Stackology- 2.3.10

This week’s edition is dominated by writer Jason Aaron, who appears on the list three times, delivering some great moments for Wolverine, an assembly of Ghost Riders facing down an unbeatable enemy in Heaven, and for the fantastic ensemble cast in Scalped. These bright spots along with a couple others are further detailed below…

BLACKEST NIGHT WONDER WOMAN #3
AUTHORITY #19
RED ROBIN #9
QUESTION #37
WOLVERINE WEAPON X #10
MILESTONE FOREVER #1
GHOST RIDERS HEAVENS ON FIRE #6 (OF 6)
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #32
SCALPED #34
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #23
SIEGE #2

#1- A number of fantastic bits in this very excellent character study of Logan’s extensive sexual and romantic history, but for me Melita’s explanation of why she doesn’t care about Logan’s usual disastrous history with women was Aaron’s best here. It’s certainly a well-reasoned argument on the reporter’s part, and she certainly doesn’t come off as helpless, but in the end Logan will likely be proven correct in his initial hesitation. For now though, they make a cute and interesting couple. No matter what Emma Frost thinks. (Wolverine: Weapon X #10)

#2- This one is pretty simple, and to prove it, I give you an exchange from the critical scene in Ghost Riders: Heaven’s On Fire #6—

“Whoa, what the hell? What am I…what am I looking at here?”

“Ghost Riders. A lotta $%$#& ghost riders.”

#3- The revelation of exactly how and why Buffy is enjoying her little power surge aside, what self-respecting nerd can resist Xander’s attempts to recreate his favorite superheroes in a series of hilarious “power tests” with Buffy? Speeding bullets, tall buildings, locomotives, it’s all here, and it’s all funny and great. Some nice moments of levity before things take a slightly darker turn. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer #32)

#4- Bloody revenge is the theme for this final chapter of The Gnawing, but nothing can compare to what Dash does to Diesel in the dead of night. A horribly violent piece of business that our man feels quite comfortable with, and obviously spent a lot of time planning. Sometimes, the bad guys really do meet the truly bad ends they deserve. (Scalped #34)

#5- Only Tony Stark would have the balls to sleep with the two most important women in his life, both in similar situations of possible eminent death. Fraction milks the scene for all it’s worth, following an impassioned diatribe from Pepper about life with repulsor technology in her chest with what she thinks is an innocent admission about sleeping with Tony to Maria. But the former SHIELD boss has a confession of her own, and it sounds eerily similar to the one Pepper just made. Something else to look forward to when Tony finishes his astral plane dream walking—Tony $%#@ing Stark indeed. (Invincible Iron Man #23)

#6- First, Olivier Coipel should draw every superhero comic ever, because his work here is even more astounding than the stuff he turned in last issue. Obvious highlight is the massive battle between Ares and The Sentry, which comes to a horrible and blood-soaked end for the God of War. Just when you think The Sentry can’t become any more dangerous or cuckoo, he raises the bar in both respects like he’s not even trying. Great stuff, and cool cliffhanger to end the issue as well. Avengers Assemble, ladies and gentlemen. (Siege #2)

Also read: 100 Bullets, Vol. 2-6…

Stackology- 1.27.10

The last week of the month brings a massive stack of new comics home…and a number of great moments along with it. Let’s get it going, as there’s a ton of work to be done…

ROBOCOP #1
ATOM AND HAWKMAN #46
UNKNOWN SOLDIER #16
TEEN TITANS #79
PILOT SEASON DEMONIC #1
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #41
CHEW #8
UNKNOWN DEVIL MADE FLESH #4
WALKING DEAD #69
DAREDEVIL #504
ULTIMATE COMICS ENEMY #1
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #619
SECRET WARRIORS #12
GREEN LANTERN #50
NEW AVENGERS #61
DETECTIVE COMICS #861
BATMAN AND ROBIN #7

#1- Moses presses pause on his investigation into who killed the refugee camp’s doctor, and for an afternoon takes the man’s place…proving that the man he once was still exists somewhere beneath his scarred face. It doesn’t work without the previous fifteen issues of course, but given all that’s happened in that time, this is a great moment and a small victory for him. (Unknown Soldier #16)

#2- Tony Chu tastes a gallsaberry, you know, the weird plant that tastes exactly like chicken when it’s cooked, and he sees…is that space? Some strange distant galaxy? Whatever it is, it’s damn cool and damn weird, and another great development in this breakout series. (Chew #8)

#3- For the second time in the same night, Spider-Man finds himself responsible for somebody’s death, but Mysterio tips his hand with the whole Captain Stacy bit. And Spidey lets him know it, setting up a big confrontation and soon. (Amazing Spider-Man #619)

#4- With the Rainbow Coalition now in full effect, Black Lantern Spectre shows up and presents a large problem for everybody. Coolest moment of the night though is when Hal constructs a giant hammer out of pure willpower, and uses it to knock the Spectre’s jaw clean off, freeing the Guardians he’s just swallowed whole. Johns gets even more cool points for the Star Wars reference he makes in the sequence too. (Green Lantern #50)

#5- Hard to choose between the gloriously illustrated sequence of two Captains trapped between supped up supervillians and Hammer troops, and the bit with the Spiders having a weird date up on the rooftop, but Immonen again rules the day. So glad he came onto this book and hope that he’ll be doing the flagship Avengers title with Bendis when the Heroic Age kicks off in May. (New Avengers #61)

#6- After purposely cornering themselves, Renee and Helena beat the assassin Zeiss by outbidding the people that want them dead…which leaves Tot completely disgusted with them and claiming that Charlie would be too. (Detective Comics #861)

#7- This entire book is just one big stack of awesome, but the best bit is right at the end where Dick is describing just how he and Batman worked together for so many years, and that it’s his responsibility to help him escape the greatest death trap of them all. Again, Morrison’s character work is an absolute match for his knack at incredible high concepts. (Batman and Robin #7)

Some brilliant, brilliant work all around, and can’t wait until next week. Hope everyone picked up as much great stuff as I did. And that you check out the glorious Miranda Mercury posting immediately below. Thanks.

Also read: Pax Romana, Secret Warriors: Nick Fury, Agent of Nothing, 100 Bullets: Volume 1…

Miranda Mercury Is…

Afternoon,

Taking a break from imagining just how much (and how quickly) the Apple iPad will change/save comics to drop off that beautiful and all-new piece of Miranda Mercury artwork that I’ve been teasing for weeks and weeks. Feast your eyes upon the triptych image that will adorn the covers of the upcoming three-issue (all oversized of course) Miranda Mercury: Time Runs Out series. More details when they’re available, but everyone is in the final leg of production on this, and we hope to be able to drop concrete release dates in the coming months. Lee Ferguson is on the art of course, Marc Deering is still on inks, Matty Ryan still handles lettering and pre-press, and the new man on the team is the one and only Jordan Boyd, who was located through the colorist challenge we ran on Newsarama, and is already proving himself to be a true talent to watch in the future. And obviously, that future is now. The Not Dead Yet promo version of this is nesting at http://www.mirandamercury.com, which will be fully updated this spring, and the original is attached to this very posting.

Thanks again everyone for your patience and support, and more details as they’re available.

B

Stackology 1.20.10

Think my little “scene recap” idea worked out pretty well last week. Felt more comprehensive than picking a favorite book from the stack, but I think it was a tad too long, so expect a briefer piece this time out. Now of course, that’s exactly what I promise myself every time I start something new…but it usually never happens, you should know that up front. So let’s get to it and see how we do, shall we? Here’s the tracklisting…

NOLA #3
AZRAEL #4
COWBOY NINJA VIKING #3
AIR #17
SUPERMAN BATMAN #68
POWER GIRL #8
BRAVE AND THE BOLD #31
BATMAN STREETS OF GOTHAM #8
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #44
WOLVERINE WEAPON X #9
UNCANNY X-MEN #520
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #618
JOE THE BARBARIAN #1
DARK AVENGERS #13
SPIDER-WOMAN #5

#1- Vartox shows Power Girl his own personal fertility room, and explains exactly how it can be used to manifest a Pregno-Ray, that will save the people of Valeron from the contraceptive bomb they were all hit with. The scene is both completely strange and completely hilarious; two things comics should be more often. (Power Girl #8)

#2- Mogo purges Oa of every single Black Lantern in an obvious display of unbridled awesomeness that instantly rockets the scene to one of the strongest to come out of the entire Blackest Night event. Get this guy a mini-series, stat. (Green Lantern Corps #44)

#3- Psylocke carefully defuses a giant psychic bomb, which Dr. Rot created by stitching a bunch of human brains together. (Wolverine: Weapon X #9)

#4- After creating a way to keep Utopia from falling into the ocean while nobody was looking, Magneto tells Cyclops that he did it all to gain his trust, claiming that’s all he really wants anymore. Scott briefly thinks about it and then tells him he can’t have it. (Uncanny X-Men #520)

Okay folks, that’s all for one week. Back soon with more, and I’ll probably be posting the just finished Miranda Mercury triptych cover here in the next couple days, so be on the lookout for that. Thanks.

Also read: Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, GI JOE: Cobra, Dark Avengers: Assemble…

Stackology- 1.13.10

Welcome to the all-new, all-different Stackology. Further details on how this will work from now on are available right here in the first new Ambidextrous of the year, among other pressing bits of business. This is me beta testing the new approach in public, so forgive any mess present while I work the kinks out.

GI JOE SNAKE EYES #4
POWER OF SHAZAM #48
BLACK PANTHER #12
THE UNWRITTEN #9
X-MEN ORIGINS CYCLOPS #1
SWORD #3
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #31
DAYTRIPPER #2
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #22
ADVENTURE COMICS #6
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #617

So everything you just read was actually written before I went to the shop and picked up this week’s books, in an effort to speed the process up a bit. What happened though is that while working my way through the stack, I completely changed my mind about how I want to handle this going forward. Instead of focusing on a single scene every week, again picking a “favorite,” which is the one thing I wanted to get away from in the first place, I’m going to discuss a number of highlights from a number of comics, done by a number of writers. This idea came to me right after I finished the brand new Daytripper, so I suppose this sudden bit of inspiration is owed to the talented brothers from Brazil. We do this in the order of appearance, of course, starting with a massive turning point in Mike Carey’s The Unwritten series…

#1- For months, Tommy Taylor has been denying any and all connection to the “fictional” boy wizard that shares his name, but here at the conclusion of the Inside Man arc, something big happens. Trying to escape a prison riot and a hit squad, following a flying cat, Tom puts on a familiar sweater and uses a magic doorknob to create an impossible escape from thin air. Unfortunately, two poor kids die in the process, and an old enemy rises again from the ashes. From thrilling to heartbreaking in just a few pages, and a shot of pure adrenaline heading into the next story. (The Unwritten #9)

#2- The convo between Buffy and Xander here is why I will always love Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and more specifically, Joss Whedon’s writing. The complexity of the characterization is really profound, and there is no doubt these two characters are great friends with an unshakable bond that’s been able to transcend all of the fantastic changes they’ve both been through. Xander has always functioned as the heart of the group, able to see the most important things that no one else can, and this scene offers more great moments for him. Close second obviously is when Buffy takes to the skies and reveals her brand new powers to her friends, but the heavy drama usually wins out with me. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer #31)

#3- Olinda meets Bras on a lonely boat in the middle of the sea, and becomes a main player in another of the most important days of his life. Any great romance begins with a chance yet somehow fateful meeting, and this was certainly a cute one. (Daytripper #2)

#4- Superboy dares Lex Luthor to stop using his horribly tired “If it only wasn’t for Superman” speech, and do some actual good in his wasted life. Lex complies and does the impossible, healing an incredibly sick relative of a terrible disease…and then he undoes it without warning, just to show Superboy he can. And what an incurable, petty bastard he truly is. Connor and Krypto’s response is priceless, and Lex deserves everything that happens to him after that…and honestly, a whole lot more. (Adventure Comics #6)

#5- Spider-Man convinces the former Rhino to stand down and let him and the police handle the all-new Rhino, who’s roared into town looking for a fight and throwing entire horses at people. Spidey does this because he wants to see someone catch a break in this stupid, unpredictable life, and the former Rhino has a real chance at one because of a special woman in his life. That Peter Parker really is a sensitive guy, isn’t he? (Amazing Spider-Man #617)

Hope you guys enjoyed this test run of the new version of Stackology. Will tweak it in the coming weeks until it’s just right, and as always, comments are more than welcome.

Also read: Awakening, Thor: Ages of Thunder, Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man…

Ambidextrous 319- Not Dead Yet

If you’ve been following the column the last couple years, you might remember me devoting the first official piece of the new year to a personal mantra of sorts, something that provides a clearly defined mission statement for the months to come. For 2010, I’ve chosen “not dead yet,” and naturally, I’m going to devote some space here to explain exactly why….

Much of it has to do with Miranda Mercury, my creator-owned project that refuses to die, but for several other reasons, also refuses to come out. This will be rectified very shortly, and I should have something incredibly cool to share with everyone in the next couple weeks that will help confirm that fact. I know how this has looked the past couple years—Brandon keeps talking about this important personal project that’s always experiencing some kind of publisher delay/production hiccup/emotional problem, and as much as we wish this wasn’t the case, we wouldn’t be surprised if it never came out. I know this is what some people (even those that know me closely) think whenever I start talking about Miranda Mercury once again without there being a firm release date attached to it. To be honest, I completely understand anyone who feels that way—I’ve also grown tired of explaining any and every single thing about the book, except for when you can actually walk into a shop and purchase it. But that’ll be coming to an end very soon, and the hows and whys will be here sooner than you think.

Along the same lines, I want to refocus this larger goal I’ve been driving towards of becoming a full-fledged professional comics writer. I’ve had some minor success over the years, but I would really like to appear on the stands more than once or twice a year, if at all. Yes, the aforementioned Ms. Mercury and her famous delays likely have a lot to do with that, but I don’t want that to be the only thing you see from me in 2010. Which means embracing and encouraging a more professional comics writer vibe in my musings here, leaving much of the hardcore reviewing in the capable hands of others. And getting a little more aggressive about securing work, instead of sitting back and waiting for Miranda to come through like some magic bullet.

But in general, I really want to spend a lot less time talking about how great everyone else’s comics are. And trust me, I say that meaning absolutely no disrespect or malice to anyone else out there doing their thing, but as I recommit myself to all this, I need to stop dancing back and forth over the line. One of the reasons I decided to go ahead and leave Newsarama was because of this constant bug in my ear always telling me to keep talking about and championing the books that I was the most excited about. To be on the biggest site in comics news going on and on about my personal projects, successes, and failures felt somewhat inappropriate, and honestly not the sort of thing that people come to Newsarama for. Which is probably why Matt Brady agreed to run Ambidextrous on there in the first place, but after awhile, I had stacked up yet another set of columns completely devoted to other people’s works, and that’s something that makes me entirely unique among other occasional professional comic writers. And is just another little thing that’s probably not helping my cause.

Because of that you won’t be seeing any more installments of This is Why on the blog in the foreseeable future. I know I promised to do a big one for Astonishing X-Men, and the notes are still on my phone, but this seems as good a time as any to alter course. Because bottom line, I want to be a guy who writes comics and then occasionally talks about them, instead of the opposite, which is how it was for most of this past year. Not a massive difference to be sure, but one I’m intending to stick to, and that I hope slightly changes the perception that I’m more valuable talking up other comics than I am at actually creating my own.

Stackology will remain, but with a slight twist—instead of highlighting my favorite book of the week, I’ll be discussing my favorite scene of the week. Sometimes this will appear in the exact same title that I felt was the strongest of the overall bunch, but sometimes it won’t. I’m hoping this will allow me to examine the books I’m picking up from a slightly different perspective, which is more focused on matters of craft and actual storytelling, and not the kind of fanboyish moments I usually emphasize. I’ll also be including a small list of trades and such that I’ve read during the current week. This will continue until I get bored of it, or otherwise deem it counter-productive. Also mulling another couple features that I hope to roll out in the next few weeks.

So really, things are changing a bit around here, but not too much, and with more of a focus towards the kind of process discussions I’ve always enjoyed reading and being involved in. The Fiction House is all about the creation and the celebration of good writing, and I hope to see most of you back here throughout the coming year as I approach that from a slightly different perspective.

Much more to come, ladies and gentlemen. Stay tuned…

Stackology- 1.6.10

Hope everyone had a happy and healthy New Year’s celebration, and I’m pleased to welcome you all back to the Fiction House blog. Big changes are afoot and will be detailed further in this year’s first installment of Ambidextrous, but I wanted to start off with a new Stackology to get my hands moving again, and because the first week of the year offers a nice manageable stack of comics. Thought after endearing that skip week I’d be drowning in stuff, but there’s still a lot of interesting things to consider this time out. Obviously, Siege is the biggest thing, and a series I’ve been anticipating for many months, but there is also the debut of a brand new writing team on The Authority, new Blackest Night, and new Stumptown. Off to a great start it seems.

Okay, so here’s how things shake out this week…

KING CITY #4
RED ROBIN #8
AUTHORITY #18
BLACKEST NIGHT WONDER WOMAN #2
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #6
BLACKEST NIGHT #6
STUMPTOWN #2
SIEGE #1

Great start to what we’re all hoping will be a great series, and also a natural conclusion to several of the plot threads Bendis set into motion when he first took hold of the Avengers franchise. All of the larger pieces begin to assemble themselves quite nicely here, and by the time you make it to the final page and Cap’s dramatically clenched fist, you know this upcoming storytelling shift in the Marvel Universe will be as drastic as advertised. Always helps when you have Olivier Coipel on the artwork, who I’ve been shouting about since his Legion days of course, and is now rightfully acknowledged as one of the most talented, dynamic artists of this past decade. Everything he pencils spells out epic in capital letters, and seriously…who else would Marvel have gotten to draw this massive tale of gods vs. monsters?

Also a big fan of the trade dress that’s being used to advertise the event, which reminds me more than a little bit of the Civil War trade dress, which was also awesome. It’s all about the great little details, and this first chapter has a ton of them. Oh, and I know the Bears sucked it up most of the year, and they represent a city with consistently shit weather and the highest sales tax in the country, but I didn’t appreciate how they just atomized Soldier Field like that. But I can’t lie…it did look pretty cool when it happened.

I’ll explain this final bit in the soon-to-be written first Ambidextrous of the new year…

Also read: Noir, Astonishing X-Men HC Volumes 1 & 2…

Quick Note…

All,

Just wanted to stop by, wish everyone a Happy Holiday, and update you on some things currently affecting the fledging Fiction House blog. My writing schedule has better adjusted to the new puppy this last week, with the help of a brand new hard drive for the once dead iBook, but I won’t be posting anything much until after the new year. I am working on a couple great secret things over the holidays, but more on those if things go according to plan. Hope each and every one of you are enjoying time with loved ones over the holidays, and I’ll be back in 2010. I believe the theme for next year will be “Not Dead Yet” around these parts, but more on that later.

By the by, colors for Miranda Mercury #297 are fully complete, and the triptych cover (and the announcement of the new colorist) are coming very soon. So at long last it’s on to the next one…

B

Double Stack- 12.2.09 & 12.9.09

Okay, so here’s what happened…the Wednesday before the last I went to the comic shop, as I typically do every Wednesday of course, but stay with me. I came home from this particular trip with only seven books, which is probably my lowest weekly tally in the last couple years. So I’m thinking that I should have enough time to both read the entire stack and post an edition of Stackology in the exact same afternoon with little problem. But then the mailman delivered the copy of Madden ‘10 I ordered for my brand new Playstation 3, and then things went a bit gloriously hazy. Combine that with the major shift in my daily writing schedule because of the new puppy, and the iBook recently dying, and my writing window is a little shorter than usual. But seriously…it’s really probably definitely because of Madden. So this week features two installments of Stackology smashed together for my convenience. And hopefully yours. We begin with the order for 12.2.09, which had so few books in it that it prompted me to violate some of my cardinal rules.

KING CITY #3 (IMAGE)
BLACKEST NIGHT WONDER WOMAN #1 (DC)
DARK AVENGERS ANNUAL #1 (MARVEL)
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #5 (MARVEL)
UNCANNY X-MEN #518 (MARVEL)
SCALPED #33 (VERTIGO)
SIEGE THE CABAL #1 (MARVEL)

Things were obviously in Bendis’ favor this week, but he and Michael Lark’s exciting Siege prologue just barely edges past his Marvel Boy spotlight in the Dark Avengers Annual, which featured a new mission statement for the popular character and some great Bachalo art. Again I’m overtaken by Siege fever, just very excited at the prospect of a Marvel Universe that’s officially reached the other side after being gradually pulled apart by the events of Disassembled, Civil War, and the like. And the closer we get to that, the more excited I get for both the creators and the characters, as they’re freed from the gravitational pull of successive crossovers and over-arcing events. Who knows what kind of stories we’ll get from a post-Siege environment, where the heroes have finally reconciled, and are turning their attention back on the things (and people) they should’ve been on all along?

This is yet another important domino falling, and it’s obvious things aren’t going well as this issue starts with Osborn receiving a pep talk from his Green Goblin mask. And continues with the revelation that he’s begun replacing members of his broken cabal with people like the Taskmaster. It’s not long before Norman clashes with Doom, their secret meeting room no longer big enough for their clashing egos, but I was surprised at the scope and aftermath of Doom’s assault. Truly the beginning of the end here, and as enjoyable as Dark Reign has been, see thoughts above on my grand expectations for the future of Marvel’s flagship books. Great art from Michael Lark as well, who successfully turns things up a notch as Norman’s tower is dissolved in a haze of hungry Doom beetles. (by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Lark)

Now, onto the next week’s haul, which enjoys a much healthier number of books, I’m happy to report…

RED ROBIN #7 (DC)
VAMPIRELLA SECOND COMING #4 (HARRIS)
DAYS MISSING #5 (ARCHAIA)
PILOT SEASON MURDERER #1 (TOP COW)
UNWRITTEN #8 (VERTIGO)
DAYTRIPPER #1 (VERTIGO)
THE WALKING DEAD #68 (IMAGE)
GHOST RIDERS HEAVENS ON FIRE #5 (MARVEL)
SWORD #2 (MARVEL)
PUNISHERMAX #2 (MARVEL)
SECRET SIX #16 (DC)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #614 (MARVEL)
NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL #3 (MARVEL)
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #21 (MARVEL)

Love it when something in the middle of the pile clearly establishes itself as the frontrunner, and nothing else is able to ultimately push it out of that position. There’s some great stuff at the bottom there, but Daytripper was even better than I had hoped. Soon as this was announced I was all over it, as I was quite obsessed with Casanova at the time, and had bought the little De:Tales graphic novel the brothers had published through Dark Horse.

Again their writing proves more than a match for their tremendous artwork, and this is a series I will gladly purchase monthly, and then in whatever trade version Vertigo deems appropriate. My vote is for hardcover naturally, as this series starts with a bang, as we’re introduced to ambitious (yet somewhat blocked) writer Bras de Oliva Domingos, whose literary pedigree has been well established by his famous father who never remembers his birthday. Just some really great character work (and art) to be found here, and Bras is the kind of protagonist that you can easily build an entire series around. I might be projecting a bit because of his ambition to write things that really matter to him, or because of his daddy issues, or because of his cool dog and devoted significant other, but I wouldn’t mind reading about the ten most important days of this guy’s life. Great twist at the end, as well. Go and buy immediately. (by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon)

Just Listen- The Salvation

Actually finding a decent hip-hop album more than once a year has become a tiring process the last couple years, but every once in a while you’ll stumble across something that makes you wish most of the “hip-hop” on the radio would die a horrible, embarrassing, public death, and be replaced with more music like this. That’s a larger rant for another day however, as today I want to encourage all fans of that real hip-hop to take a good look (and listen) to Skyzoo’s sharp debut The Salvation. I’ve had my eye on emerging emcee Skyzoo for years now, because well, because he’s done some great songs with super producer 9th Wonder, who I’ve been following around like a helpless lemming for years now.

After touring the mixtape and guest appearance circuit for years, he finally drops a fully realized album, with pretty fantastic results. Lyrical content and versatility is matched by impressive production throughout, as the aforementioned 9th is joined by Just Blaze, Black Milk, Best Kept Secret, Illmind, and a few others, in creating one of the more promising debuts in years.

One of the standout tracks from the album, Return of the Real, is featured below, and of course, check out iTunes or Amazon for additional clips and such…