THE MAN CRISIS COMING THIS FALL FROM SJS DIRECT

I haven’t had much time to blog over the last two weeks. That’s because I’ve been busy finishing the first draft of THE MAN CRISIS, the new nonfiction book I’ve been working on since April.

I mentioned THE MAN CRISIS on Obsidian Radio when I made an appearance on the May 11^th show. And I believe it’s a book every man and woman should read. Because the state of affairs for American and Western Men is dire. A growing number of American and Western men are becoming frustrated, angry, and despondent as they try to make life work using the female life skills they learned from their single mothers in the world of adult men. As these men have mental short circuits due to the dysfunctional way they’ve been raised without a father in their lives, they explode in rage and participate a spectrum of violent behaviors from screaming fits to mass shootings.

And an increasing number of men are committing suicide because they believe they have no hope of ever finding a place for themselves in the western world as a man.

The MAN CRISIS is a book that came out of my numerous YouTube videos on Mass shooters. As I did my research on mass shooters, I began to correlate a pattern between these killers and single mother households. And I was shocked to find that 27 of 28 mass shooters came from a single mother household.

 As I did more research into the subject, I began to notice a historical pattern relating to the decline of men over the last 50 years and the rise of the Feminist movement and the establishment of single mother households in the late 1960s. As I did more research I began to discover that the second and third generation of boys raised in single mother and divorced households who began to come of age in the 1990’s and mid 2000s correlated with the increase in mass shootings and a spectrum of violent behaviors.  

Now I had talked about how destructive single mother households were to boys on the Men’s Advocate Show with Linda Gross a few years ago when we discussed my classic blog Ways Single Mothers Destroy Their Sons. And with the escalation in violence over the last few decades it’s clear to me that we are in a crisis right now due to the way women have raised boys to become men. Thanks to feminists telling women that they could raise a boy to be a man over 50 years ago, there are three generations of these Beta Males out there and they’re ticking time bombs due to the dysfunctional way they were raised in single mother households. Like land mines left underground decades ago, no one knows when they’ll explode or what damage they’ll do people’s lives when they go off.  

In THE MAN CRISIS I’m going in depth on the growing crisis related to American and western men and try to explain why so many men are in crisis today. It’s a subject most Americans don’t want to talk about because Big business and politicians are afraid of alienating the large consumer and voting blocks of American and European Women. But it’s something we have to talk about because if we don’t do something about the growing Man Crisis, there may not be a way to ever Make America Great Again.

Right now I’m working on the second draft and doing page layouts for THE MAN CRISIS. I’m hoping to have the book available in Paperback and Kindle formats this November. And I’m hoping men and women get this book because it may help many of those troubled men out there work towards breaking out of a vicious cycle and move forward with their lives.

Shawn’s Advice to Tom King on Writing Batman

-->

Shawn’s Advice to Tom King on Writing Batman:

Stop writing Batman like a SIMP.

I recently took a look at Batman #50 and Batman #51.  And the way Batman is being written by Tom King is completely out of character for Batman based on his 80-year history as a character and as a man.

Bruce Wayne grew up in a home with a father. And for the first 8 years of his life he learned lessons in manhood from him. It was the core values that Bruce learned from Dr. Thomas Wayne before that shaped the man he would grow up to become.

Bruce also grew up in a home with Alfred as his butler. Alfred’s wisdom taught Bruce patience and understanding. That understanding gave Bruce a perspective on the bigger picture of life and his future mission as Batman.

In addition, as he trained to become Batman, Bruce worked with men like the Sensei. It was the Sensei who taught Bruce discipline and self-control. Through the meditation techniques he learned from him as he trained in the Martial Arts, he understood the need to be able to control himself so he could be able to look out for Gotham City.

Men who grow up in homes with fathers in them and around strong male figures conduct themselves differently than those who grew up in gynocentric environments like the single mother household Tom King grew up in.

It’s clear to me King is projecting his life experiences from his single mother household onto Bruce. Only men who grow up in single mother households like Tom King did are the ones who are emotional like the way King writes Batman. Only a guy from a single mother household is going to get emotional and act out to the point where they’re losing it over a breakup with a woman like Selina Kyle.

Bruce Wayne hasn’t acted like this in his 80-year history. And the reason why he hasn’t has to do with the 2-parent household he was raised in. A man who grows up in a household with a father in it knows how to have discipline and self-control because he saw his father model that behavior for him. 

This is why Bruce is known for keeping his cool and maintaining strong self control in the most stressful of situations. Over the last 80 years Bruce has dealt with breakups with Vicki Vale, Silver St Cloud, Nocturna, and Selina Kyle by being able to navigate through his emotions. While Bruce feels pain, he knows he can’t act on his feelings. Because one rash action by him could have long-term ramifications on others like when he made Jason Todd Robin and Jean Paul Valley Batman.

If Bruce could grieve the death of Jason Todd and still manage to keep his composure enough to work on numerous cases as Batman, he should be able to deal with the breakup of an engagement to Catwoman.

When I saw Bruce ripping a urinal out of a bathroom in Batman 51 it was just out of character for him. Bruce would NEVER act so rashly when he sat on a Jury.

Moreover, it showed King had no understanding of how courts work. As a guy who has done Jury Duty every 4 years here in The Bronx and Federal Court in Manhattan, I know security is TIGHT in a courthouse. There are guards EVERYWHERE. A guy ripping out a urinal (ridiculous even with Batman’s peak human strength) and tossing it across a bathroom is gonna make noise. And courthouse security is gonna find out who did it by checking the cameras that are in the halls of the courthouse. With Bruce’s years of training as Batman he would NEVER be that sloppy to put himself or Batman at risk by destroying property in a courthouse.

Especially when he’s on a trial for one of his arch-enemies like Mr. Freeze. Bruce would know that he’d have to keep his composure to ensure justice would be served. Bruce’s actions in Batman 51 would have led to a MISTRIAL, and led to Mr. Freeze escaping justice. That’s just a mistake Bruce would never make.

Yeah, breakups are tough. But men who have a strong foundation in family know how to get through them. They know that there’s a bigger picture and that there are more important things they need to focus on than a woman. Only a SIMP who comes from a single mother household would be so in his emotions over a woman that he’d be willing to risk everything because his feelings are hurt.

As a writer with over 20 years of experience I see the numerous mistakes Tom King is making in his run of Batman. And the main one he’s making is getting emotionally attached to the character. He’s turning Batman into a cipher for his own life experiences, something a first-year writer does.

A seasoned writer like myself knows that they have to detach themselves from the character and let them tell their own story, not project my personal issues onto them. That way the reader can experience the character’s stories and hear their voice in the writer’s words. While I’ve drawn on my life experiences for some chapters in stories like The Temptation of John Haynes, I’ve learned to step aside and let John have his own experiences and as the story progresses and let him tell his own story.

Tom also really needs to do his research into the family unit before he writes any more Batman issues. He needs to understand that that there’s a clear difference between the way a man who grew up in a single mother household acts and the way a man with a father in the home acts. Before I wrote novels like Spellbound I did research on the family unit, the hierarchy of children, and the relationship between an eldest child, a middle child, and a youngest child in addition to coming to an understanding about the role of a father in a child’s life. From that research I was able to give readers a balanced picture of Matilda Crowley’s life and why she became a part of the Goth subculture. If Tom did a bit more research and understood Batman’s family dynamics He’d stop writing Batman as like a SIMP and start writing him like a Superhero.

When I write a story I take myself out of the picture and do my best to put my readers in the room with the characters.  I want the readers to enter that world and be right there as the action is going on. And as they’re imagining the action going on in their imaginations, I want them to make observations and draw their own conclusions about the story. A good Batman story should have readers focused on the mystery the motivations of the criminal, and the reason why Batman needs to bring them to justice.  

Tom, if you want to learn more about SIMPS and their dysfunctional behavior, pick up my book STOP SIMPIN- Why Men Don’t Need FinanceTo Get Romance on Amazon.com And if you want to learn more about Men, check out some of the Men’s groups on Youtube or on Facebook. They’ll give you some perspective on men, Manhood and masculinity and will help you write a more balanced Batman.

E’steem: The Sands Of Time Paperback FIRST LOOK

Just got the paperback proof of E’steem The Sands of Time in the mail yesterday and the art looks like it’s MOVING. It’s like I’m looking at an animation cel of an E’steem: The Sands of Time movie! 

Bill Walko did an AMAZING job on this cover, seeing it in hand it really POPS. The colors are so bright, bold and dynamic it’s feels like it’s ALIVE!

You’re definitely gonna enjoy this story, it’s Action adventure, and romance in Ancient Egypt in the style of a Disney movie. I wrote this story to give people some insight into E’steem’s past and show her in the days where she was a Princess of Egypt. 

You can pick up your copy of E’steem: The Sands of Time this October in paperback or Kindle format at Amazon.com and other online booksellers.

Shawn Reviews Dan Mendoza’s Zombie Tramp #50

-->

After I read most of Dan Mendoza’s Zombie Tramp run, I got HOOKED. And I’ve been anticipating picking up the 50^th issue for months. Mendoza has done an amazing job setting up the storyline for the Death of Zombie Tramp and I’ve been eager to see what the payoff will be. And I can honestly say Mendoza does not disappoint with this milestone issue.  

Ever since Zombie Tramp #32 and he run in with the werewolf trucker, there’s been a storyline building regarding the declining state of Janey Belle’s humanity. As readers know it’s been Janey’s semblance of humanity that keeps her from becoming a true monster. But with the suicide of her father in the prison arc, it’s looking she’s become more and more detached from her human side. After murdering Xula and taking her dagger, Janey has started her transformation from a Zombie Tramp into a Demon.  In her new demon form she’s been leaving a trail of bodies and unwittingly setting up Earth for an invasion from the Kaiju Queen.

Over the last few issues of Zombie Tramp, Action Lab Danger Dolls Vampblade and Dollface have become more aware of Janey’s mental decline and monster hunter Black Betty has been hired to kill the Zombie Tramp. An epic battle builds in the 32 pages of Zombie Tramp #50 which ends with a surprise ending. Is Janey really dead? What happens to the Kaiju Queen’s plans to invade Earth? There are a LOT of questions that need answers to. Zombie Tramp #51 comes out next month, and I’m eager to pick up the next issue to find out what happens! 

Zombie Tramp #50 is classic oldschool comic book storytelling. Dan Mendoza set up a lot with this storyline over the last year with his Death of Zombie Tramp overreaching arc and he PAID OFF BIG in the 50^th issue. Zombie Tramp #50 does what a good milestone issue is supposed to do, payoff an overreaching story arc while setting up a new one. We don’t get this kind of storytelling in comics much anymore and it was great to see a writer put that kind of craft in his comic storytelling. Dan Mendoza has been a CLINIC with the writing on Zombie Tramp and any aspiring writer who wants to learn how to write comics can learn a lot picking up his run.

What I loved the most about Zombie Tramp #50 were a lot of parallels to the Classic Hulk #300, where a mindless Hulk was taking on most of the Heroes of the Marvel Universe. With the heroes at their wits end they were frantic looking for a solution to beat the big green monster, Dr. Strange had to come up with a solution to save Bruce Banner and protect the earth from The Hulk's threat. And the Action lab heroes had to come up with a similar solution to save Janey Belle and protect the world from Demon Zombie Tramp's threat.

While I enjoyed  Zombie Tramp #50’s story my only issue with the comic was the art. Celor’s pencils didn’t do a good job of conveying the action in some panels and some of the transitions were a little off. That threw off the pacing for the action and kept the book from flowing smoothly from page to page.

As I see it, ACTION LAB NEEDED TO HIRE MARCELO TROM FOR THIS ISSUE! As I see it, Marcelo Trom is the definitive Zombie Tramp artist and his art really would have made this issue flow a lot more seamlessly in a lot of the action sequences. Trom has a much better eye for action shots and does a much better job of conveying emotion with facial expressions. If anyone should have done this milestone issue it should have been Trom. He drew some of the best story arcs in the series like Kuntry Klub Kult Kill Kill and the Prison arc, and he should have been hired for this milestone issue.  

You definitely have to pick up Zombie Tramp #50 at your local comic shop or on Comixology. This one is a CLASSIC and you DON’T WANT TO MISS IT!

E’steem: The Sands of Time Cover By Bill Walko

Just got the cover art for the E’steem: The Sands Of Time by Bill Walko and it looks AMAZING!

I was FLOORED when I first saw this piece! It looks just like an animation Cel for a Disney movie! I love how bright the colors are and how everything POPS! IT FEELS ALIVE!

Bill did an excellent job conveying teenage love with this cover! I love how 14-year-old E’steem and 14-year-old John Haynes have these looks of youthful innocence of two kids who are just finding out what love is for the first time. The body language is perfect for two KIDS, denoting their curiosity, not their sexuality.

There’s a great theme of optimism and hope in this cover. From the bright blue background to the golden looking pyramids to the hopeful looks on the character’s faces everything just feels so inspiring and uplifting.

The first pieces of Bill Walko’s art I ever saw online were his versions of the X-Men, the Teen Titans, and Young Justice. And he brings all that youthful energy and heart from those early pieces to this MASTERPIECE of a cover.

For this story I wanted E’steem to have the look of an Ancient Egyptian Disney Princess. And Bill’s art definitely captures the spirit of Disney’s Princesses like Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Could E’steem hang with Disney’s Princesses? With Bill’s running the animation department I believe she could.

In E’steem: The Sands of Time I take readers back to the time when E’steem was a Princess in Ancient Egypt. This was a time when E’steem was young, optimistic and hopeful, and Bill captures that youthful optimism in Egyptian E’steem.

And Bill’s version of teenage John reminds me a lot of Marty McFly from the Back to the Future movies. Even though he’s out of place, the 14-year-old John from the dark, grim n’ gritty 1980s provides a great contrast to the bright Ancient Egyptian theme with his realism. John’s olive BDU pants, faded jean jacket, and black mock neck are dark enough for the rough streets of 1980s New York, but bright enough to fit right in Ancient Egypt.

You’ll definitely want to pick Up E’steem The Sands of Time this October when I kick off Fantasy Flashback Fall. It’s an action packed Time Travel Fantasy romance reads just like a Disney movie. It’s filled with lots of action adventure and fun, and gives you a unique perspective on Ancient Egypt you won’t find anyplace else.

Racism Comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe

A couple of weeks ago Kevin Fiege and Marvel Studios announced that Captain Marvel would be the new flagship character of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And with that announcement he slapped the shit out of all those Black folks who thought Black Panther was going to be the game changer for the Black image and Black people. 

 All those Black folks spent all that money making Black Panther a Box office hit. But at the end of the day Kevin Fiege ain’t givng you SHIT.

Black folks spent a billion dollars hoping wishing and praying that Disney and Marvel Studios would acknowledge the power of the Black dollar. But at the end of the day Kevin Fiege walked away from the power of the Black dollar to promote White Supremacy.

A black hero makes a billion dollars at the box office FASTER than ALL the white heroes but the the flagship of the company is going to be a White woman who can’t sell her own comic series and is universally HATED by comic fans.

In their attempt to promote diversity, Kevin Fiege and Marvel Studios practices

White Supremacy. Don’t you just love the irony?

And don’t you just love the blatant discrimination? Captain Marvel who wasn’t even able to sell her own comic or her own Marvel Legends Action figure (You can still get her CHEAP in many retail outlets like Target) gets to leapfrog over Black Panther, a character who has PROVEN he can open a movie and had every piece of licensed merchandise SELL OUT. A character with direct connections to The Fantastic Four and X-Men. A character who could easily build bridges in expanding a broader richer Marvel Cinematic Universe that stays true to the spirit of the Marvel Universe.

But we need diversity. Where the White folks are in charge. With Tony Stark leaving they need to give power to a White Woman.

Affirmative Action 101. Because that government program gave more grossly unqualified white women jobs than qualified Black men.

With the announcement that Captain Marvel being the flagship character of the MCU after Phase 4 we see that the Black dollar has no value to Kevin Fiege and Marvel Studios. In their push for diversity, they WIPED THEIR ASS with the Black dollar.  

It’s clear that when it comes to Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe it’s all about pushing the narrative of White Supremacy to the next generation of Americans not a diverse universe of characters like they tout. Programming an idea in their mind that White folks are gonna be on top no matter what.

Fuck you Kevin Fiege. FUCK YOU. And FUCK YOU MARVEL STUDIOS.

Kevin Feige says that the future of the MCU after phase 4 is going to be female. But I find it funny that the future is going to be led by a WHITE FEMALE.

Fiege also says that he has plans for MCU Movies featuring Kamala Kahn Ms. Marvel, Miles Morales Spider-Man and America Chavez.

I just love how all the minorities are following the lead of the White female in phase 4. But not the lead of the Black man who proved he could open big at the box office.

Er…What happened to all those plans for Black Panther 2?

Funny how that movie just disappeared off the radar for the MCU’s plans for Phase 4. Even though Black Panther made a billion dollars and was a worldwide phenomenon.

Because the future is Female. And White Supremacist female from the looks of the All New, All-different MCU’s third wave feminist lead Brie Larson. Has anyone read this woman’s tweets on twitter lately?   

If anyone can’t see the racism at Disney and Marvel Studios they must be blind. The only reason they don’t want Black Panther to be the flagship character of the MCU be the lead hero of a movie in the MCU is because the White Supremacists at Disney don’t want to show White folks following the lead of a Black King who runs his own country and takes care of his own business. The image of a Black man having that kind of power makes White folks uncomfortable and since they control the money, the media and the narrative of the media, they ain’t spending a dime pushing Black Panther.

No, They’d rather lose billions of green dollars and tank the MCU with Captain Marvel. All to preserve the same kind of Racism of the Old Southern Tradition. It’s all about preserving the ideals of white superiority. Even if those ideas lead to a billion dollar company going broke. That’s how insane racism is. And that’s how insane the decision to make Captain Marvel the flagship character of the MCU is.

Yeah, I wasn’t a fan of the Black Panther movie. But I’m completely disgusted at the racism that Disney is participating in all in the name of diversity. Black Panther has proven by MERIT in TWO MOVIES that he should be the new flagship character of the MCU. With Chadwick Boesman you have a charismatic performer who can open a movie and carry the universe in the same way Robert Downey Jr. has for the last decade. I may not like the movie. But Marvel should not deny this brother his chance to shine all because they want to push an agenda.

Marvel Studios movies should be about well-crafted action adventure stories that stay true to the spirit of the characters Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created in Marvel Comics. When it becomes about social agendas, identity politics, or political narratives, it’s clear Marvel Studios has lost its way in the same way the Marvel publishing brand lost its way three years ago. Plain and simple if the MCU continues to go on this direction the end of the MCU will come sooner rather than later.

ETERNAL NIGHT-New Goth Fiction Coming From SJS DIRECT

I’ve been itching to do another vampire Story. And another Goth Story. And I plan on fusing those concepts together for a new story set in the SJS DIRECT UNIVERSE.

In Isis: Night of the Vampires I introduced Lilith Graves. And I left some hints to how she became a vampire. Now I want to do an origin story featuring Lilith so I can expand on the Vampire Lore of the SJS DIRECT Universe and explore the Black Goth Subculture in it.

Eternal Night is the story where I’ll show how Lilith Graves became a Vampire. With this story I’m gonna try to answer a few questions as related to the vampire lifestyle. How does a new vampire adjust to the major change in their lives? How does a day person get used to being a night person? How do they deal with the psychological trauma related to becoming a vampire? Where do they get a job? Where do they get blood from in Modern Day America? How do they deal with their cravings? How do they deal with the new predatory nature that’s manifesting itself inside them? How do they get around during the city that never sleeps for only 8 hours in the day?  How do their friends and family adjust to it? What happens to their goals in life? What happens to their hopes and dreams?

There’s a major learning curve to being undead. And I plan on going in depth on that learning curve in Eternal Night. What makes this story such a fascinating one for me is that there are so many questions I’d love to answer in this story and that’s what makes this a fun subject to explore.

 Set in the 1990’s, Eternal Night shows how hardworking Goth Grad student Lilith Graves has a future so bright she’s gotta wear shades. Celebrating getting her MBA from NYU and the new job she’s going to start on Monday Morning at a major fortune 500 company, she attends one of Mad Matilda’s raves. It’s at that rave that she meets a handsome vampire who gives her the bite that changes her life.  

Spinsterella is coming to the SJS DIRECT Universe. So get ready.

While everyone knows how Lilith got back on the road to Salvation in Isis: Night of the Vampires, I thought it’d be interesting to see how she would up on the road to Eternal Damnation years ago. In this story I hope to explore how she got caught up in the world of New York’s Brood. Over the course of the book I want to explore New York’s Vampire culture and show how it relates to its Goth subculture.

I’m going for a contemporary take on Vampires in Eternal Night. It’s gonna be Part Lost Boys, Part Vampire in Brookly, Part Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but from the Vampire’s perspective. Lilith didn’t ask to become a vampire, and is trying to adjust to a culture she doesn’t want to be a part of. A woman caught between the politics of the Brood and Loretta Van Helsing, a relentless Vampire Hunter who works for the NYPD she’s fighting to try to find some sort of life as she gets used to being undead. 

Right now I’m just brainstorming and outlining on Eternal Night, but I’d love to get to work on this book sooner rather than later. Goth and Vampire stories are a boatload of fun for me and I’m looking forward to writing this book!

Shawn Reviews Josh Howard’s T-Bird & Throttle #1

-->

I’ve been a fan of Josh Howard’s art for years. And it’s always been a dream of mine to see his interpretation of Isis or E’steem on one of my book covers or even in a graphic novel. So when I saw the Kickstarter for his new comic T-Bird & Throttle in November of last year, I was eager to help back the project. Unfortunately, while I wasn’t short any dollars, I was just a day late. After downloading and reading the #0 issue on the Kickstarter page I was bummed that I missed out on getting the first issue.

Thankfully, I was lucky enough to pick up the first issue on Comixology. And after the reading the first issue I’m definitely looking forward to the second. Josh has crafted an intriguing mystery revolving around Mitchell “Mitch” Maddox, the superhero known to Centennial City as T-Bird, the man with an alien engine in his chest. He’s one part Opitmus Prime, One Part and One part Mr. Incredible. A family man, he tries to divide his time between raising his family and trying to protect Centennial City from the bad guys with his sexy redheaded sidekick Throttle. From the #0 issue, it seems like crime fighting is taking its toll on Mitch’s personal life. In spite of his professional success, his wife is having an affair and after Mitch has a run in with a mutated Billy Sneed, we’re given a clue regarding the mysterious alien engine in his chest. The #0 issue ends on a cliffhanger with Mitch going to Amy’s house talking about how he killed them all.

Who did he kill? That’s the question I was eager to get an answer to when I picked up T-Bird & Throttle #1. And while I didn’t get an answer to that question I got a few clues reading about the aftermath of that tragic turn of events.  

Issue #1 opens up right after establishing the mystery of issue #0 and gives us a clue to what happened after Mitch went to Amy’s house. It looks like whoever died was someone close to Mitch. And the Aftermath was quite tragic for a superhero like T-Bird to be contemplating suicide. Those gun scenes were DARK. I could FEEL Mitch’s pain in them, because I’ve been there myself.  

Somehow Mitch finds the courage to keep fighting the good fight. 10 years later, he’s out of the Superhero game. Now a middle-aged man he’s trying to be a hero to his daughter by being the best father he can be. After dropping his daughter Emily off at High School, Centennial City’s fallen hero is working comicons (with an agent who eerily looks like John Byrne) and trying to make it the best way he can. (If he’s working cons life is really ROUGH) It’s at one of the cons that a Starlink employee approaches him and makes a proposal to him. He turns her down, however, he rushes back to his former employer Starlink after reading a comic that makes a mockery of him his origin and the personal tragedy suffered. There his former boss offers to help him return to glory as he make him a proposal to go find a possible second engine on the moon.

As Mitch contemplates the offer to return to his glory days, he heads back to pick up his daughter who has found out about that comic that mocks them. The issue ends with the threat of the Moon Men invading Earth, SJWs and hipsters threatening Mitch, Mitch getting jumped in an alley by the same SJWs and Hipsters, getting a glimpse at that comic that mocks T-Bird, a hint at who died in that personal tragedy, a battered Mitch running into officer Amy and Gruesome telling everyone he’s here.

Who’s Gruesome? And what does he want with T-Bird? What has Amy been doing over the last few years? Are Mitch and Amy Still cool? How does Emily feel about the way her father has been treated? How rough was Emily’s day at school? What will she have to say about Amy? Will Mitch take the offer from Starlink to search for the new engine? All the answers to those questions are in T-Bird & Throttle #2. And Shawn is DEFINTIELY gonna pick up issue #2 in Fall/Winter of 2018 when Josh publishes it.   

T-Bird & Throttle’s first issue is a GREAT comic. Josh Howard does a great job building up the mystery he started in the #0 issue. A good mystery answers questions and has the reader asking more. And T-Bird & Throttle’s first issue answers a lot of the questions I asked in the #0 issue and had me asking more questions as I continued to read the 60-page first issue. The mystery in this space opera is incredibly intriguing, the more I read about it the more I want to know about what happened to Mitch years ago, what happened to his family and I wondered if he’ll go back to Starlink to take on the Moon men again.

In T-Bird & Throttle, Josh does a great job of developing rich, multidimensional characters in a very compelling story. When I was reading the first issue I heard the characters speaking to me, and as I went from panel to panel each scene had art and colors so dynamic and filled with emotion I felt like I was in the middle of an animated movie. The more I saw his art in this comic, I was more eager to see his art on an Isis or E’steem series book cover. Hoping we can make it happen one day.

As a guy who has struggled with depression, anxiety, and periods of long-term unemployment and been through hard times in my own life, I could really relate to Mitch’s story. A lot of what drives Mitch to keep doing right is a lot of what drives me to keep persevering in the face of so many troubles. While Mitch has an engine for a heart, he still has love for all the people in his life. And in spite of all the bad breaks he’s gotten in life, he still wants to do the right thing for his daughter and all the people in his life. That’s what makes him a hero in my book, the fact that he has the character and resolve to keep standing for what he believes in even though he’s fallen on hard times. 

T-Bird & Throttle #1 gets my highest recommendation. This is a comic YOU CANNOT MISS! You can pick up a paper copy on Josh’s website or you can pick up a digital version on Comixology. Let’s #MoveTheNeedle and give this great comic the audience it deserves!