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Terry Hooper-Scharf

Thursday 30 July 2015

Delcourt -Ocelot


 O celot est un magnifique félin qui parcourt le monde en compagnie de sa maîtresse, une jet-setteuse digne de Nabilla, afin de concourir aux plus importants concours de beauté animale. Mais au moment d’un transfert à Roissy, leurs routes se séparent et le voilà secouru par une curieuse bande de chats prêts à tout pour le ramener à son vrai domicile qu’il n’a jamais connu : la jungle sudaméricaine.

http://www.bdgest.com/preview-1755-BD-ocelot-ocelot.html


;
 
 

Do Not Let The Photo Put You Off

Hi, All!
Apparently, THIS as a passport photo is not allowed. Ridiculous!

In between decorating (the last time was 2004) and feeling VERY guilty about evicting spiders (seriously, it's their home, too, but they WILL love the new decor!) I am working on the big post and with 2000 or so of you visiting the site a day I need to keep you happy!

But, can I ask a favour of all of you who are really -really- interested in Independent comics?

Ignore Amazon and the other big buck businesses you might think of looking at for Black Tower books as I get very little from any sale (in fact, books sold that way are give aways!).

I have an online store front here:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/hoopercomicsuk

Now, I am not saying go and buy something.  What I am asking is that, perhaps, you take a few minutes to just look at the prose books, comic albums and graphic novels that are available. I would recommend Chung Ling Soo and Dene Vernon -drawn by a very popular artist (so he is a creator worth investing in) and, of course, anything by Ben R. Dilworth who, if you know about comics, you will know has been around a while and even drew Mark Millar's Shadowmen back in the 1990s. Dilworth's work tends to get the most reaction from people and he spans the genres -it's why he's called "the spanner" (he has no loose nuts or bolts that I know of).

Sadly, I have very limited work by Paul Ashley Brown or else I would be pushing that like crazy -but he has contributed to one of the Tales of Terror anthologies!

Now, if you like anything you see -then buy!

Support Independent comics, kids!

Now...off to paint!

Wednesday 29 July 2015

Monsters In My Pocket -and that is NOT a euphemism it is a request!

Anyone know of -non-rip off- sellers of the Gen2 Monsters In My Pocket playing cards?  Let me know -THANKS!

That's THIS series:

Marvel Will Release a New Netflix Show Every 6 Months



MARVEL'S DAREDEVIL
Barry Wetcher— Netflix, Inc. Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in the Netflix Original Series “Marvel’s Daredevil”



Well, Time http://time.com/3975704/marvel-netflix-6-months/ has published an Associated Press news item that ought to have all the so called Marvel fans in a tizzzy.

Jessica Jones will premiere before the end of 2015

Though the next Marvel film, Captain America: Civil War, won’t premiere until May, more Marvel heroes are coming to your streaming queue—and soon. Netflix announced at the Television Critics Association summer meeting on Tuesday that it will be rolling out a new Marvel superhero series every six months.

Marvel and Netflix teamed up to bring five separate shows to the streaming service, focusing on a group of comic book heroes called The Defenders, a street-level Avengers team. The first in the series, Daredevil, premiered in April. Jessica Jones will be the next superhero to get a Netflix treatment before the end of 2015, followed by Iron Fist and Luke Cage, according to the Associated Press. After each has starred in their own series, all four will join forces for a Defenders show.

The announcement comes as anticipation for Jessica Jones, the first female superhero to headline her own Marvel project, grows. “I’ve been coming to Comic-Con for 12 years, and I think a lot of fans here have been eager to see more women onscreen for a long time,” Dawn Keiser, a 30-year-old Californian told TIME at San Diego Comic-Con in early July. “I was really happy to see the characters Karen and Claire become these heroes on Daredevil, but I really can’t wait for Jessica Jones to be the hero of her own show.”
Netflix Confirms Premiere of Marvel’s JESSICA JONES in Late 2015
Krysten Ritter, star of Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 2 (pictured above) as the titular superhero turned private investigator, Jessica Jones will also feature David Tennant as her archenemy Dr. Zebediah Killgrave (a.k.a. The Purple Man) and Mike Colter as the super-powered Luke Cage, Jones’ boyfriend and the eventual father of her child. (Cage will receive his own Netflix series next year.) Jessica Jones co-stars Rachael Taylor, Carrie-Anne Moss, Eka Darville, Erin Moriarty, and Wil Traval.

If the tone of Daredevil is any indication, Jessica Jones and the other Marvel Netflix shows will be much darker and bloodier than the one audiences know from films like Iron Man and The Avengers.

___________________________________________________________________________
All of which sounds like Disney want to get as much out of their Marvel properties as they can before comics and all the add-ons come crashing down.

 It means that you can now say with 100% certainty that there is NO such thing as "continuity" at Disney/Marvel.  As characters in comics changed to reflect the movie versions so they are starting to change to reflect the TV versions.

It's just a mess.  You know when you want to get someone to stop something? Say, eating Cadbury's creme eggs which they "love"?  You buy them creme egg after creme egg and it does not take long before there is no longer any love!!  This is what Disney-Marvel is doing.  Super hero after super hero, comic change after comic change -you will not be able to follow them because one day you'll just say: "Another Marvel super hero TV series....god I miss Happy Days!"

Everything I predicted would happen when Disney took over has happened. I really -REALLY- wish I had been wrong!

Hexagon Comics: STRANGERS 1: STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND





STRANGERS 1: STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND  

by Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier and Manuel Garcia, Fernando Blanco, Javioer Pina, Eduardo Alpuente, Peru Bros, cover by Manuel Garcia
 US$34.95/GBP 22.99 
 7x10 tpb, 
160 p. color


Contents
:
- Foreword by J.-M. & Randy Lofficier
- #1. Like an Angel, Feral-Eyed
- #2. In the Shadows of the Night
- #3. Caresses such as Snakes Give
- #4. The Livid Daylights
- #5. Icy Till the Evening
- #6. Rule with Fear
- Portfolio by Alfredo Macall

Homicron, a NASA physicist whose body is inhabited by an alien intelligence, Starlock, the fugitive servant of awesome cosmic entities, Jaydee, a teenage alien metamorph abandoned on Earth, Jaleb, the telepathic agent of the Galactic Federation and Futura, a mysterious woman from another dimension, are gathered together by Tanka, a former jungle lord and agent of Earth's farthest future, to help save our planet from the deadly threats of Astaroth, the Necromancer and Duke Oxian.

Check out all Hexagon titles here:
http://www.hexagoncomics.com/booksbcp.htm 

The BIG Posting Is On Its Way...

Honestly.  Keep the faith as it is turning into a whopper.

Tuesday 28 July 2015

A Big Post On The Way....

...I Hope!

So long as my eyes hold out I hope to get a longer than the average post out this week.  I have had a great deal of time these past two weeks to think about the current comic situation.  There are many countries out there that are not as well off as the UK but with no real comics industry and I'll be looking at that.

However, the UK, as it is, is dead as far as comics as a business is concerned.  But I'll go into this more later.

So keep checking back!

Browner Knowle -A Sneak Peek and a word to investors!

Paul Ashley Brown
Last Thursday I was strolling through a Bristol book shop and spotted a tubby man with a very -very- bad haircut. "Why, it is Mr Paul Ashley Brown -Bristol's own celebrated artist!" I thought to myself. So I went up and said "Hello" which solicited a rather high pitched and garbled "Please don't hurt me -here's my wallet!"

Poor man.

Anyway, joking aside, during a coffee (which WAS a joke because coffee should not taste that bad) we got on to Mr Brown's publications -Browner Knowle, Anon etc.  It seems that he has almost sold out of all issues with people getting in touch trying to buy copies.

This proves the point that I made that there is far more future investment potential in publishers of short run, no reprint publications.  There will ALWAYS be millions of Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Image comics out there so future value -not what you paid for them!

But the Small Press creators that are sought after now, such as Mr Brown, will be those you ought to invest in now because there is no "I'll pick up copies off Ebay later" -he uses a printer and never ever uses Ebay.

So, if you see any of his titles grab them or try contacting him via Face Book and see what books are still available.

And, this from Mr Brown:


"Sneak peak at BROWNER-KNOWLE 8 currently in progress; Page 1 of "Missus Necessary", and a panel from the 3 page "The Story of Our Lives". Probably won't see light of day til later in the year."


No Messing Around -The 2016 Clallam Bay Comicon Is Being Organised Now!

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Qw5q-IgdOA/UmGXktH4swI/AAAAAAAABeU/rMeUNQIVlDw/s1600/CBCC+2014+Seal+Logo+COLOR+WEB.gif
From Donna Barr:
"The fifth annual Clallam Bay Comicon on the way

CLALLAM BAY, WASHINGTON - The fifth annual Clallam Bay Comicon will be held July 9-10, 2016, in the Lion's Club building in Clallam Bay (90 Bogachiel Street), on Washington State's Olympic Peninsula. Full details at www.donnabarr.com

No admission fee, very low sales table rates; first-come, first-served.
Peninsula businesses and communities are encouraged to offer welcoming specials or events to Comicon attendees.

Contacts: donnabarr01@gmail.com and 360 963 2935"

And, yes, I know that is the 2014 poster but it looks pretty and Pinterest don't take posts without images so there!  :-P

QRD On Blog Roll

QRD #74To help support Independent creators, I have added QRD to the blog roll. This online mag looks at music and comics -with interviews with creators and musicians so please check them out!

Hooper-Scharf -QRD?

No, no, no. It is NOT some sort of mental disorder. QRD is the site that interviewed me and I did promise that when the interview was published I'd let everyone know!

So here is the link:http://www.silbermedia.com/qrd/archives/74thooper.html

Have fun!

Monday 27 July 2015

Return Of The Gods & The Cross-Earths Caper Parts 1 & 2 Of The "Invasion Earth" Trilogy



The Return Of The Gods:Twilight of the Super Heroes

Terry Hooper-Scharf
A4
Paperback, 
Black & White
331 Pages
Price: £20.00
It begins slowly with Earth’s heroes going about their daily tasks –fighting a giant robot controlled by a mad scientist’s brain , attackers both human and mystical -even alien high priests of some mysterious cult and their zombie followers and, of course, a ghost and a young genius lost in time. 
 
Pretty mundane. But there is a huge alien Mother-ship near the Moon and strange orange spheres chase some of Earth’s heroes who vanish into thin air –are they dead?
 
 Then black, impenetrable domes cover cities world-wide. 
  
Alien invasion of Earth! 
 
A war between the Dark Old Gods and the pantheons that followed! 
  
Warriors from Earth’s past having to battle each day and whether they die or not they are back the next day!
 
 And no one suspects the driving force behind the events that could cause destruction and chaos throughout the multiverse —assaulted on all fronts can Earth’s defenders succeed or will they fail...is this truly the end?

THE CROSS EARTHS CAPER

 Terry Hooper-Scharf
Paperback, 
Black & White
107 Pages 
A4 
Price: £12.00
Following the events on Neo Olympus and the Boarman invasion of Earth, many heroes and crime-fighters have withdrawn from activity. 
 
 Some are trying to recover from injuries while others are fighting the mental scars left by the events. 
 
 As heroes from other parallels who helped during the events return home, members of the Special Globe Guard are shocked at the sudden appearance of Zom of the Zodiac. 
 
Very soon, a group of heroes find a quick rescue mission turn sour as they become lost between parallel Earths and threats. Sometimes one Earth just is not enough. 
  
The complete story published in issues 7-10 of Black Tower Adventure now in...one handy dandy book!

Views Are Already over 2000 -and it's only 1600 hrs!


I just noticed that it is only 16:05 BST and the hits are over 2000+ -from following the links I post. But looking at the actual views....amazing.

United States
2199
Russia
1788
Ukraine
856
France
743
United Kingdom
411
Bulgaria
248
Germany
182
India
119
Sweden
112
Romania
79

Comics: A Stick Of Dynamite

I did say "literally" -remember?
https://thegirlbehindthecounterdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/stickofdynamiteim-1.jpg

TWO MILLION...And MORE!!


THANK YOU!
CBO has now had over 2 Million views and the numbers are climbing.  Along with Google+ and others it means CBO posts have been viewed some 6 million times in the last four years.
I wiwish I could see those two million viewers but what the heck.

Thanks! 

My Next Post

My next post on comics will quite literally be a stick of dynamite. Get ready!

Friday 24 July 2015

Vote for the New Hasbro Marvel Legends Figure And Win

Quick up-date. The micro Ant Man figure is being sold on Ebay for between $19-45. The other figures are taken from the packs and going for $65-100 and the case as shown below for $110-130. THAT is 'fan' greed.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Firstly, Hasbro is releasing these anyway.  Their greed and disdain for figure buyers as anything other than piggy banks to exploit for their "bucket" (of cash) items was proven at the San Diego Comic Con -and I hope you watched THAT video?

Oh, here are "your" choices":

Pick between Darkhawk, Angela, Symbiote Spider-Man and Mysterio!

The fans at San Diego Comic-Con have spoken. Sixteen Marvel Heroes were up to become the new Marvel Legends figure, but now only four remain! The champions are Darkhawk, Angela, Symbiote Spider-Man and Mysterio and now it is up to you to vote for your favorite and choose who becomes Hasbro’s next Marvel Legend!

The decision is in your hands. And to sweeten the deal, you could win a Hasbro SDCC 2015 Exclusive Ant-Man Figure Set signed by Stan Lee!

Yes, they took huge trailer trucks full of free figures for SDCC and had so many even that event was not big enough to throw them all away.  Seriously, That is how 'exclusive' they were.  I do see these freebies on Ebay with asking prices of anywhere from $25-$90.00.  Greed is contagious.
 SDCC 2015 Ant-Man Figures Box Set Hasbro Exclusive
 Scale is mostly irrelevant when it comes to the size-shifting superhero, this set’s Hank Pym figure is in the 3.75″ Marvel Infinite scale and features swappable heads with and without the Ant-Man helmet. On the larger side of things, there’s both a 6″ Goliath and a 12″ Giant Man (the latter wearing the more recent comic book version of the costume) while, in a smaller scale, there’s both 1.5″ Scott Lang Ant-Man and a tiny 1″ version of the original Hank Pym Ant-Man costume. The 1.5" version is the one the money is being asked for NOT the larger figures.

You can see the actual set here: http://marveltoynews.com/hasbro-sdcc-2015-exclusive-ant-man-figures-box-set/
 Look at several different comic book iterations of Marvel's newest movie star with our gallery of Hasbro's Comic-Con Exclusive Ant-Man action figure set.
If you are that dumb and want to just contribute to making Hasbro more money See rules below.

Alex Ross Sneaks Superman Into Marvel Comic Cover

Well, according to IGN who seem to have no real story just a very blurry "something" that even when pointed out could be anything...including...well...anything.

Check it out: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/07/22/alex-ross-sneaks-superman-into-marvel-comic-cover

Of course, it could just be another way to con morons out of cash for ANOTHER "hot" comic -in a series that ain't selling that well? 

I'm a professional cynic but my heart ain't in it.
secretwars

NEW Costumes For The Flash and Arrow..on TV of course!

More DC news so you know CBO isn't biased...meh.

Anyway, over to DC Comics news...

Change is coming to The Flash and it includes an update to Barry Allen’s signature suit. Best of all, we’ve got your first look at it. Check it out!


Click to view full-sized. (Photo: Jordon Nuttall/The CW © 2015 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.)

Fans might remember that Cisco commented on the Flash’s emblem in a key scene in Season One, so maybe it’s not so surprising to see it updated here. Of course, before there are any costume changes, Barry will first have to find a way out of the interdimensional vortex he created in the Season One finale. To see how he does that, we’ll have to wait until The Flash returns to The CW on Tuesday, October 6th at 8 p.m. (7 p.m. CST).

Also, in case you missed it, Grant Gustin’s Flash isn’t the only #DCTV super hero sporting a new look next season. During San Diego Comic-Con, we were given our first look at Stephen Amell’s new Arrow costume as well.

In case you have not seen that...please, do NOT become overwhelmed, here it is:
 
I fell asleep. Who got a choc chip muffin??

Michael Chiklis Joins Gotham

News from DC Comics
Gotham’s newest cast member knows his way around a shield.

As announced this evening on TVLine, veteran actor Michael Chiklis will be joining Gotham as a series regular in the role of Captain Nathaniel Barnes.

Captain Barnes is an original character, but fortunately, the Gotham producers have provided an intriguing description. The GCPD’s new captain “lands on the GCPD like a tornado, ripping out the dead wood of Gotham’s police force. He is a law and order zealot; unafraid of making enemies – on either side of the law. For Gordon (Ben McKenzie), Barnes is a hero and a mentor, someone with whom he can share the burden of heroism. Captain Barnes proves himself to be a strong ally to Gordon… but one day he will make an equally powerful enemy.”
Michael Chiklis at event of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011)
If you’ve seen Chiklis on The Shield or more recently on American Horror Story, you know that he’s a solid actor who can be an intimidating presence on screen. He not only has plenty of experience playing a cop, but has also dabbled in the world of super heroes on the show No Ordinary Family and in the original Fantastic Four movie and its sequel. In short, he’s absolutely perfect for a show like Gotham.

X-Men: Age of Apocalypse

 http://static1.squarespace.com/static/53323bb4e4b0cebc6a28ffa2/t/55b0ea3ce4b03ff9d3b83ed5/1437657661629/

Apparently, quite a few fan boys were annoyed at the "quality"of the images from Entertainment Weekly -I think they have drifted into a fantasy world where 3D flesh-and-blood like images are projected!

The film itself will consist of younger versions of the core X-Men team that includes actors Tye Sheridan as Scott Summers/Cyclops, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Alexandra Shipp as Ororo Munroe/Storm, Lana Condor as Jubilation Lee/Jubilee and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler.

"X-Men: Apocalypse" is directed by Bryan Singer from a screenplay written by Simon Kinberg.
The film is set to hit theaters on May 27, 2016.



Cast  


Jennifer Lawrence ...
Sophie Turner ...
Jean Grey
Olivia Munn ...
Betsy Braddock / Psylocke
Rose Byrne ...
Moira MacTaggert
Oscar Isaac ...
En Sabah Nur / Apocalypse
Hugh Jackman ...
Logan / Wolverine (rumored)-he had two memorable lines in First Class
Michael Fassbender ...
Erik Lensherr / Magneto
Evan Peters ...
Nicholas Hoult ...
Hank McCoy / Beast
James McAvoy ...
Charles Xavier
Alexandra Shipp ...
Ororo Munroe / Storm
Tye Sheridan ...
Scott Summers / Cyclops
Kodi Smit-McPhee ...
Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler
Stan Lee
Lana Condor ...
Jubilation Lee / Jubilee
Lucas Till ...
Alex Summers / Havok
Josh Helman ...
William Stryker
Ben Hardy ...
Warren Worthington III / Angel
Tómas Lemarquis ...
Caliban
x-men-apocalypse-jennifer-lawrence-evan-peters

x-men-apocalypse-jennifer-lawrence-james-mcavoy

x-men-apocalypse-michael-fassbender

x-men-apocalypse-alexandra-shipp

x-men-apocalypse-tye-sheridan

x-men-apocalypse-sophie-turner

x-men-apocalypse-lana-condor

x-men-apocalypse-kodi-smit-mcphee