Grandpa's Aquaman

By RonOfTheEmpire

Artist: Ivan Reis; Colorist: Rod Reis

Trust Geoff Johns' writing. You read and loved his run on The Flash and Green Lantern. Don't doubt him now (Sure, there was the Green Lantern movie bomb, but that can hardly be blamed on Geoff).

Immediately, in the first issue, Geoff turns the reader's preconceived, ill-conceived and misconceived notions upside down. The writing is art, the art is poetry, and the colors are vibrant. This is the Aquaman you were meant to read (if you can find it!). Aquaman is portrayed as strong, commanding and decisive. He is, after all, the ruler of 70% of the planet (as some quaintly refer to it, the seven seas). It's about time he gets some respect, and oh! he does.

If you need more information, Newsarama's interview with Geoff Johns will shed more light on what you need to know about Aquaman. The book has even received some positive buzz from USAToday.com and NYTimes.com.

All I can tell you is this: If Aquaman can eat fish and chips, then you can read Aquaman #1. Issue #2 hits stands on October 26, 2011.

###

Got Something To Say?

If you're a Sacramento, CA, local and have something to say about comics, pop-culture, the comic book industry or whatever, consider adding to this reader-driven blog. Write your post and email it to empirescv@gmail.com. For more information, please review the submission guidelines.

O.M.A.C. #1 - Rollercoaster Ride

by RonOfTheEmpire

Dated: November 2011
Released: September 2011

Story and Art by: Keith Giffen and Dan DiDio
Inks: Scott Koblish
Colors: Hi-Fi

Synopsis

O.M.A.C., like an army tank on legs, crashes through a mission. Some freakish creatures attack, then "BARR-SOOM," he disposes of them. Something or someone controls him. Who or what could it be? All the while O.M.A.C.'s peacockish mohawk blazes overhead like a national banner.

Review

O.M.A.C. reads like a sci-fi rollercoaster ride - you get in the car, it clanks to the summit and then Vrooom! From another perspective, O.M.A.C. feels like a one-man A-Team, and that's for real!

Reading is believing. Read this book for a rollercoaster ride experience. This one goes on my comic book saver. It's 100% saver worthy.

Incidentally, if you'd like a bit more background, you can read the O.M.A.C. review on Dubiosity.