Category: Comics

from GeekChicDaily:

So you think being a cyborg would be boss? What if it required getting filleted like sushi and implanted with alien tech? When astronaut Alan Ulysses Grant has an uncomfortable encounter with an alien space probe (not THAT kind of probe) he awakens to that very fate.

Ulysses Squared is the latest project from Witchblade co-creator Brian Haberlin, who describes the passion project as an illustrated novel. As he tells GeekChicDaily in our exclusive interview, “I… like the idea of kind of a children’s book for adults. Something lushly illustrated, similar to Dinotopia, but not eight panels a page.”

Designed to repair otherworldly warriors injured in battle, a lost alien craft stumbles into our galaxy. When it encounters astronaut Alan it sees his vulnerable human features as injuries. The probe ship gives him the only makeover it knows, transforming him into an a$$-kicking cyborg super-soldier. If he gets into serious danger, armor spouts out of his body to encase him for his safety (see the armor design in our exclusive Ulysses Squared image gallery). Unfortunately, the ship also gives similar gifts to an old broken-down Soviet space weapon, code-named Ares.

Though he says the theme of the story is man dealing with transformation, Haberlin’s primary motivation in creating the character goes all the way back to one of his first childhood heroes. “I really wanted to make my Six Million Dollar Man. I loved that show when I was a kid… he was like our 007, but with these extra powers.” Check out GCD’s exclusive images from Ulysses Squared, and be sure to read our feature interview with Brian Haberlin. Look for Ulysses Squared on shelves Q3 of 2011.

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, brings the artistic styling of creator Usamaru Furuya’s manga (graphic novel) series, Genkaku Picasso, available to domestic readers now. The new property will be published in North America under the Shonen Jump imprint, is rated “T+” for Older Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

Hikaru “Picasso” Hamura, a grouchy teenager with a talent for drawing, dies in a freak accident. The gods decide to revive him, but only on the condition that he use his artistic gift for the good of humanity. Picasso discovers that sketching a person’s aura yields a surreal portrait of their psyche. Stranger still, Picasso can dive into these dreamscapes and help people by exploring their deepest emotions, memories and perceptions.

“Genkaku Picasso blends mind-bending artwork with the teenage drama of a talented adolescent who gets a second chance at life,” says Daniel Gillespie, Editor, Shonen Jump. “Using his artistic skill, Picasso is able to draw a picture symbolizing a person’s subconscious, and then enter that portrait and manipulate the symbols in order to help them recover from past traumas. The series’ unique plot and multi-faceted characters are sure to engage readers on many levels. We recommend Genkaku Picasso to any fan of M.C Escher!”

Creator Usamaru Furuya made a splash with his 1994 manga debut in the legendary “underground” manga magazine Garo with his innovative four-panel series Palepoli. He also created a gag series called Short Cuts for Young Sunday magazine, which was later serialized in the English-language manga magazine Pulp and published as a graphic novel by VIZ Media (rated “M” for Mature). His other works include Jisatsu Circle, a manga adaptation of the film Suicide Club, The Chronicles of the Clueless Age, a collaboration with the writer Otsuichi, and Happiness, a series of shorts that ran in IKKI magazine. Genkaku Picasso is Furuya’s first series for Jump SQ.

For more information on this title, and other Shonen Jump titles, please visit ShonenJump.com.