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Not sure if I'll continue with Charismagic or not, but Executive Assistant titles have been great so far so that's a definite buy. Fathom has been good too.
Not sure if I'll try Homecoming or Idolized, and Soulfire I started reading but it just wasn't good enough for me to continue, same with Shrugged.
Charismagic: The Death Princess
Aspen will be releasing an all-new three issue miniseries, Charismagic: The Death Princess in Fall 2012 written by Charismagic creator Vince Hernandez and featuring art by Emilio Lopez and Jocelyn Dunn with covers by Khary Randolph and Emilio Lopez.
Aspen also plans to release a special digital-exclusive Charismagic: Sparkles one-shot story over the summer by Hernandez and Siya Oum with Aspen’s proceeds going to the Make A Wish Foundation.
Homecoming
In August, from the legendary comic minds of Michael Turner, David Wohl and Scott Lobdell comes a new high school supernatural adventure series combining aliens with the always scare life of high school called Homecoming, featuring art by Emilio Laiso and Stefani Rennee.
Idolized
Aspen’s first-ever superhero comic book is by creator/writer David Schwartz with artists Micah Gunnell and David Curiel. Idolized tells the story of girl with super-powers and a tortured past, who seeks revenge, and ultimately finds redemption, over the course of competing in a televised super-hero competition show.
Executive Assistant Assassins
Aspen will be releasing their first ever ONGOING series this summer in July with the release of Executive Assistant Assassins by writer Vince Hernandez and rotating art teams. The first three issue story arc is entitled “Life After Death” and features the popular Executive Assistant Lily. “Life After Death” will feature the art team of Jordan Gunderson and Teodoro Gonzalez and will include covers by Joe Benitez, Dustin Nguyen, Eduardo Francisco and more.
Upcoming
Executive Assistant: Iris Volume 3
Aspen’s critically-acclaimed Executive Assistant: Iris returns with an epic third volume written by creator David Wohl.
Shrugged Volume 2
The popular action-comedy series Shrugged returns for a second volume by series creator Frank Mastromauro and will feature a special oversized zero issue upon its return.
Fathom Volume 5
Aspen’s flagship title Fathom continues to move forward into new territory with its fifth volume upcoming. Aspen is introducing popular Executive Assistant: Iris writer David Wohl into the fold as writer to join Alex Konat and Beth Sotelo.
Soulfire: Search for the Light Summer Event
Aspen is planning a huge summer event around their premiere title Soulfire entitled Soulfire: The Search For the Light. The event will feature five separate one shots that will combine for one massive story arc that leads directly into Soulfire Volume 4 with an all new art team. The five one shots include Soulfire: Hope by JT Krul and Jose Varese, Soulfire: Despair by David Schwartz and Jonathan Marks, Soulfire: Faith by Amanda McMurray and Siya Oum, Soulfire: Power by David Wohl and Khary Randolph and Soulfire: Grace by JT Krul and Pasquale Qualano.
Lady Mechanika Reprints
Aspen is going back to print on the massively-popular and sold-out issues of Lady Mechanika #’s 0,1 and 2. All three will feature new cover art by creator Joe Benitez and colorist Peter Steigerwald.
I think I'm going to jump on the Executive Assistant stuff in trades.
I wish Joe would publish Lady Mechanika regularly (even every 2-3 months, or a trade every 6-12 months). I like that title, and it's still 'rough' enough that I think his evolution as a creator would be almost as interesting as the title itself.
I love Lady Mechanika but like alot of Aspen titles it's publishing schedule is wildly erratic. I wish Aspen would get serious about putting out their products in a timely basis.
I tend to avoid much of Aspen's stuff because of the lateness of their books.
Gilgabob wrote:I love Lady Mechanika but like alot of Aspen titles it's publishing schedule is wildly erratic. I wish Aspen would get serious about putting out their products in a timely basis.
I tend to avoid much of Aspen's stuff because of the lateness of their books.
I agree. The good thing is they all contain a good summary on the inside cover .... I think they all do that. But I had to reread the previous issues for Charismagic and Fathom but it made me enjoy it more when I did that.
Lady Mechanika was due to personal/family issues, and since Joe does writing and art there's nothing you can do. It does suck to wait though.
abysslord wrote:I agree. The good thing is they all contain a good summary on the inside cover .... I think they all do that. But I had to reread the previous issues for Charismagic and Fathom but it made me enjoy it more when I did that.
At least now they do. That was a new feature that started only about 6 months ago, around the time Fathom Vol 3 and Soulfire Vol 3 began. Made me happy since I can barely remember what happens when there is a month between issues.
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I get Aspen in trade. Their storytelling style lends itself better to reading over the long haul and while I love what I get from them, it's a loooong wait between issues.
I'm totally in on the Executive Assistant stuff. The first trade hooked me right in.
Do they do digital at all? I'm willing to bet their artwork looks really nice on the iPad.
My plans for Aspen are to buy the first issue if it's 50% off from DCBS. Then if I like the first issue, wait the probably three or more years for the trade to come out. Aspen puts out some quality comics but it just takes too long for them to put them out for me to want to read them in an episodic form. I think they should switch to just publishing trades, no comics. Maybe they could put out preview comic books or zero issues. I know that won't happen, but I think it would be better for their publishing reputation. It seems that Aspen care's a lot more about quality over putting comics out on time. That's cool, and I agree that their quality is good, but I think it would better for them to switch over to trades only.
torchsong wrote:
Do they do digital at all? I'm willing to bet their artwork looks really nice on the iPad.
I asked about this during my interview, and they do offer digital (via Comixology, at a minimum). They currently are using the "lag time" model as opposed to day & date, so the books are not available digital until a month or so after the LCS release. That's not that big a deal.
IanG wrote:Maybe they could put out preview comic books or zero issues. I know that won't happen, but I think it would be better for their publishing reputation.
They do this. Idolized #0 is what is in the April Previews. They have done zero issues for a lot of their series, and will be putting 6 pages of Idolized (and some other books) in their FCBD offering.
I loved Charismagic. Great art, great atmosphere and some laughs from Sparkles. Looking forward to that one-shot! Yep, the publishing schedule sucked though.
I need to try the Executive Assistant series also. I had considered it a while back but got scared off by the Hit List Agenda solicits. Too many books getting released all around the same time makes me leery of jumping on to a new series.
amunptah wrote:
I need to try the Executive Assistant series also. I had considered it a while back but got scared off by the Hit List Agenda solicits. Too many books getting released all around the same time makes me leery of jumping on to a new series.
Don't be leery, buy them. The first volume is fantastic, very much a revenge story a la Kill Bill. Then with the Hit List Agenda, it was a crossover done perfectly. Each title on its own told an entire story w/o you needing to read the rest. But if you read them all you get a bigger story.