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Comics, Pop Culture

DC Comics Announces The Return Of The Milestone Universe w “Earth-M”

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A few days ago, DC Comics made the announcement that the Milestone Universe of characters would be returning to print and existing in the Multiverse on Earth-M. Below you can find the full press release that was delivered. Take a look.

The Press Release:
Reggie Hudlin and Denys Cowan Team Up With Jim Lee and Geoff Johns to Bring A Lineup of Culturally and Ethnically Diverse Characters Back to DC Universe with Original Graphic Novels, One Shots, and Miniseries. During DC Entertainment’s (DCE) early morning press gathering, DCE Co-Publisher Jim Lee, producer/director Reginald Hudlin and Milestone Media co-founder/artist Denys Cowan (DETECTIVE COMICS) announced the creation of “Earth-M,” which will be home to the “Dakota” universe of characters from 1993’s Milestone Media and a host of all new characters.

For fans, this means the return of favorite Milestone characters like STATIC SHOCK, ICON, ROCKET, HARDWARE and XOMBI, along with new heroes and villains, yet still retaining the same kind of contemporary and socially relevant tone of storytelling that made Milestone such a groundbreaking imprint in the early 90’s.

“We couldn’t be more proud and excited about the opportunity to bring the ‘Dakota’ universe back to DC,” said Lee. “This is a huge step forward for us in bringing readers a more diversified lineup as part of the New DC Universe, and we’re anxiously looking forward to telling new stories that are socially and culturally impactful and representative of the world in which we live.”

Arriving as hardcover graphic novels, up to two “Earth-M” titles will be published annually, as well as a yet-to-be-determined number of miniseries and one shots. These books will feature all-star creative talent, including Milestone principals Hudlin and Cowan, as well as DCE top guns Lee and Johns. This agreement also means a revival of Milestone content as collected editions, both in print and digital format.
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Music, Reviews

“Icon” by Queen

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Artist: Queen
Title: “Icon”
Label: Hollywood Records
Release Date: 6/11/2013
Genre: Rock
Rating: 4.25/5

Every now and again I like to toss thoughts together when a compilation package is released that could add some value to the potentially new or growing music fan in your own personal world. After all, any diehard of bands like KISS, Iron Maiden and now Queen, seem to have all of the albums and tracks that are needed in their own musical collections so these “Icon” issues are generally not something that we as ardent fans might not jump to. With that being said they do still serve a great purpose and amount to good presents for the younger set who are learning to appreciate such classic tunes by legendary artists. Such was the case that I found with the recently released Queen issue in the form of “Icon” which delivers eleven tunes from the bands truly massive repertoire. I’ll keep this one short and say that there does not appear to be a throwaway track on the issue.
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Music, Reviews

“Icon” by Anthrax

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Artist: Anthrax
Title: “Icon”
Label: Island/Universal Music
Release Date: 1/10/2012
Genre: Thrash Metal
Rating: 2.5/5

The latest edition of the “Icon” series gives fans of this line of releases a little dose of Anthrax and after the killer 2011 that the band experienced it did not surprise me to find it coming out. Right off the bat I could say that this is not a release for the tried and true Anthrax supporter and yet more suited for someone who has none of their material in their collection and is in need of a primer of some kind. The eleven tracks cover a wide range of releases but be aware that nothing from the bands John Bush era is featured and that is a bit of a shame considering how respected he was by the fans. Instead it’s a relative hodgepodge of selections that are delivered and a couple struck me immediately as “why is this here and not this other tune”. For instance while we get “Madhouse” and “Armed And Dangerous” we don’t get “Caught In A Mosh” and that made no sense since the band still plays the tune live. The band gets three covers on the album with “Antisocial”, “Got The Time” and “Bring The Noise” which I felt was fine since all of these tunes worked in the sense that they were supposed to. However why put “Belly Of The Beast” on instead of something like “Gung Ho” or “Medusa”? These songs were more important in the bands history also. I would have scrapped the bands revisit to their “I’m The Man” tune entirely or just put the original in place as opposed to singing about the time when they did that song. I’ve also grown super tired of “I Am The Law” which was their homage to Judge Dredd comics and there are very few Metal heads today who even know who that is thanks to Power Rangers, Transformers and other comic book properties that now command the big screens (and small). Oh well, it is what it is.
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Music, Reviews

“Icon” (2CD) by KISS

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Artist: KISS
Title: “Icon” (2CD Edition)
Label: Universal Music
Release Date: 8/31/2010
Genre: Hard Rock
Rating: 3/5

Before I begin this review I would like to get a couple of things off my chest which I present to you readers in my open letter to those fine folks at Universal Music.

“Dear Universal Marketing Powers That Be; On behalf of all KISS fans that have the “Simmons Implant” in their brains in terms of it creating a MUST BUY impulse to purchase anything with the bands branding on it, I am asking you to please, please, please stop issuing “Greatest Hits” packages”. Thanks very much, an ardent fan. PS: Feel free to re-release the remastered catalog provided you add bonus tracks to each of them”
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Music, Reviews

“Icon” (2CD) by Rob Zombie

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Artist: Rob Zombie
Title: “Icon” 2CD
Label: Universal Music
Release Date: 8/31/2010
Genre: Heavy Metal/Horror Metal
Rating: 3.75/5

This edition of the “Icon” series focuses on the one and only Industrial Shock Metal master Rob Zombie and fortunately for all of his fans this one does a proper job of presenting a little bit of everything from his wildly interesting career. I’ll be honest and admit how when I first heard about him that it was not my thing and back in the day, it was true that White Zombie was not for everyone. This was a new kind of Groove based Industrial Metal that you either loved or hated and at the time I was strictly supporting the Old School (which was not quite “old” per se at that time in music history). Eventually I came to appreciate what they were all about so I was happy to find the compilation beginning with some of their most notable tracks. “Black Sunshine” and “More Human Than Human” were and still are my favorites from the band. The collection continues on to when Rob decided to venture off on his own and leave the ranks of White Zombie behind him and of course for the most part the premise seemed to remain the same. The contribution to the Howard Stern “Private Parts” movie is offered up with “The Great American Nightmare” as are five numbers from his “Hellbilly Deluxe”. Personally I really enjoyed that particular album and was impressed that the decision to include its five best tracks was made. From this section I would have to say that “Dragula” and “Living Dead Girl” still sound fresh to my Metal ears. From here I can say that I was not really following his adventures so many of the next group of songs were a good primer for someone like myself as it gave me some insight into what I had been missing.
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